What would you do if you have made a great invention that has the potential to destruct the whole world?
Welcome to the world of Doctor Atomic: thé story about the disastrous impact of the urge to create. Opera and science meet at an immersive festival. Experience the thrilling opera Doctor Atomic in July 2023 in the Werkspoorkathedraal!
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Performances
Thursday 13th of July – Premiere
Saturday 15th of July
Monday 17th of July
Wednesday 19th of July
Friday 21st of July
Sunday 23rd of July
Tuesday 25th of July
Doors open at 17:00
Start of the festival: 17:30
Start of the opera: 19:30
About the opera
J. Robert Oppenheimer is the physicist leading the secret weapons laboratory department of the Manhattan Project. Together with a team of top scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico, he is developing the world’s first nuclear bomb. In the opera, eight historical figures are represented, and the last weeks, minutes, and seconds before the first detonation are described.
Doctor Atomic was created in 2005, composed by John Adams with a libretto by Peter Sellars. The collaborations of Adams and Sellars have been successful in the past. They are known to expose politically and socially controversial topics without passing judgment or making a statement. An opera on the creation of the nuclear bomb suits them very well!
Festival
Doctor Atomic is more than an opera: a ticket includes a visit to the festival built around the thrilling story. During the festival, you will experience the exciting events of the first nuclear test in 1945 during the Manhattan Project. You get to know what creation and destruction mean in everyday life with art, music, and inspiring speakers!
History
Thijl (2018)
In 2018, the biggest Dutch opera Thijl was brought to life again by Stichting LustrumOpera. At the National Military Museum this opera from Jan van Gilse has been performed for the first time in 38 years! The performance of the story about Thijl, a resistance fighter during the 80-years war in Vlaanderen, was a great success: the opera was published widely in national and international newspapers and was even nominated for the International Opera Awards! Read more about Thijl at www.thijl2018.nl
Rheingold op de Rijn (2013)
200 years after the birth of the composer Richard Wagner, the opera Das Rheingold and the symphonic show The Wagner Experience were performed for the first time at a sailing cargo ship on the Rhine. The floating theater followed the Rhine to six cities in the Netherlands and Germany. The unique experience of the music and the theater on a boat created an unforgettable evening!
The opera received the Schaunard Award of Place de l’Opera.
Partners
Doctor Atomic is a production from Stichting LustrumOpera.
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