Dr. Atomic premiered in San Francisco in 2005.
From the Met Playbill:

“This monumental contemporary opera is a riveting examination of one of the most significant episodes in world history: the events leading up to the testing of the first atomic bomb in New Mexico in 1945. Like composer John Adams’s previous operas Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, doctor Atomic not a reenactment of a historical moment but rather an exploration of the people, personalities, and issues involved in an epic incident. The focus of the piece is the title character, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the cultivated American physicist who was the director of the Manhattan Project, which developed the world’s first nuclear weapon during World War II. The libretto is created from a variety of original sources, including U.S. government documents and communications from the scientists and military personnel involved in the project. Beyond that, other texts become part of the story by association with the characters: the sacred Hindu epic Bhagavad Gita (which Oppenheimer studied in the original Sanskrit and famously quoted in reaction to his work on the project), and poetry by such diverse writers as John Donne, Charles Beaudelaire, and Muriel Rukeyser, as well as a traditional song of the native American Tewa people.”

“The opera is set in and around Los Alamos, New Mexico. The first two scenes of Act I take place about a month before the actual test. The remainder of the opera chronicles the events of the night of July 15-16, 1945, just before the detonation of the first atomic bomb.”

Now that you have the facts, imagine a set where the periodic tables become a theme. Boxes, cells, formulas. Faces of the scientists are projected onto the boxes. Soon actual beings are in the boxes. The major part of the set is a group dunes created by hanging white material. Dangling from above are shards and fragments, spinning and reflecting the horror to come.

The bomb appears hanging over all, as a huge silver gray wire-wrapped orb. It eventually is detonated and white light and broken glass prevail. It’s done. History has been made and civilization has changed in that moment. The music is monumental. The feeling is sickeningly eerie.

Finally we hear a woman’s voice and through it, Hiroshima is given a face. A sweet, gentle voice calls out in Japanese and gets no response. Something like, (translated), “Mr. Tenaka?
do you have water? My children need water. Mr. Tenaka? Do you have water? My children are calling for water.”

That’s it, the linking to the final outcome–the application of the bomb. There’s the opera’s power. It’s when reality blows up in our faces.

At times the lyrics, woven from conversations, documents, letters, sound poetic, at other times, trying to set these to music is dissonant, just like the oncoming detonation.

Please click the links below and visit for some music clips, an interview with the composer (who made an appearance at curtain call), and scenes from the performance:

(I apologize for all the typos I just corrected–did this blog at midnight)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4950590

http://www.earbox.com/W-doctoratomic.html

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail.aspx?id=5614

New York Times Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/18/science/18atomic.html

John Adams calls to me because he comments on painful, outrageous human conditions, as I try to do in my poetry.

The opera, Klinghoffer, that terrible terrorist attack on the cruise ship, The Achille Lauro, while at sea, where a crippled man, Leon Klinghoffer, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Klinghoffer) was shot and thrown overboard in his wheelchair. He was a Jew and singled out);

Transmigration of Souls, an opera about 9/11, reflect his horror and incredulousness.

He throws us in front of mirrors that reflect outrageous events, and then the mirrors reflect our own reactions.

Oppenheimer, the inventor of the bomb was a genius; his brilliance was taken from him and used, it was beyond his control, beyond his guilt. Beyond humanity’s wildest dreams.

reply starfishred wrote on Nov 9, ’08 wow that would be so interesting to seeI get so upset on this subject that anyone anyone could do this to people and I accept no excuses after what the world went through already then to drop this on humans my oh my

reply tulipsinspring wrote on Nov 9, ’08 Wow. This sounds powerful. This composer has done some pretty heavy topics. It sounds incredible, and I’d love to see it. What a poignant moment with that woman’s voice. Truly the best way to describe the magnitude of something like this, with the faces and voices of those affected. Thanks for sharing this Sue!

reply ppiccola wrote on Nov 9, ’08 great review…I think I will get chicken skin if im sat watching this great piece! Thank you for sharing it/// may I ask an odd question? what did you wear that night? I bet something really posh!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Nov 9, ’08 ppiccola said great review…I think I will get chicken skin if im sat watching this great piece! Thank you for sharing it/// may I ask an odd question? what did you wear that night? I bet something really posh! Wear? Well, we went for the sold out matiné (there are only doing a few performances) and you don’t see dressing up anymore, not really. And it was raining. It used to be that people would go to cultural events such as this in gowns and all that. Nope. You even see jeans. But the most heartening thing was that there were many young people there. I actually wore corduroy slacks and sweater–I was just glad to be dry and comfortable!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Nov 9, ’08, edited on Nov 9, ’08 John Adams calls to me because he comments on painful, outrageous human conditions, as I try to do in my poetry. The opera, Klinghoffer, that terrible terrorist attack on the cruise ship, The Achille Lauro, while at sea, where a crippled man, Leon Klinghoffer, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Klinghoffer) was shot and thrown overboard in his wheelchair. He was a Jew and singled out); Transmigration of Souls, an opera about 9/11, reflect his horror and incredulousness. He throws us in front of mirrors that reflect outrageous events, and then the mirrors reflect our own reactions. Oppenheimer, the inventor of the bomb was a genius; his brilliance was taken from him and used, it was beyond his control, beyond his guilt. Beyond humanity’s wildest dreams.

reply teena2 wrote on Nov 14, ’08 hmmm, I could have sworn I commented on this??? waaa, did I say something stupid?

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Nov 14, ’08 teena2 said hmmm, I could have sworn I commented on this??? waaa, did I say something stupid? You might have, I copied this over to a review format. It’s posted twice.