Doctor Atomic

[dhermann1]

I watched the opera "Doctor Atomic" on PBS the other evening and I wanted to comment on it. First, being a modern (I believe 2005) opera, it is not as accessible as say La Boheme, by a long shot, but the music is nevertheless incredibly powerful. It's the story of the atomic bomb, and Robert J Oppenheimer is the central character. It has to be the first costume epic opera set in the 1940's, and the Metropolitan Opera's costumes really deserve kudos for accucary. It's a true fedora opera.
Aside from the costumes and tremendous music, the opera really builds the tension and drama of the bomb in a remarkable way. The New York Times reviewer called the libretto (the words) "stodgy". How you can sing an aria about the technical aspects of a bomb I don't know, but somehow it works.
Anyhow, this production might require some effort to sit through, but I think people will find it worthwhile. From a fashion standpoint, from a WW II history standpoint, and from a dramatic and musical standpoint, it's really exceptional.

 

[Flitcraft]

Gotta go with "stodgy"...

Really wanted to enjoy this, but couldn't hack it. Admire the idea, but the production semed extremely pretentious.
Glad you enjoyed though!

 

[dhermann1]

I won't argue. Actually, I started with the radio listening to something else, and turned on the TV to see if there was some sports I could watch without sound. I stumbled on the opera, and for a while I just read the subtitles with no sound. Pretty screwy way to listen to an opera. lol
Finally I turned off the radio and put the sound up on the TV. The piece certainly has weaknesses, but the music itself was amazing. The "bomb theme" was pretty cool. But I only listened to about an hour and a quarter of music. Maybe that's as much as I could have hacked.
Good to have at least one response on this. They did have good costumes, and Oppenheimer's hat looked pretty accurate!

 

[Flitcraft]

Agree about the costuming...

doubly disappointing because I really did want to see and enjoy this- but jeeze- one of those hit yourself in the head with a hammer deals- "it felt so good when I stopped"