English National Opera

5th March 2009

I don’t know anything about the atomic bomb. Well, that isn’t strictly true because I know a lot more about it now I’ve seen the opera and read the programme. But I wanted to see it with a completely ignorant mind because I don’t think you should need to do research in order to enjoy an opera. I’m not disputing that a bit of background reading can’t enhance your enjoyment of an opera, but the music, story and characters alone should be enough.

Many people would argue with that; others would go one step further and say the music is the only thing that matters. But I suppose it depends on your reasons for going to the opera. So perhaps I should rephrase it and say there shouldn’t be any need to do some background reading on Dr Atomic unless this is something you usually do in order to enjoy an opera. You should be able to enjoy Dr Atomic in the same way and for the same reasons that you’d enjoy any other opera.

I didn’t know who Richard Nixon, Chou En-lai or Mao Tse-tung were before I listened to the CD of Nixon in China. But I got to know a lot about them and the situation in China just by listening to the opera. And they seemed like such interesting people, I wanted to know more about them.

So let’s look at the music, story and characters of Dr Atomic. The music I really enjoyed. John Adams’ music, conducted by Lawrence Renes, is very atmospheric and tuneful, with a real sense that something exciting is going on. It tells you what’s happening even when you can’t follow all the scientific talk. The explosion of the bomb is very cleverly done. As Adams said in the programme, he can’t compete with anything a film director, for example, could create for the scene. So he doesn’t try – it’s quite simple but very unsettling. Adams could have gone for something a lot more dramatic, but I think that would have been a lot less successful.

The story and the characters, however, are a disappointment. Peter Sellars has created a ‘real’ libretto, inspired by the characters’ own words and by the poets the central character Oppenheimer admires. Most people seem to agree that ‘Batter my heart’, based on the John Donne sonnet, is a brilliant aria, and they’re probably right. I never really ‘got’ poetry, despite studying it as part of my English degree and ending up with one of the highest grades on my course. I could probably still dissect ‘Batter my heart’ just fine if I wanted to (I don’t), but for some reason I think I’m just incapable of ‘feeling’ poetry. So I’ll go along with everyone else and say ‘Batter my heart’ is fantastic, even though it seemed really odd to me that Oppenheimer would suddenly start spouting poetry in the middle of a scientific opera. And it was also disappointing, as I wanted him to sing something with original words that helped me to get to know him as a person. But it’s still an amazing aria.

The problem with giving a character words that were said by their real-life equivalent is that real life doesn’t always make good drama. Titanic was a hugely popular film, and no doubt the stunning special effects were a big part of that, but audiences were also lured in by the central romance. Never mind that the romance did not happen and never would have happened in a million years; no matter that A Night to Remember is a far more realistic account (and many would say a better film) - it’s not the realism that draws most people in. A Night to Remember does have characters that are based on real people, and it shows you a huge cross-section of society, showing people of all ages and classes, both passengers and workers on the ship, and shows them behaving realistically and conventionally. But A Night to Remember doesn’t give you the opportunity to get to know particular characters in depth, and people do care about knowing the characters.

And there aren’t many ‘characters’ in Dr Atomic. Oppenheimer himself is little more than science and poetry. Gerald Finley was absent, so the title role was taken by James Cleverton. Cleverton sang the role very nicely – if his voice seemed tired by the end, this is hardly surprising, as Oppenheimer has a lot to sing in a challenging tessitura. Cleverton also has unusually good diction for the ENO, but this wasn’t always a help as it wasn’t always clear what he was talking about. It will be interesting to see how Gerald Finley – the only singer until Cleverton stepped in ever to have sung the role of Oppenheimer – approaches the role.

There is a rather touching (if just slightly overlong) moment where General Groves tells Oppenheimer about his weight problems. Jonathan Veira is very sweet as Groves in this scene. But then he blends back into the background with all the other scientists, and I didn’t really see this side of his character again. Brindley Sherratt as physicist Edward Teller is commanding in the opening scene, and Thomas Glenn – who sings wonderfully – is at least vocally distinctive as Robert Wilson. But it should be possible to give each character a personality without losing the thrust of the narrative.

The inclusion of Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty was probably an attempt to bring a bit of humanity and normality into the opera. Unfortunately, Kitty is seriously annoying, and her attempt to seduce Oppenheimer painfully embarrassing. This could be because Sasha Cooke wasn’t used to sharing a bed with James Cleverton – opera singers usually aren’t trained actors after all, and being in bed with a stranger can be disconcerting even in a performance. Kitty just seemed pathetic and not particularly interesting. Yes, it’s very sad that her husband is more interested in his work than in her, but judging from what we see of Kitty, who can blame him? Cooke’s singing was horribly shrill, but as most critics have said completely the opposite, maybe I caught her on a bad night. Or maybe I’m just wrong, you never know!

Perhaps the most successful performer is Meredith Arwady as Pasqualita. It’s quite unusual to find a true contralto in opera, and many roles that would suit a contralto don’t have all that many low notes anyway. Pasqualita doesn’t have much character either, but for once I was just happy to listen to her Tewa-inspired music and her gorgeous voice.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that Dr Atomic probably is an opera where you need do some research before you go. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad opera, and I suppose some people could argue that it’s silly to go and see a performance that’s all about something you know nothing about. But then, I’ve read books about such diverse subjects as sundial making, glamour modelling and working in an office. I don’t own a sundial, I’m not a glamour model and I’ve never worked in an office, but that does not prevent me from understanding books about them. Similarly, I didn’t know anything about the Titanic before watching A Night to Remember when I was in Year 9. But I knew quite a lot about it by the end of the film. Why should opera be different?

Cunning Little Vixen

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk