Doctor Atomic bombs

[chickenfeet]

We left at the interval. There is some good orchestral writing but the vocal line is ditchwater dull and the libretto sucks donkey balls. The only good bit was the final aria "Batter my heart, three-person'd God" which, being John Donne, couldn't be completely awful. In fact, even the music improved a bit at this point. The rest of the libretto was mostly an extended recitative of the utmost banality including, memorably, a particularly dim general recalling how many pieces of chocolate cake he had eaten one day last September. There is only one character; Oppenheimer. The rest are cardboard cut outs. The basic premise perhaps has merit but, ultimately, Faust without Mephistopheles can't really carry an entire drama.

Comments

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's too bad. I must admit some curiosity about this opera, as I'm told it includes Edward O. Teller, who was the father of my dissertation advisor.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

It does. He's the guy with the angsty conscience who nonetheless carries on.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

They could have scored some serious pathos and moral ambiguity points with such a character. No such luck?

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

It's all about Oppenheimer. Noone else gets much character development.

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

The second act was, I thought, better. But I also liked the libretto much more than I think you did.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Ouch. It sounds as though I've had more fun reading your and the Lemur's reviews than the two of you did put together. That's a shame, especially as it was potentially such an interesting choice for inclusion in the broadcasts.

[damiel.livejournal.com]

I listened to it on Sirius and decided that it wasn't worth buying tickets for. I agree with your take on it and the act-closing aria, but I also enjoyed the husband-wife scene.

I didn't think the second act improved on the first, although I did find the last few minutes compelling.

I might still watch the next HD broadcast only because I'm curious about the HD shows and I still haven't seen one.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

The next one could be very interesting. It's the new Robert Lepage production of Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust

[damiel.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. I waited too long to get tickets, and now everything affordable is gone, so I'll probably be going to the HD broadcast as well. The clips I've seen online make it look rather interesting, and it's gotten fairly positive reviews. Makes me look forward to Lepage's new Ring production.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I like Lepage a lot. His "Elsinor ex Machina" was really pretty spectacular and I've heard good things about the work he has been doing with Cirque du Soleil.