John Adams: Girls of the Golden West

Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale

2024

John Adams: Girls of the Golden West

John Adams’ opera Girls of the Golden West (2017) goes back in time to the California Gold Rush (1848-55) for its subject matter. Adams paints a raw, deromanticised picture of the period. Drunkenness, prostitution, murder, racism, misogyny and economic exploitation all feature in the action, in a libretto by Peter Sellars which draws on contemporary songs and letters, with dashes of Shakespeare and Mark Twain thrown in. Adams’ music has a sharp, restless energy entirely befitting the Gold Rush era. The lusty miners’ choruses are a highlight, dark energies roiling beneath their surface bonhomie and bluster. Tenor Paul Appleby’s account of Joe Cannon’s Act I song is similarly edged with angst, and soprano Hye Jung Lee delivers a searing account of the troubled prostitute Ah Sing’s aria. John Adams himself leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a riveting performance, which raises as many questions about the America of today as it does about its past.

Scene 1. It was a driving, vigorous, restless population

John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ryan McKinny, Julia Bullock

8:56

Scene 1. Wagon Ride - Ned Peters was a hustler

Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Julia Bullock

5:06

Scene 2. My name is Joe

Hye Jung Lee, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ryan McKinny, Daniela Mack, John Adams, Paul Appleby, Los Angeles Master Chorale

11:01

Scene 2. Now he consoles himself

Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Julia Bullock

2:36

Scene 3. A gambler’s life I do admire

John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Paul Appleby, Ryan McKinny, Daniela Mack, Elliot Madore

10:49

Scene 3. Josefa, you remember

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Daniela Mack, Elliot Madore, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale

4:14

Scene 4. It's bone, it’s backbone

Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Appleby, Ryan McKinny, Julia Bullock

12:20

Scene 4. Comin' up from Red Dog

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Paul Appleby, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Ryan McKinny

3:29

Scene 1. The Raven

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Julia Bullock, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale

5:08

Scene 2. The attack on the Mexicans

John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Elliot Madore, Ryan McKinny, Hye Jung Lee, Paul Appleby, Los Angeles Philharmonic

11:04

Scene 3. It seems like midnight

Daniela Mack, John Adams, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ryan McKinny

7:59

Scene 3. What is this celebration to me?

Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles Master Chorale

6:57

Scene 4. This very nearly was the cause

Julia Bullock, Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale

2:45

Scene 4. Ven esta noche

Daniela Mack, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic

3:02

Scene 4. Blessed and praised

Daniela Mack, Elliot Madore, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic

0:59

Scene 4. I'm going far away from my creditors

Daniela Mack, Paul Appleby, Elliot Madore, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Hye Jung Lee, Los Angeles Philharmonic

8:54

Scene 5. The Downieville mob

Ryan McKinny, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Julia Bullock, Los Angeles Philharmonic

5:40

Scene 5. Tú me quieres alba

John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Daniela Mack, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ryan McKinny, Julia Bullock

6:11

Scene 5. It's four long years (Lousy Miner)

John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Ryan McKinny, Los Angeles Philharmonic

4:37

Epilogue. Sometimes I lounge forlornly to the window

Julia Bullock, Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams, Los Angeles Master Chorale

4:51

Dmitriy Lipay

Producer
Dmitriy Lipay

Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer
Alexander Lipay

Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer