Review Roundup: Critics Sound Off On EL NIÑO at the Metropolitan Opera

The Met premiere of John Adams’s opera-oratorio EL NIŃO, which features soprano Julia Bullock, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines is now on stage!

Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. 

El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio.

The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Oussama Zahr, NY Times: Alsop’s musical interpretation beautifully suits the production concept. From the oratorio’s first moments, Adams’s musical signature, a clangorous, silvery sound that accrues impact in orderly ways, is apparent. Rapid eighth notes in the woodwinds, dotted rhythms in the strings, filigrees of guitar and bleating brasses fit together like the gears of a gleaming, churning machine in perfect harmony with itself. Alsop kept the rhythm insistent but chose a slightly slow tempo, loosening the tight weave of the instrumental parts and transforming its mechanical effect into something more organic. Woodwinds breathed, and guitars turned hypnotic. The orchestra flourished.

Rick Perdian, NY Classical Review: This production runs wild when it comes to color, motion, and imagery, but it is at one with the music. Adam Rigg’s sets are fairly traditional, but are awash with bold, electrifying hues which speak more of Latin America than the Middle East of Biblical times. Rivers are created by lengths of bright blue cloth rippling across the stage. Mood is established through Yi Zhao’s skyscapes which range from bursting stars to announce the birth of the Christ Child to ominous clouds which portend of Herod’s treachery and cruelty. 

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