In an extended conversation with Tom Service, the American composer John Adams, who's turned 75 this year, discusses his life in music, the importance of his legacy, and focuses on his new opera 'Antony and Cleopatra'. It was premiered this week, with a libretto adapted by the composer from Shakespeare, Virgil, and the Egyptian book of the dead and it's Adams' very first stage work inspired by characters from Ancient history.
Sir Nicholas Kenyon, who was at the premiere of Adams' new piece in San Francisco, reviews the opera for us.
And J.S. Bach’s mysteriously unfinished ‘Little Organ Book’ is finally completed with the composition of 118 new pieces by contemporary composers - we visit a church in Chelsea to hear from one of the contributors, Roxanna Panufnik, as well as from organist William Whitehead, who conceived the project and who leads its premiere in London later this month.