National Symphony Orchestra John Adamss the Gospel According to the Other Mary Reviews
A s a leafage in a gust of wind, so the other Mary begins her story in mid-air, almost mid-sentence, a vortex of fell music swirling effectually her dominated by harp and pianoforte in percussive manner: "The next day, in the city jail, nosotros were searched for drugs," she tells united states, breathless and urgent. We know nothing of what happened the day earlier, to whom, why or where. So a chorus cries out, fortissimo: "Howl ye, howl ye!" In an instant we are thrown from the trigger-happy earth of strip searches and prison cells to the thee-thou language of Onetime Testament prophecy, a truncated warning that the twenty-four hour period of the Lord is at hand.
John Adams's The Gospel Co-ordinate to the Other Mary, which was given its world staged premiere at English language National Opera last calendar week, is subtitled "A Passion oratorio in two acts". The libretto, with equal care, is described equally having been "compiled" past Peter Sellars, who besides directed the show. This is the pair'southward seventh articulation venture. Likewise equally the Bible, texts range from Hildegard of Bingen to Primo Levi and Louise Erdrich. Oppression and sociopolitical dissent rub shoulders with miracles and resurrection. Sellars has sewn these shreds into 1 cloth of various textures, as he did with Doctor Atomic and with the nativity oratorio El Niño, a partner piece to The Other Mary.
Some who saw the European premiere concert performance at the Barbican last twelvemonth (I didn't) maintain it worked every bit well, or not according to taste, equally this staged version, with sets by George Tsypin suggestive of tent, cave, prison, sandstorm, cool dawn, blazing sunset and earthquake via a mere shift of scrim or change of lighting (by James F Ingalls). Apparel are modern – skinny jeans for Mary, bright indigenous garb for the chorus, generic sportswear for the ethereally effective Seraphim (Daniel Bubeck, Brian Cummings, Nathan Medley). This trio of countertenors manages simultaneously to audio like boy-band stars, clean believers from The Book of Mormon and grown-up versions of the iii boys in Mozart's The Magic Flute.
The Other Mary consists of big choruses, arias and orchestral interludes, but the affect is contemplative rather than operatic. Action unfolds slowly and demands total concentration from the audience, who obliged on the opening nighttime and again at the 2d performance on Tuesday. The raising of Lazarus, prefiguring Christ'southward own resurrection, is the main episode of Human action one, with Lazarus'due south sisters Mary and Martha as key players. Bound and tethered, he returns to life in terrified shakes, his "soul" slithering beyond the flooring mysteriously, below gauze, to re-enter the torso. Act two centres on the crucifixion from the women'south signal of view, recounted directly from the Bible or more obliquely. The modernistic streetwise thread is woven through, though at times it feels redundant, given the say-so of the central Passion story. Whether you lot believe its transcendent significant or non, its mythical power is equal to the tale of Orpheus or whatsoever of those derived from the dour business firm of Atreus, always an operatic favourite.
Adams invents an enthralling range of effects throughout. The orchestral sounds vary from thick and saturated to pale and barely audible. Cellos and double basses discover Adams'due south pedagogy to sound, in eerie glissandos, like "piercing groans". A clarinet solo bursts out in klezmer exuberance. The chorus bays and laments, at 1 point dividing into multiple parts, some muttering in the charismatic Christian tradition of speaking in tongues. Bass guitar, percussion – conspicuous low drums and tam-tams – and above all the jangly, folkloric exoticism of the cimbalom create a mesmerising aural earth. The ENO orchestra excelled, vigorously and sensitively conducted by Joana Carneiro making her house debut, a (Portuguese) proper noun to scout.
The other Mary of the championship, equally singled-out from the Virgin, is a conflation of Mary Magdalene, she who had seven devils and loved Jesus, and Lazarus'due south sister, Mary of Bethany, who done his feet with her hair. Well-nigh Bible women are unnamed. Many with names are called Mary, with little unanimity most their identity. Luckily Martha, who cooked and cleaned while her sister prayed, was a more straightforward girl.
Adams has chosen low voices for these ii women: the compelling mezzo of Patricia Bardon (Mary), giving the performance of her life, and the gloriously resonant contralto of Meredith Arwady (Martha). Both have sung the role of Erda, who rises from the bowels of the Earth in Wagner's Ring, which gives an idea of their rich but contrasting bister tones. At the empty tomb, Arwady sings a gutsy low D sharp on the discussion "sepulchre", overlapping with the baritone range and sounding like a funereal trombone. Information technology was one reason I went dorsum a second time: I could hardly believe my ears.
Lazarus is sung past Russell Thomas, who created the office at the world premiere in Los Angeles in 2012. His moving showpiece aria, Tell me: how is this dark different, continues the Adams tradition of soliloquy arias first heard in Nixon in People's republic of china, then in The Expiry of Klinghoffer and, most memorably, in the John Donne setting Concoction my middle in Physician Atomic. The pairing of Mary and Lazarus with dancers is a success, with Parinay Mehra an nigh ghostly counterpart to Thomas's hulking presence as Lazarus. The flex dancer Banks made the biggest dramatic touch on as the Angel Gabriel. For a supernatural spirit, he had muscles to dice for.
Sellars's production employs his familiar paw gestures in the choruses. If they irritate you usually, they volition once again. Indeed if y'all are an impatient type you may detest the whole affair. Information technology has its longueurs. Dramaturgical difficulties aside, this modern Passion has inspired Adams's most thrilling score. Sellars is back at ENO in Feb with Purcell'southward Indian Queen in a retelling of the encounter between Europeans and Mayans in the New World from a female perspective. You may want to run for cover.
- The Gospel According to the Other Mary is at the Coliseum, London WC2 until 5 December
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/30/the-gospel-according-to-the-other-mary-eno-review-meserising-aurls-world
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