'Doctor Atomic' counts down to Chicago premiere

American composer John Adams' Chicago connection continues to grow.

For years, he has had a strong working relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, most recently seeing the CSO premiere of his "Harmonielehre" in mid-October.

Chicago Opera Theater gave the Chicago premiere of Adams' critically acclaimed "Nixon in China" in 2006 at the Harris Theater, and next spring COT will offer the composer's "A Flowering Tree," which was premiered this summer in Vienna.

But the big bang (excuse the pun) will take place Friday when "Doctor Atomic" opens at Lyric Opera of Chicago for eight performances through Jan. 19.

Like "Nixon in China," a docu-opera depicting a historic 20th century event, "Doctor Atomic" tells the human side of the first atomic bomb test in July 1945 at Los Alamos, N.M. The protagonist is Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the Manhattan Project.

"Oppenheimer was quite a fan of metaphysical poetry, and he knew his John Donne inside and out," said Peter Sellars, "Doctor Atomic's" stage director and librettist, who has collaborated on all five of Adams' stage works.

Related coverage Review: Lyric Opera offers captivating new theater with 'Doctor Atomic' [12/15/07] Sellars, Adams pair in return to Lyric [12/14/07] 'Doctor Atomic' counts down to Chicago premiere [12/13/07] "From (Donne's) poem 'Batter my heart, three-person'd God' came the term 'Trinity Test Site.' Only a man like Oppenheimer would name a nuclear test site Trinity with that kind of apocalyptic sense of the beginning and the end of the world," Sellars said.That poem, in fact, has been turned into a key aria sung by Oppenheimer at the close of the first act.Oppenheimer will be portrayed by Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, who created the role for the opera's world premiere in November 2005 at the San Francisco Opera and reprised it at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam. "Doctor Atomic" is a joint commission of the Lyric and those two opera companies."I think there's a great luxury here in Chicago of having most of the original cast from San Francisco and Amsterdam, because those parts become more grounded, and there are fundamentals which can then be built upon as the piece matures," Finley said.Finley, who now lives in England with his two sons, praises Adams' music highly."From a lyrical and singing point of view, his ability to spin melody is never in doubt," he said. "There are very demanding vocal passages, which incorporate leaps and rhythms, along with quite physical and vocal elements. But for me, John's instinctive musical response is that he's always interested in the character."There's never really anything beyond the character. He never writes vocal lines just for the sake of knitting music."Finley feels as one with both Oppenheimer the real person and the operatic role."He becomes, if you like, the fulcrum of the great pendulum swinging between the excitement of being part of the scientific community working on incredibly physical and mathematical problems and seeing the potential of success; then bringing back toward the moral responsibility," Finley said. "The wonderful thing about Oppenheimer was he could see both sides."Sellars goes even further, calling Oppenheimer, who grew up on the culturally elite upper West Side of Manhattan, "an elegant and magnificent human being, truly one of the most extraordinarily cultivated human beings who ever set foot on the planet."Sellars worked with costume designer Dunya Ramicova in creating Oppenheimer's "look" for the opera, including the porkpie hat he wore during his months at Los Alamos. "His famous silhouette was with that hat," Sellars said. "And that hat always set him apart in any crowd, and you'll see that onstage."Of course, by the time of the week of this opera, in July 1945, he weighed 98 pounds and was smoking 20 packs a day. He was a mess; he was a bundle of nerves. You'll see this in Gerald Finley's incredible performance. Gerald's performance is now so nuanced; to watch an opera singer chain-smoking onstage is so incredible!"The reason for Oppenheimer's physical and mental distress was the moral dilemma he faced knowing that the power that he, Edward Teller and their scientific team were about to unleash had the potential to destroy mankind.One prominent change to the opera was made following the 2005 San Francisco premiere. The role of Kitty Oppenheimer has been changed from a mezzo-soprano to a soprano, to be performed here by American Jessica Rivera."Kitty Oppenheimer was a mezzo and Pasqualita (another character) was a contralto, so the women's roles were quite dark-toned," Sellars said. "And, of course, John likes writing for baritones, and just about everyone else onstage is a baritone. So it was just a very dark texture, and John realized that if he lifted Kitty to a soprano, this ringing voice could cut through all that texture."Jessica Rivera's voice is so warm, as are her presence and her being. John was creating 'A Flowering Tree' for her, and then he told me, 'You know, she should do Kitty!' " Sellars said.Adams and Sellars also realized Kitty Oppenheimer virtually disappeared after the opera's first act, so they created a final scene for her to add balance to the role."When he first wrote the opera for San Francisco, John didn't want to compose any more music," Sellars said. "He thought the opera made perfect sense musically, so we left out a closing scene I had written for Kitty. But once we got the opera up, we realized Kitty's role doesn't arrive anywhere, so in the intervening months. John composed the scene. It's marvelous, and it exploits Jessica Rivera's beautiful high range.""Doctor Atomic"What: An opera in two acts by John Adams, with libretto and stage direction by Peter Sellars; conducted by Robert Spano.Where: Ardis Krainik Theatre, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago.When: First performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 12, 15 and 19; 2 p.m. Jan. 5.Tickets: Call (312) 332-2244, ext. 5600, or visit lyricopera.org, for availability and reservations. Prices vary by day and seat location.