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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
John Adams has written operas that spring from world events - "Nixon In China," "The Death Of Klinghoffer," "Doctor Atomic." But the great composer's newest work, premiering at the Metropolitan Opera, is his first adaptation of a play by Shakespeare. Jeff Lunden reports.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: John Adams says he's always loved Shakespeare - in particular, the tragedy "Antony And Cleopatra."
JOHN ADAMS: I think what I loved about it is the fact that Antony and Cleopatra are not Romeo and Juliet. They're not young lovers. They're people who've been around the block. Each one has a checkered past.
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JULIA BULLOCK: (As Cleopatra, singing) That I may sleep out this great gap of time my Antony is away. I think of him too much.
LUNDEN: But adapting this huge historical drama, which takes place in Egypt and across the Roman Empire, required some judicious trimming.
ADAMS: At times, I've called it a big mess. You know, 50 characters, 30 scenes, three continents, all kinds of history, kind of into this big bouillabaisse. And obviously, you can't do it all.
LUNDEN: So Adams turned to director Elkhanah Pulitzer, who, with a dramaturg, helped him shape the libretto. Much has been cut. Some things have been added. But the focus rests squarely on the fall of Antony and Cleopatra and the rise of young Octavius Caesar.
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LUNDEN: Pulitzer says...
ELKHANAH PULITZER: There are some big, huge stakes, but it's also sort of lifestyles of the rich and famous, people behaving badly in their, you know, relationships with one another. And so there's this toggle between public and private. They're sort of iconic public figures, and then also, by contrast, see what it's like when they're just being messy human beings.
LUNDEN: And playing these messy human beings are veterans of previous John Adams' operas - Gerald Finley as Antony and Julia Bullock as Cleopatra.
BULLOCK: There's some really surprising music from Cleopatra - these violent outbursts of hers that are very exciting musically, pretty pointillistic, also - I think some of John's most pointillistic writing.
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GERALD FINLEY: (As Antony, singing) Forborne the getting of a lawful race. And by a gem of a woman, to be abused by one who looks on feeders?
BULLOCK: (As Cleopatra, singing) Good my lord.
LUNDEN: In fact, given both the fighting and the passion between the two lovers, the production hired not just a fight director but an intimacy coordinator to help the singers negotiate the physical and emotional aspects of performing the opera, says Gerald Finley.
FINLEY: The idea's to coordinate it so that it's very, very well-managed, but then has the possibility of being released in the moment, in the actual performances, because, as we say, we built this trust.
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FINLEY: (As Antony, singing) Our eyes.
ADAMS: They are really sexy, and they - oh, they really just tear into each other when they have an argument.
LUNDEN: John Adams says one reason Bullock and Finley are so effective in their roles is that he wrote the music specifically for the two of them.
ADAMS: I always compose with the performer in mind, so part of it was just letting it rip - you know, their personalities.
LUNDEN: Still, the composer says his favorite moment in the opera is much quieter. It comes when Antony is dying from his own self-inflicted wound, and he is together with Cleopatra for one final moment.
ADAMS: He's weak, and he's just about ready to fade away. But that's the moment when they really realize they love each other, and it's very tender.
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FINLEY: (As Antony, singing) Seek your honor with your safety.
BULLOCK: (As Cleopatra, singing) They do not go together.
FINLEY: (As Antony, singing) Oh, I can no more.
ADAMS: I have always felt that music is the most psychologically precise of all the arts. Part of composing is creating an alchemy between the colors and the gestures of the orchestra and the beauty of the voice. And, of course, in this case, I've got Shakespeare's language, which is incomparably wonderful.
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BULLOCK: (As Cleopatra, singing) Give me some music, music.
LUNDEN: "Antony And Cleopatra" opens at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday evening.
For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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