A welcome introduction Music by John Adams - reviewed by ROBERT HUGILL 'Alsop has a clear feel for this music ...'

John Adams is, perhaps, most associated with a style of music which combines repeated arpeggiated accompaniments, vivid (often driving) rhythms and melodies of great beauty; it is music which moves forward and can convey great excitement and intensity. This style is epitomised in his piece A Short Ride in a Fast Machine, a piece which does exactly what it says on the box. It was Adams' genius that he saw a way to combine these features, already apparent in his early pieces, into satisfying large-scale operatic structures.

That Adams has written one of the late 20th century's major operas indicates that his talent extends beyond the pure excitement of a piece like A Short Ride in a Fast Machine. This survey of Adams' works from the late '80s and early '90s, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, enables us to appreciate the range of his talent.

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