Doctor Atomic
The Metropolitan Opera’s much-hyped production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic opened last week, and it is a far cry from the usual romantic tragedy/comedy that makes up a large percentage of the company’s repertory. Taking on the unlikely subject matter of the development of the atomic bomb and its testing under the stewardship of physicist J. R. Oppenheimer, Doctor Atomic had its original premiere at the San Francisco Opera.
The Met’s contemporary leaning Managing Director, Peter Gelb, wanted a different production for NYC, and he chose Penny Woolcock, a British director who oversaw film adaptations of earlier Adams operas, for this restaging. Woolcock brings a resolutely modern sensibility to Doctor Atomic, and she has created a stunning staging that balances an overarching understanding of the enormity of the A-bomb’s impact with details of daily life for the individuals who worked on The Manhattan Project. The performers—all excellent, and many making their Met debuts—tend toward the svelte, not the stout, and in what seems like a first for the Met, the production prominently features both projections and a sound score.
So why does Doctor Atomic feel flat? Sadly, it is the music, and the arc of the production. Peter Sellers’ libretto taps original documents, memoirs, and interviews, yielding a rather dense, and at times daunting, mix of science and high-brow literature—Oppenheimer was known for relying on poetry to unwind. Imagine singing about nuclear fission, atoms, and the periodic table, plus quotes from poetry, and you may be surprised to discover that you are reading the subtitles, even though English is your first language. With a few exceptions, most notably Oppenheimer’s soaring, emotionally fraught aria at the end of Act I, Adams’ music seems unequal to the enormity of the subject matter. The opera’s final moments resonate with the implications of the invention of the A-bomb, but the supposedly tension-filled hours leading up to the test of the bomb drag. You want to be drawn in, but it takes more work than it should to stay engaged given the richness of the subject matter and the extravagant production.
Social currency: The Met pulls out the stops in a show that will probably set the bar for new operas in the coming years.
Doctor Atomic plays at the Metropolitan Opera until November 13.
Tags: Opera
This article was posted by Alyssa Alpine on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Art & Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
