This is the fifth in the American Operas series released on the Netherlands' audiophile Pentatone label. Classical music in general has much less penetration into American cultural life than it does in Europe, yet there are areas, such as wind band music, where Americans excel and are widely recognized for doing so. Another is opera: American composers (a list must begin with John Adams) have a knack for connecting with audiences, forging musical languages that are accessible without being retro or nostalgic, and, more ...
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This is the fifth in the American Operas series released on the Netherlands' audiophile Pentatone label. Classical music in general has much less penetration into American cultural life than it does in Europe, yet there are areas, such as wind band music, where Americans excel and are widely recognized for doing so. Another is opera: American composers (a list must begin with John Adams) have a knack for connecting with audiences, forging musical languages that are accessible without being retro or nostalgic, and, more important, for finding libretto topics that are compelling for ordinary audiences. To that list must now be added composer Mason Bates who, with librettist Mark Campbell, offers this work about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. If there are biopics, this is a biopera (?), depicting episodes in Jobs' life as well as his untimely death. The disagreeable sides of his personality appear but are not dwelt on, and in fact, part of the charm of the music is hearing such abrupt lines as "No crap...
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