We went to the LA Phil today to see the staged version of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. This comes just before Easter so it’s especially timely since it chronicles Jesus’s life from the raising of Lazarus to Jesus’s own death and resurrection. The music was composed by John Adams and the performance was staged by Peter Sellars, who also compiled the libretto (the text of the opera). I was nervous about seeing it; I had heard from a friend who saw it Thursday that he didn’t love it, maybe didn’t even like it very much – especially the staged aspect. However, I must say I respectfully disagree with my friend’s assessment, at least for my taste.
I am a practicing Christian – an Episcopalian with a heavy Anglo-Catholic leaning – so the story of Jesus’s last days on earth are compelling to me. I am also deeply interested in Mary Magdalene as a figure who symbolizes redemption – cleansed of “seven demons” – as well as close to Jesus in his final days, and the first of his followers to see him after his resurrection. So, the subject would naturally draw me to see this performance. However, I wasn’t prepared for the drama created by a trio of soloists and countertenors, the Master Chorale, and the LA Phil as they collaborated in this ambitious performance, augmented by three dancers who provided graceful visuals of the action being depicted through the music. Gustavo Dudamel, the conductor of the LA Phil, conducted the music with great sensitivity. Adams’ score was beautiful. Evocative is one word to describe The Gospel; restorative is another. Death and rebirth are the major themes here, and I came away from this performance with a sense of hope and renewal.
The LA Phil will go on tour soon with The Gospel According to the Other Mary to New York and to Europe. I hope many people will take the opportunity to see this remarkable Passion and oratorio. I don’t think it’s for everyone – obviously not for my friend – but for many it will be as it was for me – an opportunity to re-visit the events of Jesus’s death and resurrection and to ponder with new perspective the symbolic significance of death and rebirth. Thank you John Adams for this gift. It is exceptional.
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