[The first part of this article was published on 30.9.2014]
How does The Death of Klinghoffer compare with some of Adams’ other attempts to dramatize history and politics? Nixon in China is different in its repetitive post-minimalism, and its brilliant, aggressive chromatic treatment. In Dr. Atomic, politics sometimes overwhelm the musical structure with an excess of words. Not so in The Death of Klinghoffer, perhaps the most beautiful and meaningful of all of Adams’ operas. Here harmonies and generously developed melodies support an expansive and intense narrative: as in Billy Budd, Benjamin Britten’s Passion of an innocent victim, a dark sea plays a leading role, reminiscent of Homer’s proclamation in the Odyssey: “Dire is the ocean, dread in all its forms!”
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