Book Review

A Polish Renaissance
by Bernard Jacobson

This is one of the Phaidon series of books about contemporary composers, so it's got good breadth, but not necessarily a huge amount of analytical depth. This book focuses on 20th century Polish composers, specifically Andrzej Panufnik, Witold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Henryk Gorecki. I found the material really interesting - there's a lot of good information not just about the four composers but also about the contemporary music scene in Poland and the way composers dealt with the various Polish regimes of the 20th century. My only serious criticism of A Polish Renaissance is that Jacobson has a very clear bias towards Panufnik and to a lesser extent, Gorecki, while I am personally more interested in Penderecki and Lutoslawski.

Somebody set us up the bomb

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. And I did indeed have a wonderful day, because I went to the Fenway movie theater's live HD simulcast of today's Metropolitan Opera performance of John Adams' 2005 opera, Doctor Atomic, which is about the Manhattan Project. It takes place in Los Alamos during the two days leading up to the first test of the atomic bomb; Oppenheimer is the main character. The libretto, by Peter Sellars, is drawn from declassified government documents, communications among the main characters, interviews, poetry, and the Bhagavad Gita. The opera focuses mainly on the psychological turmoil of the main characters as they contemplate the meaning and consequences of what they are doing.
It's a beautiful opera, and Adam's treatment of the subject matter is amazing. Most of the the singing is in a style drawn from natural speech rhythms, yet still soaringly melodic. The instrumental writing retains minimalist aspects but does not rely on slowly shifting repetition. The orchestra effectively yet subtly illuminates both the action and the psychological turmoil of the libretto. Adams' sonorities are gorgeous, and his orchestration is amazing.
The staging is also quite good. The costumes and props are all period, which helps to give the production more realism. The bomb is a faithful reproduction of the original as seen in photos and films. I didn't realize this until I saw the interviews and background presentation shown during the intermission - I had sort of assumed that there was some artistic interpretation going on. I particularly liked the way they used a simple draping of white cloth to provide the backdrop of mountains in the New Mexico desert. They also made amazing effective use of projections on white surfaces of the set: showing the actual badge photos of the characters, projecting maps, calculations, and diagrams. The projections also were used to create the effect of rainstorms. The Met also did a good job of using the vertical space, relying on two movable walls constructed in the form of shadowboxes, with cubicles in which characters or chorus member could be placed. It all created a good balance of spaciousness and intimacy.
Act 1 concludes with an incredibly moving aria sung by Oppenheimer as he contemplates the completed bomb in solitude. The text is based on a sonnet by John Donne: "Batter my heart, three person'd god...". Gerald Finley, who plays Oppenheimer, is amazing: not only is he a terrific baritone, he is also a very good actor. The way he periodically gazes up at the bomb during this aria is a perfect reflection of the awe, doubt, and apprehension with which he infuses the music. It brought tears to my eyes.
The conclusion of the opera is also very moving. Both the music and the libretto do an excellent job of building up the tension during the last act. The lead up to the commencement of the test shot is a wonderful choral piece that uses text from the Bhagavad Gita describing a frightening vision of Vishnu appearing in the sky. However, Adams' does not depict the explosion of the bomb with a grand musical gesture or any attempt to sonically depict the moment of detonation. The final moments are eerily quiet. This production concludes with a brief spoken quotation in Japanese, which I assume comes from reports of the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These words provide a devastating reminder of the ultimate consequences of the Manhattan project, of the price paid, and of who paid it. It gives an emotional explosion instead of a sonic or dramatic one, and it is absolutely fitting.

ETA: After some internet research, I found out that the final quote come from John Hersey's Hiroshima.