Poetry, John Adam, The Death of Klinghoffer:

 

JOHN ADAMS,
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSER

John Adams is one of the most remarkable contemporary classical composers. Musically his work is quite unlike any other composer, for some it can be an ‘acquired taste’ but a ‘taste’ that grows on you. He is also unlike other modern composers due to his willingness to portray difficult subjects. This is a man not afraid to tell the whole story, he finds a topic that interests him and runs with it. He has a unique way of seeing into the heart of a subject without being sidelined by party politics or national loyalties. He is one of the few people I have ever read about who genuinely seems able to cut across ingrained prejudices and popular myth. He portrays the human state with its suffering and propensity to evil with utter disregard for whose flag they fly under or whose allegiance they swear.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/19/classicalmusicandopera-usnationalsecurity

I'm blacklisted, says opera maestro

    by Vanessa Thorpe,
arts and media correspondent

    The Observer, Sunday 19 October 2008

Composer John Adams accuses US of paranoia and says its security forces are following him.John Adams, one of the most revered living classical composers, has claimed that he is blacklisted in his native America and is being followed by the security services.
The 61-year-old musician has accused the United States of being in the grip of a political and moral panic and has complained that he is now grilled by airport immigration officers whenever he flies home because of his controversial reputation.
Adams made his name 20 years ago with his opera Nixon in China. Although it is now regarded as a landmark in modern music, the opera made headlines when it opened because it was heavily critical of the former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. Then the content of The Death of Klinghoffer, Adams's 1991 opera about the Palestinian Liberation Front's 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, provoked a storm of protest for its treatment of the murder of a disabled Jewish passenger.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 3's Music Matters yesterday, Adams said he was now 'blacklisted'. 'I can't check in at the airport now without my ID being taken and being grilled. You know, I'm on a homeland security list, probably because of having written The Death of Klinghoffer, so I'm perfectly aware that I, like many artists and many thoughtful people in the country, am being followed.'
The suggestion that Adams, who received a Pulitzer Prize for the choral work he wrote to commemorate the victims of 9/11, does not feel welcome in his own country will send shock waves through the musical world. The impact of his remarks will be amplified by the fact that his 2005 opera Doctor Atomic has its New York premiere at the Metropolitan Opera tomorrow, in a production directed by British film-maker Penny Woolcock.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_%28composer%29

John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) Is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer with strong roots in minimalism.
His best-known works include;
Harmonielehre (1985),
On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) a choral piece commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2003)
Shaker Loops, a minimalist four-movement work for strings.
His well-known operas include;
Nixon in China (1987), which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China,
Doctor Atomic (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb.

In October 2008, Adams told BBC Radio 3 that he had been blacklisted by the U.S. Homeland Security department and immigration services

The Death of Klinghoffer (1991);

 The opera's story begins with the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists and details the murder of a passenger named Leon Klinghoffer, a retired, wheelchair-bound American Jew. The musical basis for The Death of Klinghoffer was the Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach: grave, symbolic, narratives supported by a full chorus. A film version was made in 2003, which emphasised the work's somber, chilling mood.

The Death of Klinghoffer:
Chorus of Exiled Palestinians

The opening chorus from John Adams' 1995 opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," based on the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. Libretto is by Alice Goodman, and this 2003 movie version was conceived and directed by Penny Woolcock.

The Death of Klinghoffer:
 Chorus of Exiled Jews

An excerpt from John Adams' 1995 opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," based on the hijacking of the Achille Lauro 1985. The libretto is by Alice Goodman, and this 2003 film version was written and directed by Penny Woolcock.

Composer John Adams;
 Discusses his operatic works

Composer of the Year John Adams discusses is operatic works with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

An excerpt from John Adams' 1995 opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," based on the hijacking of the Achille Lauro 1985. The libretto is by Alice Goodman, and this 2003 film version was written and directed by Penny Woolcock.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Aug 16, '09 very good and thanks loretta

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Aug 15, '09 This is the story I'm referring to: (good night) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Without_a_Country

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Aug 15, '09 yup, the guys are having a blast.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 15, '09 greenwytch said here is a MAJOR guitar hero battle going on her that sounds like so much fun

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Aug 15, '09 i'll have to come back later to listen. there is a MAJOR guitar hero battle going on here. ; D

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 15, '09 brendainmad said 'A Man Without a Country' I never read that?? what is it?? is it worth reading??

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Aug 15, '09 Anyway, I forgot to say that this reminds me of 'A Man Without a Country' that we had to read at school. How sad this is!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 15, '09 brendainmad said Loretta, for some strange reason the sound is extremely low on that second video. ok sorry 'bout that, it sounds ok to me but I think there is more than one copy of this on youtube so I'll just go and look for another one.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Aug 15, '09 Loretta, for some strange reason the sound is extremely low on that second video.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 15, '09 thanks, I know how you feel, I can listen to bits here and there on the computer but I no longer have a video player...........daughters say they are obsolete now, I only have DVD player and....I have the whole of ''The Death of Klinghoffer'' on video. How sad is that.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Aug 15, '09 This is really fascinating stuff. I've only heard of Adams's work peripherally. However, I am very much a fan of modern composers who work (generally) outside of the mainstream. I was a proponent of Philip Glass's work years before it became 'cool' to like his works. I'd definately like to explore the work of Adams more. However, my computer is getting towards the end of it's useful life. I cannot stream vids or listen to music for more than about a minute, maybe two, before the processor overheats and the whole thing locks up. I'll be getting a new one in September, so then I shall (hopefully) explore the world of John Adams more. Many thanks for all the info.