John Adams: Doctor Atomic

John Adams: Doctor Atomic

Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Julia Bullock, BBC Singers

2006

John Adams’ 2005 opera explores the personal and moral issues surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb. Captured live in concert, it has colossal power and conviction. At its centre is Gerald Finley’s commanding performance as Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist wracked by doubts. Having sung it at the premiere and many times since, he produces a magnificently characterised creation. Julia Bullock, Brindley Sherratt, Samuel Sakker and Andrew Staples are all superb in supporting roles and Adams himself draws virtuoso playing from a truly galvanised BBC Symphony Orchestra. A major recording of a modern operatic classic.

Overture

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

5:10

"The end of June 1945"

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

4:18

"First of all, let me say"

Brindley Sherratt, Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:15

"We surround the plutonium core"

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

1:42

"We are bedeviled by faulty detonators"

Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brindley Sherratt, John Adams

1:31

"Many of us are inclined to say"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brindley Sherratt, Gerald Finley, John Adams

2:26

"The nation's fate..."

John Adams, Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Staples

2:16

"This is a petition"

Brindley Sherratt, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Finley, John Adams, Andrew Staples

2:42

"What if it's a dud?"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Finley, Brindley Sherratt, Andrew Staples, John Adams

2:02

"The test must go on as scheduled"

John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brindley Sherratt, BBC Singers, Gerald Finley

3:20

"No, before the bomb is used"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Gerald Finley, Brindley Sherratt, Andrew Staples, John Adams

4:07

"Am I in your light?"

Julia Bullock, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

4:31

"Long let me inhale, deeply..."

Julia Bullock, John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Finley

6:27

"The motive of it all was loneliness"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Julia Bullock, John Adams, Gerald Finley

4:24

Electrical storm

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:17

"What the hell is wrong with the weather?"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Aubrey Allicock, Marcus Farnsworth, John Adams, Gerald Finley

2:34

"Five hundred U.S. Superfortresses are raining bombs"

Gerald Finley, Aubrey Allicock, John Adams, Marcus Farnsworth, BBC Symphony Orchestra

4:06

"I'll sign the report, sir"

Aubrey Allicock, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Marcus Farnsworth, Gerald Finley, John Adams

1:18

"With respect, sir, anyone with two good eyes"

Gerald Finley, Aubrey Allicock, John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Samuel Sakker

3:00

"I have been preoccupied with many matters"

Samuel Sakker, Aubrey Allicock, Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:32

"Get them out of here. From now on, I'm making my own weather predictions"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams, Aubrey Allicock

4:05

"General, you are bearing up with remarkable fortitude"

Gerald Finley, Aubrey Allicock, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

3:18

"Batter my heart"

Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

7:34

"Easter Eve, 1945"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Julia Bullock, John Adams

11:59

Interlude - Rain over the Sangre de Cristo

BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:57

"In the north the cloud-flower blossoms"

Jennifer Johnston, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

1:54

"It's midnight, Jack"

Marcus Farnsworth, John Adams, Andrew Staples, BBC Symphony Orchestra

5:11

"I've dreamed the same dream"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jennifer Johnston, Andrew Staples, John Adams

2:48

"To the farthest west, the sea and the striped country"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Julia Bullock, John Adams, Jennifer Johnston

3:35

"A delay in the Potsdam Ultimatum"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Aubrey Allicock, John Adams, Jennifer Johnston

1:00

"Fermi is taking wagers"

John Adams, Gerald Finley, Brindley Sherratt, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Aubrey Allicock

2:16

"I've spent a great deal of time indulging in controlled fantasies"

John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Finley, Brindley Sherratt

3:36

"Edward, the test will be delayed an hour"

Brindley Sherratt, Marcus Farnsworth, Aubrey Allicock, John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jennifer Johnston, Gerald Finley

3:01

Panic

BBC Singers, John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra

2:52

"This program has been plagued from the start"

Gerald Finley, Aubrey Allicock, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, John Adams

1:30

"To keep the weakness secret"

BBC Singers, Julia Bullock, Jennifer Johnston, Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:11

"I just finished reading The Magic Mountain"

Gerald Finley, Andrew Staples, BBC Singers, John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra

2:15

"The winter dawned, but the dead did not come back"

Jennifer Johnston, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, John Adams

1:53

"And love, which contains all human spirit"

John Adams, Julia Bullock, BBC Singers, Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra

3:00

"The only saviors are the ham sandwiches"

Brindley Sherratt, Gerald Finley, Aubrey Allicock, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:27

Chorus - "At the sight of this"

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

4:41

"Lieutenant Bush, keep a weather eye on Oppenheimer"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brindley Sherratt, Aubrey Allicock, John Adams

1:32

"To what benevolent demon do I owe the joy of being thus surrounded"

John Adams, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gerald Finley, BBC Singers

2:42

"That's their signal!"

Gerald Finley, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:17

"The sky is clear to the east"

Jennifer Johnston, Marcus Farnsworth, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams

2:59

"In the midnight, in the flame-brilliant midnight"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams, Julia Bullock

3:06

"Zero minus two minutes"

BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Gerald Finley, John Adams

1:03

Countdown

BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, John Adams

6:05

John Adams

Composer
Ryuichi Sakamoto

Composer
Gerald Finley

Vocals
BBC Symphony Orchestra

Orchestra
Julia Bullock

Vocals

Friedemann Engelbrecht

Producer
René Möller

Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Editing Engineer
Wolfgang Schiefermair

Editing Engineer