OPPYRA

John Adams to Compose Atom Bomb Opera (Ronald Blum, December 12, 2002, Associated Press)

John Adams has been commissioned by the San Francisco Opera to compose "Doctor Atomic," a work about the development of the atomic bomb by American scientists in 1940s.

Alice Goodman, who collaborated on Adams' two previous operas, will write the libretto, which centers on J. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the Manhattan Project.

Peter Sellars will direct, as he did in the premiere productions of Adams' "Nixon in China" in 1987 at the Houston Grand Opera and "The Death of Klinghoffer" in 1992 at the Theatre Royale de Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium.

Donald Runnicles, the SFO's music director since 1992, will conduct. The premiere is scheduled for September 2005 at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House. The production will be shared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

"It involves what I call American mythology," Adams said this week in a telephone interview. [...]

"I'm interested in using in part the structure of the 1950s science fiction movie," Adams said. "These events were played out during a time when all those movies about bombs and monsters and strange genetic mutations were very popular, and they invaded the consciousness, the unconsciousness, of the country. That's why I chose the title, because it had a certain '50s, sci-fi resonance."

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to hear "On the Transmigration of Souls" yet, which was commissioned to commemorate 9-11. But Nixon in China is a hoot and this seems like an ideal subject for an opera. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2003 9:35 PM