Moving between the studio (where he writes alone) and the stage (where he conducts large orchestras), he now has a catalog of more than 70 pieces, including the new opera Girls of the Golden West. And Ned Peters’ great aria, based on Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech “What to a slave is the 4th of July?” resonates heart-wrenchingly as a modern day speech from the "Black lives matter" movement.Terrorism, nuclear war, and politics are just a few of the topics that Adams, one of classical music’s preeminent living composers, has tackled in his work. It is clear where Adams’ sympathies lie when the textures in his music thin and phrases elongate with lyricism, as in Ramón and Josefa’s love duet or Dame Shirley’s reflections. The men of the Chorus of Dutch National Opera get to play the menacing mob of Yankee miners and are staggering when, facing the audience, they rage “It’s four long years since I reached this land…”. The gushing, pulsating music and jagged rhythms render the tumult and violence of the Gold Rush vividly. Dragging a life-size mule on wheels onto the stage during the bizarrely incongruous first scene is one of them.Ĭonductor Grant Gershon leads the excellent Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the dense, agitated score with gusto. There are, however, a few odd choices that distract from more than lighten the dark character of the piece. Peter Sellars’ staging benefits from handsome sets designed by David Gropman (a forest of stylised trunks in the first act and the imposing stump of a truncated sequoia in the second). Arguably the most impressive performance from the men’s parts comes from bass-baritone Davóne Tines’ endearing portrayal of the fugitive slave Ned Peters. Elliot Madore is a dignified yet wholehearted Ramón. Baritone Ryan McKinny is a stentorian, menacing Clarence, and tenor Paul Appleby gives a full-on physical performance as the volatile miner Joe Cannon, singing the character’s jazzy tunes with style.
The other two “girls” in the story are the Chinese prostitute Ah-Sing, sung with stratospheric aplomb by coloratura soprano Hye Jung Lee, and the Mexican barmaid Josefa Segovia, interpreted by J’Nai Bridges with regal posture and a dark-hued rich mezzo. Fortunately, Dame Shirley’s texts are here sung by the young American soprano Julia Bullock whose pliable instrument and stylish way with words reveal an ideal storyteller. These letters, perhaps unavoidably, give the libretto a distant poise, more narrative than dramatic.
This young woman from New England arrived and settled for several months in Rich Bar in 1851, accompanied by her husband, a doctor. Its main source however is a collection of letters by “Dame Shirley”, the nom de plume of Louise Amelia Clappe, to her sister. It is rich with quotes from Mark Twain, miners’ song lyrics and poems by Latin-American and Chinese immigrants. The libretto is based on documents from the Gold Rush period.