Доктор Атомик: Опера Джон Адамс туралы

Opera by John Adams
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Doctor Atomic is an opera by the contemporary American composer John Adams, with libretto by Peter Sellars. It premiered at the San Francisco Opera on October 1, 2005. The work focuses on how leading figures at Los Alamos dealt with the great stress and anxiety of preparing for the test of the first atomic bomb (the "Trinity" test). In 2007, a documentary was made by Jon H. Else about the creation of the opera and collaboration between Adams and Sellars, titled Wonders Are Many.

The first act takes place about a month before the bomb is to be tested, and the second act is set in the early morning of July 16, 1945 (the day of the test). During the second act, time is shown slowing down for the characters and then snapping back to the clock. The opera ends in the final, prolonged moment before the bomb is detonated. Although the original commission for the opera suggested that U. S. physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb", be fashioned as a 20th century Doctor Faustus, Adams and Sellars deliberately worked to avoid this characterization. Alice Goodman worked for two years with Adams on the project before leaving. She objected to the characterization of Edward Teller, as dictated by the original commission. The work centers on key players in the Manhattan Project, especially Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves. It also features Kitty Oppenheimer, Robert's wife. Sellars adapted the libretto from primary historical sources. Doctor Atomic is similar in style to previous Adams operas Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, both of which explored the characters and personalities of figures who were involved in historical incidents, rather than a re enactment of the events themselves.

Sellars adapted much of the text for the opera from declassified U. S. government documents and communications among the scientists, government officials, and military personnel who were involved in the project. He also included poetry by Charles Baudelaire and Muriel Rukeyser, the Holy Sonnets of John Donne, quotes from the Bhagavad Gita, and a traditional Tewa native song.

This act is peppered with a repeated refrain from Pasqualita, the Oppenheimers' Tewa Native American housemaid. The text comes from a traditional Tewa song, and subsequent reiterations repeat the text with the direction changed to west, east, and south:

A new production of the opera, directed by the film director Penny Woolcock and conducted by Alan Gilbert, was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in October 2008 and was part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series on November 8, 2008. The assistant conductor for this production was also Donato Cabrera. The HD video of the production was later televised nationally on PBS as well, in the Great Performances at the Met series in December 2008. On January 17, 2009, the Met production of the opera was heard on NPR as part of the Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. Penny Woolcock's production was restaged by the English National Opera in London, February 25 to March 20, 2009, with Gerald Finley reprising his portrayal of the lead. The 2008 Met production was streamed online without charge on June 23 and December 8, 2020. In July 2023 the opera was performed in an abandoned train warehouse in Utrecht as part of a science and music festival. The performance has the support of both the composer and the librettist.

+RoleVoice typePremiere cast, October 1, 2005Conductor: Donald RunniclesJ. Robert OppenheimerbaritoneGerald FinleyKitty Oppenheimermezzo soprano or sopranoKristine JepsonGen Leslie GrovesbassEric OwensEdward Tellerdramatic baritoneRichard Paul FinkRobert R. WilsontenorThomas G. GlennFrank HubbardbaritoneJames MaddalenaCaptain James NolantenorJay Hunter MorrisPasqualitamezzo soprano or contraltoBeth Clayton
For the second major production, at De Nederlandse Opera, Adams reworked the role for a soprano, Jessica Rivera. For the Metropolitan Opera Premiere, the role was again sung by a mezzo, Sasha Cooke.