This composition by American minimalist composer John Adams is his take on the “Christmas Oratorio”: a large-scale music theatre work entitled “El niño”. How does one actually celebrate Christ’s birth in a land where palm trees and race conflicts flourish – in sunny California? Perhaps the way composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars portray it at the beginning of “El Niño” (“La Nativité”), which was first performed nine days before Christmas 2000 at the Parisian Théâtre du Châtelet: with a tree and festoons of lights. Their interpretation is supported brilliantly by Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Willard White in the main roles.