One can only wonder if Pamela McGuire lives on the same planet or is intimately related to someone with the company. Her unqualified praise and gushing adoration of everything and every aspect in this monstrosity of a production which drove people from the hall and literally pained others who stayed hoping for some reprieve or glimmer of sophistication and artistic merit not only boggles the mind but begs credulity. Could it be desperate religionist tendencies anxious for modern validation? Only something so fanatic could make such smelly fish palatable --as in mind over matter?
Almost equally sadly, Tommasini and The New York Times have become cheerleaders themselves, collaborators and promoters of the most mediocre and often lame works, so long as they are new, one can only guess why. Notice the recent mindless and unquestioning regurgitation of Peter Gelb's press releases, then extended opportunities given Mr. Gelb to explain any misconceptions and finally a NYT Magazine puff piece profiling and promoting the man himself which was shockingly lacking in journalistic merit or critical analysis and occasionally not even factual. How much does the NYTimes own the Gelb family? All this uncritical and cooperative support of the man that has made the Met facade a billboard and the Met itself a staging company for profitable HD opera movies, no matter how horrendous and tasteless the productions.

My husband and I both thought it was magnificent. Adams's music is so engrossing, rich, and even transporting. The staging and libretto by Sellars were inspired. And the singing was equally wonderful, especially the countertenors, Thomas and the chorus. The only critique we could offer is perhaps the need to cut further. Tomassini noted in his NYT review today that the piece has been shortened somewhat from its original version. We found that the first act dragged a bit in the middle and could have used some tightening. In all, we felt very privileged to experience this masterpiece of contemporary music.

OMG, (that's Oh MY God) it was awful! Like some high school pantomime with performing cheerleaders, or woe leaders and grandstand crowds. A dedicated and serious LA Philharmonic played it all with the prerequisite intensity and bombast. The costumes were plain dumb, the choreography was horrendous: stilted, awkward and downright silly at times, with everything except flashing police and disco lights. At least 10% of the audience left at intermission. The countertenors were far more like falsettos, and the sopranos left a great deal to be desired. It took itself so seriously with ostentatious religiosity, and I would say only twice briefly reached any moments of musical felicity. Then there was the "relevant" kitsch of time warp contemporary allusions, just incase you couldn't get the the insistent idea that this had some modern day importance. How it made me long for Barabas! It was the worst thing I have seen and heard in several years, and that includes a lot of Ades, Alden, LaPage and other Eurotrash-style nonsense at the Met. "Semaphoric," no sophomoric. Peter Seller certainly bombed with this one. It was excruciating and bad enough to put me, and I dare say a lot of others, off Adams and Sellars forever.

I appreciate the recognition by Mr. Stearns that one needs more time for listening and reflection before making judgments and giving interpretive slants.
I personally found Sellars' work directing the 'bodies' of the performers often ersatz compared with the music. There were many cliched moments in movement. Many times the movement was too coordinated with the music, like a cheerleader might be leading a rally. Many moments when the superficiality of the movement, the 'staged' nature of it, was transparent. So in my view, the singers didn't have the capacity to present the physical performance they were given. Not subtle enough actors/dancers. The obvious exception was Mr. Thomas, who has a remarkable stage presence and is most often deeply and subtly in character.
Anyway, agree the music is wonderful and calls for deep reflective involvement.

I love to listen to Bach, and appreciate the Bach 360 being currently aired. I was introduced to the Brandenburg Concertos by a patient in a hospital where I was a student nurse in the UK. My husband susequently made me a gift of the concertos on LP (Long Playing Records)for my twenty first birthday. I absolutely treasure them, and still have them in my possession,almost 46 years later.