Resource Center: Opera 24/7
A FLOWERING TREE
Readings
- – Thomas May puts together a wonderful book that both introduces one to the works of John Adams, and also gives one a comprehensive understanding of the composer, his works and his collaborators.
- – Poet, folklorist and scholar, A.K. Ramanujan was on the faculty at University of Chicago for 30 years. Ramanujan collected and translated this story, along with many others, from Kannada into English. John Adams and Peter Sellars used Ramanujan’s translation of this story along with other Tamil and bhakti poetry as the basis for their libretto. This links to an online version of the folktale.
- Vocabulary for A Flowering Tree – As part of our Opera for All program we’ve put together a list of definitions for unfamiliar vocabulary in A Flowering Tree.
- – Here is a more comprehensive look at the work of A.K. Ramanujan. This book also includes analysis of these tales and South Indian culture.
- – Collected essays of Ramanujan compiled after his death by friends, colleagues and his son. Wendy Doniger, who will be speaking as part of COT’s A Flowering Tree: India Blooms in Chicago festival, is one of the contributors to this book.
- – A comprehensive look at the world’s most profound scholar of South Asian language and culture.
- – An excellent anthology of fiction, nonfiction and poetry written about India over the past two centuries. Includes 25 selections from Paul Bowles, Allen Ginsburg, Herman Hesse, Mark Twain, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Rudyard Kipling, Claude Levi-Strauss, and others.
Recordings
- A Flowering Tree premiered in November 2006 and no recording is yet available. Excerpts may be heard on John Adams’ website:
Resources
