John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, A Passion Oratorio

A few days ago, I saw Oratorio the first time in my life.  When I think of the word "oratorio", I think of Bach.  As much as an avid fan of Bach, my first oratorio was composed by contemporary musician John Adams.  It was a very interesting experience.

As a genre, I like oratorio for its religious theme, singing and instrument ensemble.  The music was modern, complex, rich and powerful.  Because of its modern roots, the music was darker than I thought, full of dissonance.  Peter Sellar's libretto was beautiful and imaginative, telling the bible story from both biblical and modern-day women's perspective: the sisters Mary and Martha from bible, and Dorothy Day of our time.  This was aimed at having bible story alive reflecting the modern day life.

I enjoyed all the singers.  Mary played by Kelley O'Connor was dynamic and passionate; Martha played by Tamara Mumford was deep and reflective; I particularly like Lazarus played by Zach Borichevsky.  This tenor got a beautiful timbre and high register in his effortless brightly mellow voice.  It was so bright that I felt it got Pavarotti's timbre.  The three countertenors and University of Maryland choir were all great!

The orchestra was very rich with lots of instruments new to my ears.  I enjoyed hearing a couple of Japanese string instrument, one of them looking like a fancy grill:).  I love the Chinese gong!  The brass instruments at times were too loud, overpowering the singing, a drawback probably can easily be fixed with conducting.

The score as a standing-alone piece would be really good to convey the theme of the oratorio.  When singing with English lyrics, it sounds a little uncomfortable.  The first song by O'Connor was very good, the rhythm going well with the syncopated pronouciation, but lots of other songs sounded awkward, as if music notes suited for legato singing being used for syncopated lyrics.   Hubby asked whether English was a bad language for music.  I said it didn't have to be.  For example, Rogers and Hammerstein's Sound of Music flows beautifully with lyrics and score in perfect harmony.

We went to a pre-show lecturer where John Adams was one of five speakers.  Along with him were theologians and Sister Helen Prejean.  It was an inspirational talk.  Adams was a very good speaker. He appears sincere, modest, and sophisticated.  Speakers talked about the oratorio from their own perspective: death penalty and suffering, homelessness, womanhood, etc.  Particularly interesting was Adam's description about how he created this oratorio.

Overall, I gave the oratorio a very good rating.