http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2008/10/16/doctor-atomic-at-the-metropolitan-opera Comments On: Doctor Atomic at the Metropolitan Opera by Mark en-us Copyright 2009 The L Magazine. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The L Magazine readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The L Magazine. wil@desert.net (The L Magazine Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0500 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:30:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Megan]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:35:00 -0400 The L Magazine
To be a musical conservative is a matter of taste, but we should not mean to say that the modern aesthetic is flawed or somehow inferior on account of dissonance. Perhaps "Joe Merlot" (is he the bourgeois variant of Joe Sixpack?) will find it "sonically impenetrable" because of a refusal to open their ears and their minds. Consider the words of Charles Ives - a forerunner of John Adams, John Cage, Aaron Copland, et al:

"Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair. Many sounds that we are used to do not bother us, and for that reason we are inclined to call them beautiful. Frequently, when a new or unfamiliar work is accepted as beautiful on its first hearing, its fundamental quality is one that tends to put the mind to sleep."

And perhaps science does not make for the most glamorous opera subject, but I - as a student of music and the human voice - have grown quite weary of the same old production of the same old stories found in Tosca, La Boheme, and La Traviata. Masterpieces, to be sure, with themes that truly do resonate with us in a post-modern world. Opera, however, can expand its narrative scope beyond the realm of the broken heart; stories of politics, of science, and war are equally important and devastating.

To say "that Doctor Atomic is sung in English is just one more albatross" neglects a great heritage of opera and oratorio in the English language. From Purcell's Dido and Aeneas to Britten's Peter Grimes, there exist brilliant works that capitalize on the rhythmic power of our language. Or would you rather hear the story of the Manhattan Project sung in the gooey tongue of Romantic French or Italian ope
Posted by Jimmy C.]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:34:00 -0400 The L Magazine
1) Music: This is Adams ! it's a matter of taste if you love his music or not but you cannot dismiss the fact that he is a great composer you CANNOT qualify this as "a brutal, miserable, plaintive score ". It's actually very melodic for comtemporary music.

2) Charcaters and plot: The first brillant idea is the choice of the epic story yet so relevant to our current time. Then the parlando is masterfully used (as in Nixon...) so, one can actually follow the story in its (mostly) inhuman "official" tone that is amazingly suited. Enough of Oppenheimer as a humanist: when you design WMD you know what you do; no point being sorry afterwards. Like MKlinger said "These scientists, which this opera is about, looked to the arts as an escape from the horror they were creating".

I'm going to love this as Much as Nixon in China! Bravo Monsieur Adams. I wish Boulez could be as lively and relevant to our world as you are....


Posted by Laurent Vuillard]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:33:00 -0400 The L Magazine Posted by mklinger]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:32:00 -0400 The L Magazine Posted by jcarlson]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:31:00 -0400 The L Magazine