In response to the atomic pop-cultural detonation of Barbenheimer, I posted a couple of times over the past week about John Adams’ Oppenheimer opera “Doctor Atomic.”
I remember listening to The Metropolitan Opera broadcast on the radio back in 2005, but I only just watched the stream this week, when it was offered free in the wake of the film’s release.
Now I note that WRTI will be broadcasting one of this past season’s Philadelphia Orchestra performances of Adams’ “Doctor Atomic Symphony.”
The symphony received its debut at the BBC Proms in 2007, originally in four movements, at 45 minutes in length. Adams tightened it up for its American premiere into three movements, running some 25 minutes, presented without break.
I attended one of The Philadelphia Orchestra concerts, which also featured the Sibelius Violin Concerto and the Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s “Daphnis and Chloe,” with my occasional concert companion, filmmaker H. Paul Moon. Augustin Hadelich was the violin soloist, and Roderick Cox conducted.
You can hear the concert broadcast on WRTI, where I hosted both classical and jazz shifts from 2014 to 2016 (technically I think I’m still on the call list) this afternoon at 1:00 EDT. For more information and interviews with the artists, follow the link.
The opera’s standout aria is “Batter My Heart,” a setting of John Donne’s 14th Holy Sonnet. It’s intriguingly staged here, with Gerald Finley as Oppenheimer.
Adams recalls the music for the final movement of his symphony. The opera explores the stresses and anxieties surrounding preparations for the Trinity test in 1945, with Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb,” a central figure.
Oppenheimer made his home in Princeton for nearly 20 years, as director of the Institute for Advanced Study.
For more selections inspired by Oppenheimer AND, believe it not, Barbie, scroll through my Facebook posts of the past week!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100027272182187
Then check out H. Paul Moon’s music and other documentaries at zenviolence.com.
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