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Flowering Tree (2 CD)
Availability:
In Stock
Price:
$29.98
$22.79*
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| Part No: | B0017PCXQ6 |
| Manufacturer: | Nonesuch |
| MFG Part: | |
| Customer Rating: | 4.0 / 5.0 |
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The performances on this two-disc set,
Flowering Tree, which includes extensive liner notes and the complete libretto, were recorded at the Barbican Center, London, in August 2007, with the London Symphony Orchestra and the same vocalists who performed in Vienna.
The performances on this 2 disc set, which includes extensive liner notes and the complete libretto, were recorded at the Barbican Center London, in August 2007, with the London Symphony Orchestra and the same vocalists who performed in Vienna.
| External and Internal Metamorphoses | 2009-05-16 | 5 / 5 |
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John Adams continues to explore innovative musical ideas, tying them to political and philosophical themes, and has become America's favorite contemporary composer. His ability to communicate tremendously powerful responses from his audience with his 'enhanced minimalism' of style ('Nixon in China', 'The Death of Klinghoffer', 'Doctor Atomic' and 'El Nino' operas to works such as 'On the Transmigration of Souls, 'El Dorado', and 'Harmonium') makes him in integral part of our cultural fabric. FLOWERING TREE, beautifully recorded here in its entirety, adds another dimension to Adams' gifts - the translation of an Eastern Indian tale into an 'opera' that successfully recreates a myth while capturing the deep philosophical messages the myth holds as metaphor.
The story is at once simple and complex: suffice it to say that it relates the tale of a young woman reaching puberty who is able to be transformed into a flowering tree, an act that fascinates a Prince who marries the low caste girl for her magic rather than for her person. Giving in to the desire of the Prince the girl advises the people of the court how to recreate the transformation and the Prince and the girl consummate their marriage and discover a profound mutual love. Jealousy within the court leads to the disruption of one of the transformation sequences and the girl is broken while a tree and becomes an armless, legless outcast begging in the streets with her lovely songs. The distraught Prince fades to near nothingness at the loss of his bride, wandering the world for his love until an act brings the two together and the metamorphosis is complete.
The story is told by a narrator (Eric Owen) and the two other singing roles are sung by Jessica Rivera (the tree/girl Kumuhda) and Russell Thomas (the Prince). Each of these gifted singer actors is splendid: the opera is currently being presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with John Adams conducting, assisted by the same three singers on this recording and by the Los Angeles Master Chorale all with the original staging by Peter Sellars and the shadow dancing by three brilliant Indonesian dancers. This work contains some of Adams' most richly colorful orchestration (the music from the large orchestra that paints the transformation of the girl into a tree and that portion that reunites the lovers glows with an erotic and sensuous radiance like no other of Adams' works). The singing is in English but the important choral contributions are sung in Spanish - Adams' confessed second language as a Californian but also a language that for him is more sensual and evocative than English. The combination of these forces is as magic as the tale they describe. John Adams has once again created a vital contemporary work, as rich in beauty of sound as it is in poignantly profound message. It is a little miracle of an opera. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 09 |
| Another great opera by Adams | 2009-03-19 | 5 / 5 |
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I saw this in San Francisco and was very impressed with the music, staging, and lighting. The Balinese dancers that shadowed the story as acted and sung by the singers, the use of lighting as Kumudha became a tree--a wonderful work of stagecraft. I waited for this to be put on CD ever since, almost got up the nerve to ask John Adams about it at another concert I attended.
Fortunately the long wait is over and this wonder music is now available for all to listen to. Unfortunately a CD cannot convey the stagecraft of the work, but the magic of the writing does come through. Some of the pieces are deceptively simple but are brilliant in their own way. The piece may not be as heroic or as heart rending as some of Adam's other operas, but in all it is a rewarding and a magical work. |
| Flowering Tree CD purchased | 2009-03-12 | 5 / 5 |
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Quick and easy deal. The cd came well-packaged and in perfect shape.
Great response time.
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| So-so, but better than Atomic | 2009-01-03 | 3 / 5 |
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A Flowering Tree isn't John Adams's best opera, but it's certainly better than Dr. Atomic (though the Atomic Symphony is pretty good). It's pleasant and the libretto is less jagged than Atomic's, but not a whole heck of a lot of content like there is in Klinghoffer and especially in Nixon in China.
A couple things really irk me about this opera. Why are the choruses in Spanish? It makes sense in El Nino, where the Spanish is from the original texts, but here's it just pretentious.
And that "monkey chant" chrous in the second half, supposedly one of the highlights of the opera, is absurd. A group of British singers imitating nasal Indonesian monkey chant in Spanish while using the backdrop of an Indian folktale? Is he serious? It's pan-globalism run amok.
Adams's choral works post-El Nino have been a string of disappointments -- really just an exploration of the musical hinterlands and not in a good way. His orchestral works on the other hand, have been getting better and better.
This recording presents the opera in the best light possible, but it still can't save itself from the spiritual self-importance Adams clearly plunks into the work. It's a good occasional listen, but A Flowering Tree is definitely not entering the standard repertoire anytime soon. |
| Why haven't we heard more about this piece? | 2008-12-20 | 4 / 5 |
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| It seems like every note and word John Adams writes and speaks is picked up and spread around and endlessly discussed and listened to. Yet I had heard nothing of this beautiful, special work until only very recently. While I am not a fan of the voice of one of the leads, it is an exquisitely beautiful work and shows another side of Mr. Adams' work that shouldn't be ignored. |
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