Gustavo Dudamel and John Adams acknowledging the applause after the performance of “The Gospel According to the Other Mary.” (Photo by: Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times)

If it walks like a Passion and talks like a Passion, chances are it’s a Passion. But composer John Adams chose not call his most recent work, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, a Passion.

“I just avoided using the word ‘Passion,’” Adams told me earlier this week in a conversation backstage at Walt Disney Concert Hall, “because so many others had [used it] recently. Including Osvaldo [Golijov], but also Sofia Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm, and not to mention that other guy, what’s his name? J.S. Bach.” Continue reading →