John Adams's two most recent operas were performed in opposite hemispheres this past weekend: A Flowering Tree (2006), in its Australian premiere at the Perth International Arts Festival Friday and Saturday, and Doctor Atomic (2005) in English National Opera's continuing London production.

Reporting from Friday's A Flowering Tree premiere in Perth, Western Australia Today's Jennie Fitzhardinge says that given Adams's global stature, "securing the Australian premiere of his latest opera A Flowering Tree was quite a coup for the Perth International Arts Festival." She describes the score as "complex, occasionally challenging and often beautiful and the performances of the singers, orchestra and choir could not be faulted," eliciting an enthusiastic response from the audience and multiple curtain calls. Read the review at watoday.com.au.

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The Australian's Victoria Laurie frames her coverage of the overall festival around Adams's recent call, in a Newsweek interview (reported here in the Nonesuch Journal), for greater arts education for young people, even, or especially, during trying times.

"Adams would have been gratified to see so many young faces in the Perth audience of A Flowering Tree, his Indian folktale opera," she writes. "The applause was warm for this elegant concert staging ... Adams would surely have approved of soprano Rachelle Durkin's glorious voice and spirited portrayal of his central character, the poor village girl Kumudha."

Laurie also suggests that, in light of the festival's performances and its unexpected rise in attendance, "Adams might have come away reassured that appetites for high-quality artistry can survive, even thrive, in a recession."

Read the article at theaustralian.news.com.au.