The longing to overcome human boundaries lead the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to begin an experiment that formed a threat to the whole of humanity, and whose scientific results still do today. The question of the moral implications of the atomic bomb is raised in John Adams’ opera, just as much as that of the influence on the private lives of the main characters. Doctor Atomic is the fifth work to result from almost twenty years of collaboration between the American composer and his fellow American director and Erasmus Prize-winner Peter Sellars.

J. Robert Oppenheimer: Gerald Finley
Kitty Oppenheimer: Jessica Rivera
General Leslie Groves: Eric Owens
Edward Teller: Richard Paul Fink
Jack Hubbard: James Maddalena
Robert Wilson: Thomas Glenn
Captain James Nolan: Jay Hunter Morris
Pasqualita: Ellen Rabiner

Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra

Musical Director: Lawrence Renes
Stage Director: Peter Sellars

Recorded live at Het Musiektheater, Amsterdam on 7th, 25th & 29th June 2007.

Reviews

‘The cast is flawless… Adams has created a beautiful provocative work that refreshes the repertoire.’

The Times

Awards

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (Bestenliste 4/2008) (April 2008)
DVD OF THE MONTH Gramophone (December 2008)
5 STARS BBC Music Magazine (October 2008)
WINNER OF DVD: OPERA/BALLET CATEGORY Midem Classical Awards (January 2009)