John Adams
El Niño
This production ran: Apr 23 - May 17
This Production is in the past
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Overview
Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.
Children’s Chorus: Young People’s Chorus of New York City (Francisco J. Núñez, Artistic Director and Founder; Emma H. Sway, Assistant Conductor)
Production a gift of C. Graham Berwind, III
El Niño is part of the Neubauer Family Foundation New Works Initiative
Languages
Languages sung in El Niño
Sung In
English
Titles
Title languages displayed for El Niño
Met Titles In
- English
Timeline
Timeline for the show, El Niño
Estimated Run Time
2 hrs 30 mins
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House Opens
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Part I
60 mins
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Intermission
30 mins
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Part II
60 mins
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Opera Ends
World premiere: Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, 2000
Described by composer John Adams as his way of understanding what is meant by a miracle, El Niño is an opera-oratorio that brings the tradition of sacred works by composers like Bach and Handel into the modern era. The piece is built on 24 separate sections, with some emphasizing the parallels between biblical accounts of events in the Nativity narrative and contemporary events. We see that the Nativity story can recur, in some sense, when any woman gives birth, just as Mary and Joseph’s journey is echoed in every refugee family’s experience.
Creators
John Adams (b. 1947) is among the most celebrated composers active today. His catalog spans a number of genres, including opera, chamber music, large-scale orchestral works, and film scores. El Niño is the fourth of his works to be presented at the Met, following Doctor Atomic in 2008, Nixon in China in 2011, and The Death of Klinghoffer in 2014. Drawing upon a variety of sources, Adams created El Niño’s libretto with Peter Sellars (b. 1957), who also directed the premiere production.
PRODUCTION
Lileana Blain-Cruz
SET DESIGNER
Adam Rigg
COSTUME DESIGNER
Montana Levi Blanco
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Yi Zhao
PROJECTION DESIGNER
Hannah Wasileski
SOUND DESIGNER
Mark Grey
PUPPET DESIGNER
James Ortiz
Choreographer
Marjani Forté-Saunders
Composer
John Adams
Setting
While the work is ostensibly set in and around Bethlehem and Egypt during biblical times, it can also be understood to play out in the eras and locales of the people recounting the Nativity story, from medieval England to 20th–century Latin America.
Videos
Music
The score epitomizes Adams’s distinct musical voice, marked by driving rhythms, rich orchestrations, and a sweeping melodic arc. The casting for the soloists is somewhat fluid, with more than one singer standing in for the same character or a single artist assuming multiple personae: The Soprano and the Mezzo-Soprano share the responsibility of portraying Mary, while the Baritone voices Herod, Joseph, and God, and the three Countertenors take on roles both individually and as an ensemble. The duties of a narrator are shared by all the voices, including the significant role for the chorus.
