But I found myself won over by the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the work, under Gianandrea Noseda, and in the presence of the composer on Thursday night. The result is an oblique collage of words that evoke moods and meanings, but leave it to the composer to determine the narrative. But Adams, adept and powerful a composer as he is, often follows Sellars’s lead and writes similarly evocative, slightly oblique music — creating works that are dramatically static. The biggest reason for this was Noseda, who, in the absence of a clear narrative, took hold and found one himself. If the orchestra had some rough patches, it and Noseda made them part of the rawness of the story.

Source: Washington Post March 09, 2018 04:41 UTC