Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary
Released on March 10, 2014
A timely, controversial work of grand proportions, The Gospel According to the Other Mary is a full-scale re-imagining of the Bach oratorio from composer John Adams and iconoclast writer/director Peter Sellars.
Adams and Sellars' previous collaborations included Nixon In China, the most-performed American opera since Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and Dr. Atomic, an opera about the invention of the atomic bomb.
Focusing on the oft marginalized perspectives of Mary Magdalene and Martha, The Gospel According to the Other Mary sets Biblical characters and events, including the resurrection of Lazarus and the passion of Christ, in a powerfully political, contemporary light.
Listen to The Gospel According to the Other Mary:
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As with the nativity oratorio El Niño (a response to Handel's Messiah), and the opera Dr. Atomic, the libretto by Peter Sellars interweaves events from the New and Old Testaments with poetry reflecting themes of faith and liberation from the 12th Century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, to the 20th Century Mexican feminist poet Rosario Castellanos.
This world-premiere recording by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring the original cast and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, was captured during Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, at performances staged by Peter Sellars.
The 2-CD set includes a digi-sleeve with a 100-page booklet containing an introduction by the composer and a synopsis by Peter Sellars in English; plus the libretto in the original languages (English and Spanish) with English translations of the Spanish texts.
Track Listing
Act I, Scene 1 - Jail / House Of Hospitality
- “The Next Day in The City Jail”
- “Now A Certain Woman Named Martha”
Act I, Scene 2 - Mary
- “And She Had A Sister Named Mary”
- “I Am Surprised That I Am Beginning To Pray Daily”
- “En un día de amor yo bajé hasta la tierra”
Act I, Scene 3 - Lazarus
- “Now A Certain Man Was Sick”
- Lazarus Dies While The Sisters Await Jesus
- “Why Standest Thou Afar Off, O Lord?”
- “In My Own Quietly Explosive Here”
- “Don’t Touch My Left Arm”
- “When Mary Was Come Where Jesus Was”
- “Jesus Said, Take Ye Away The Stone”
- “And When He Thus Had Spoken”
- “Drop Down, Ye Heavens, From Above”
Act I, Scene 4 - Supper At Bethany
- “Then Jesus Six Days Before The Passover”
- “For The Grave Cannot Praise Thee”
- “Then Took Mary A Pound Of Ointment”
Act I, Scene 5 - Passover
- “And There Were Some That Had Indignation”
- “We Know There Will Be No Utopias”
- “Tell Me: How Is This Night Different”
Act II, Scene 1 - Police Raid
- “Who Rips His Own Flesh Down The Seams”
- “Martha And Mary, Not Knowing”
Act II, Scene 2 - Arrest Of The Women
- Instrumental Introduction
- “Up At Two A.M., Picketed All Day”
- “The Said Defendants”
- “Jesús, incomparable perdonador de injurias”
Act II, Scene 3 - Golgotha
- “And They Were Come Unto A Place Called Golgotha”
- “Daughters of Jerusalem, Weep Not For Me”
- “Now There Stood By The Cross Of Jesus”
- “When Jesus Saw His Mother”
Act II, Scene 4 - Night
- “When The Rain Began To Fall”
- “His Son Cried Out To Him”
Act II, Scene 5 - Burial / Spring
- “Now in The Place Where He Was Crucified”
- Mary Awakens On The Third Morning
- “It Is Spring"
Act II, Scene 6 - Earthquake And Recognition
- “And Behold, There Was A Great Earthquake”
- “Why Seek Ye The Living Among The Dead?”
