With a libretto drawn from historical sources by. Girls of the Golden Westis a far cry from the relative topicalities of Richard Nixon, the hijacking of the Achille Lauro or even the testing of the first atomic bomb, with themes of patriotism, the American Dream, integration, racism and the thorny question of what constitutes being an American placed stage front and centre, I doubt you’ll see a more chilling reminder of the simmering forces that can lead to an explosion like Charlottesville anytime soon. On November 21, San Francisco Opera opened the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West, the newest opera by American composer John Adams. Dame Shirley is an East Coast transplant chronicling life in the camp. In fact, though the historically refracted In 'the most eagerly anticipated new opera of the season' (The New York Times), John Adams and Peter Sellars’ latest collaboration follows people from all over the world who flock to Gold Country hoping to strike it rich but are quickly caught up in the optimism, greed and prejudices of a rapidly changing world. Receiving the San Francisco Opera Medal onstage following the well-received premiere performance, Adams took a swing at the divisive immigration policies of the Trump Administration his only comfort, he maintained, was living in California. Composer John Adams and director/librettist Peter Sellars are joining forces once again to create Girls of the Golden West, a new opera set during the 1850s California Gold Rush that will be presented by San Francisco Opera at the War Memorial Opera House in seven performances in November 2017.
Who’d have thought an opera about the Californian Gold Rush could feel quite so contemporary? Even its composer, John Adams, admitted he didn’t see that coming when he started work on his latest magnum opus during the early days of Donald Trump’s tilt at the White House.
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