It’s hard to believe that it’s 25 years since John Adams’ minimalist inflected opera first appeared on the world’s stages. Inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, and with a poetically infused libretto by Alice Goodman, it has managed the almost unique trick nowadays of becoming part of the regular operatic canon. Pretty good going for a work that was dismissed by the New York Times chief music critic as “worth a few giggles but hardly a strong candidate for the standard repertory”.

The “Spirit of ’76” has touched down in Australia before – the Presidential aircraft that famously lands on stage during the opening scene made a trip to the 1992 Adelaide Festival in pretty much the original staging – but this enterprising new interpretation for Victorian Opera is the first Australian version of the work.

Director Roger Hodgman’s clear, unfussy production is blessed with a cast that range from the more than capable to the outstanding and subtle use of microphones render every word of Goodman’s memorable text crystal clear. At last, an opera in English that doesn’t need to resort to surtitles!

From the moment that Adams’ harmonic complexities ruffle the Philip Glass infused opening arpeggios,...