“Doctor Atomic,” John Adams’ opera about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the first atomic bomb, first produced in 2005 by the San Francisco Opera, now heads for new staged presentations at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (opening October 13, 2008) and at the English National Opera in London (opening February 26, 2009).

With stage direction by Penny Woolcock both productions will feature Gerald Finley as Oppenheimer, Sasha Cooke as Kitty Oppenheimer and Eric Owens as General Leslie Groves. The Met production is conducted by Alan Gilbert, Music Director-designate of the New York Philharmonic. The ENO production is under the musical direction of Lawrence Rennes, who led the European premiere of the work with the Netherlands Opera in June of 2007. A new DVD of the original Peter Sellars production, made during the Amsterdam production has just been released by Opus Arte. A documentary about the creation of the opera, “Wonders Are Many,” by Jon Else had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and will be televised nationally on PBS’s “Independent Lens” series, December 16 at 9 PM.

For more information about the Metropolitan Opera’s productions and their live HD TV simulcast of Doctor Atomic, go to http://www.metoperafamily.org/
metopera/news/dr_atomic/index.aspx

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