MET in HD: Doctor Atomic

On a dismal, rainy Saturday, Heather and I dragged ourselves out of our warm, cozy bed to head over to the Cedar Hills cinemas to see the live high-definition broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of John Adams’ latest opera, Doctor Atomic.

The theater was almost full when we arrived right at the scheduled start time, but we were able to find good seats and settle in with our coffees and cookies.  I wasn’t prepared for what was awaiting us.

A lot of the reviews of the premiere and subsequent productions of Atomic have been mixed.  Much has been made of the libretto (criticized for its mixture of the banal and the profound) and the nature of the production in terms of staging, action, and plot.  In addition, the MET production was not directed by Peter Sellars, but by Penny Woolcock.

This didn’t make much of a difference to me, as I was coming into this operatic experience knowing just the basic plot and some background information from John Adams’ recently published memoir Hallelujah Junction.  I thoroughly enjoyed this opera – much more than I thought I would, even as a fan of Adam’s music.  In particular, the singing and acting of Gerald Finley (as J. Robert Oppenheimer) and Sasha Cooke (as Kitty Oppenheimer) was nothing short of stunning.  Oppenheimer’s closing aria to Act I, set to a poem by John Donne (his Holy Sonnet XIV) was sung with such emotion, and set so exquisitely by Adams, that it took my breath away:

Batter my heart, three person’d God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to’another due,
Labour to’admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason yhour viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely’I love you, and would be loved faine,
But am betroth’d unto your enemie:
Divorce mee, untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you’enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

I found it reminiscent in tone (and in its falling melodic figures) of Dido’s Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

And the Act II, scene iii chorus, which depicts a vision of Vishnu in the skies (from the Bhagavad Gita) was incredibly powerful, both from the orchestra and the chorus (performing very complex music from memory and with excellent diction and precision):

At the sight of this, your Shape stupendous,
Full of mouths and eyes, feet, thighs and bellies,
Terrible with fangs, O master,
All the worlds are fear-struck, even just as I am.
When I see you, Vishnu, omnipresent,
Shouldering the sky, in hues of rainbow,
With your mouths agape and flame-eyes staring—
All my peace is gone; my heart is troubled.

And then Oppenheimer’s final, heart-rending soliloquy:

To what benevolent demon
do I owe the joy of being thus surrounded
with mystery,
with silence,
with peace
and with perfumes?

O beatitude!
That which we generally call life,
even when it is fullest and happiest,
has nothing in common

with that supreme life
with which I am now acquainted
and which I am tasting
minute by minute,
second by second!

No! there are no more minutes,
there are no more seconds!
Time has disappeared;
it is Eternity that reigns now!

Throughout the production, the MET orchestra played like the great opera orchestra it is.  It is a grueling score to play, I’d wager, and it features some extended passages for the woodwinds in the very highest reaches of their useful range, especially in the oboe and bassoon, and were played with an easy virtuosity that repeatedly left my jaw hanging open.

The final half hour of the opera left us nearly breathless (from actually holding our breath) as the countdown to “the shot” nears.  The final denouement was perfect, and devastating.  What a great experience!

If you want to find out more about this extraordinary opera, including audio and video excerpts and a complete libretto for download, you can find it here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/dr_atomic/index.aspx