John Adams - American Classic (2009) [DVD5 NTSC]

John Adams - American Classic (2009) [DVD5 NTSC]


Video: 16:9 NTSC
Audio: LPCN Stereo
Subtitles: German, French
Studio: EMI Distribution
DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009


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John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer with strong roots in minimalism. His best-known works include Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986), On the Transmigration of Souls (2002), a choral piece commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2003), and Shaker Loops (1978), a minimalist four-movement work for strings. His well-known operas include Nixon in China (1987), which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, and Doctor Atomic (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb.


This is a very good introduction to John Adams, the operatic composer. The main drawback to this 58-minute documentary film is its near complete disregard for John Adams, the instrumental composer.

The film starts off with biographical background and a discussion of some of Adams' works, the development of his style, and the relationship of his music to the minimalism of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. There are some excerpts and brief mentions of works like "Harmonielehre" and the "Chamber Symphony".

But once discussion starts going on "Nixon in China", opera becomes the exclusive focus. There is good, if brief, background on both "Nixon in China" and "The Death of Klinghoffer" with interviews from Adams, librettist Alice Goodman, and director Peter Sellars.

I really enjoyed what this documentary had, I just feel that a full documentary on John Adams would need to devote at least a similar level of attention and detail to his instrumental works. Also, I love good long documentaries, and could easily have enjoyed more detail on these operas as well -- even a full-length feature on "Nixon in China" alone.

The only other content on the disc is a 28-minute infomercial from EMI trying to get you to buy other EMI DVDs. Nice clips, but advertisements nonetheless.

Overall this is a a nice little film and a good introduction to John Adams as far as it goes, but a star must be docked for not going farther. And with that, I may be too generous. In my view this is a solid three-and-a-half star outing. Certainly not worth the $30 it is currently going for with shipping -- think about possible rental options.



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