12. John AdamsNixon In China

What John Adams is doing has often been dismissed as minimalist and all that sort of thing, but it just sounds modern to me. And the way the vocals are used in Nixon In China and some of his other ones like The Death Of Klinghoffer are done in a way that’s really interesting. There are things that are really driving in the way that rock music is driving, even though it’s not using electric guitars. So I really like Nixon In China. I’ve seen it performed live and it’s really striking. And I like the idea of taking a contemporary situation – it isn’t some Mozart theme of mistaken identities at a wedding from several hundred years ago – it’s Nixon going to China! And so to take a contemporary situation and do it in an operatic way sounds modern as well. I really love this work, but I love almost everything I’ve heard from John Adams, not only his operas but also his contemporary compositions. They’re really strong to me, and they reach me in ways that maybe some other things don’t.