I skipped work today to go see John Adams' "Doctor Atomic" at the State Theater. "Doctor Atomic" is an opera about Dr. Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb over the span of about 48 hours, leading up to the first detonation of the bomb. There is little bad I can say about the show. It was incredible. Its treatment of the subject matter and ultimate underlying themes hit me like, well, and atomic bomb.
"Doctor Atomic" is ultimately about the 'death of innocence' in America that occurred as soon as we developed a way to actually end our species. In his Harvard lectures, Bernstein spews out a list of late 19th and early 20th century composer and artists who foretold of this, although it should be noted that a significant factor of "Doctor Atomic" is when it was written: 2005. There's a lot of talk (well, singing) about peace through war and global impact (some scientists thought that igniting the bomb would ignite the earth's entire atmosphere!). And to see how those concepts play out now (Iraq, Georgia, Korea, global warming, crashing markets) turns this show into a bit of a possible explanation of how we got this way. And how we can prevent from spiraling further.
Of course, this is just based on what I've read from John Adams and Peter Sellers about it, and my initial viewing. If you're a music theory buff, you need to check this out. Adams has out-Messiaen'ed Messiaen through an awesome rhythmic interplay toward the end, and he's brought new tonal languages (again!) to post-minimalism. And the finale to Act I is sure to move anybody's soul.
So geek points to me for watching an opera about physics. If you want to see an even more unusual opera, check out Steve Reich's "Three Tales." I'm going to write extensively about that soon, as I have yet to hear the argument made by this opera anywhere else, or at the very least, I haven't heard it this powerfully.
Posted below is "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God," the finale to the first act. This is a different staging than the one I saw, but the same performer. Enjoy.
"Doctor Atomic" is ultimately about the 'death of innocence' in America that occurred as soon as we developed a way to actually end our species. In his Harvard lectures, Bernstein spews out a list of late 19th and early 20th century composer and artists who foretold of this, although it should be noted that a significant factor of "Doctor Atomic" is when it was written: 2005. There's a lot of talk (well, singing) about peace through war and global impact (some scientists thought that igniting the bomb would ignite the earth's entire atmosphere!). And to see how those concepts play out now (Iraq, Georgia, Korea, global warming, crashing markets) turns this show into a bit of a possible explanation of how we got this way. And how we can prevent from spiraling further.
Of course, this is just based on what I've read from John Adams and Peter Sellers about it, and my initial viewing. If you're a music theory buff, you need to check this out. Adams has out-Messiaen'ed Messiaen through an awesome rhythmic interplay toward the end, and he's brought new tonal languages (again!) to post-minimalism. And the finale to Act I is sure to move anybody's soul.
So geek points to me for watching an opera about physics. If you want to see an even more unusual opera, check out Steve Reich's "Three Tales." I'm going to write extensively about that soon, as I have yet to hear the argument made by this opera anywhere else, or at the very least, I haven't heard it this powerfully.
Posted below is "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God," the finale to the first act. This is a different staging than the one I saw, but the same performer. Enjoy.
Leave a comment