Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, a co-commission with the Royal Opera, where the piece was presented on November 28 at the Barbican with much the same cast, had its premiere on November 22 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the baton of Thomas Adès. Described as “completely bonkers” by The Daily Telegraph and “the craziest opera yet” in a review in the L. A. Times, the 50-minute piece by a composer referred to by the staid New Yorker as “an exuberant anarchist who traffics in polystylistic delirium,” the piece seems to have captured the mad spirit of the original, and garnered wildly positive reviews. Here’s hoping it makes it to CD, DVD, or, better, other performances. The LA Phil had this to say about it. You can hear an interview and excerpts here.
