El Niño is an opera-oratorio by the American minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams. It was premiered on December 15, 2000 at Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet by the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, the London Voices, the Theater of Voices, La Maîtrise de Paris and soloists Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Willard White, with Kent Nagano conducting. It has been performed on a number of occasions since, and has been broadcast on BBC television.
De...
more
El Niño is an opera-oratorio by the American minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams. It was premiered on December 15, 2000 at Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet by the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, the London Voices, the Theater of Voices, La Maîtrise de Paris and soloists Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Willard White, with Kent Nagano conducting. It has been performed on a number of occasions since, and has been broadcast on BBC television.
Described by Adams as a "nativity oratorio", the piece is designed to be performed equally well in both concert and stage settings, and uses texts from the King James Bible, Wakefield Mystery Plays and poems by Mexican poet Rosario Castellanos as well as Adams and librettist Peter Sellars.
It retells the Christmas story, with the first half of focusing on Mary's thoughts before the birth and the second half on the aftermath of the birth in the stable in Bethlehem, Herod's slaughter of the Holy Innocents and the early life of Jesus. The text...
less
