Last night, I saw the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Doctor Atomic by John Adams. I’ve been going to the Met more or less regularly since about 1981 or thereabouts (that’s since I was a young teenager, for those of you keeping track), and this is the best production of anything I’ve ever seen there, no question. The singing isn’t perfect all around, but it was pretty damn strong, and Gerald Finley, who sang J. Robert Oppenheimer, gave one of the two or three best performances I’ve ever seen at the Met. And the work itself is unbelievably powerful. I’ve never in any opera house, and I do mean never, seen anything as moving as the first act finale. If you’re in New York and you have any chance whatsoever to go, go. Don’t see it in HD if you can help it — go see it at the opera house if at all possible. $30 orchestra tickets are available, but you have to get there early and wait on line.

Last night, I saw the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Doctor Atomic by John Adams. I’ve been going to the Met more or less regularly since about 1981 or thereabouts (that’s since I was a young teenager, for those of you keeping track), and this is the best production of anything I’ve ever seen there, no question. The singing isn’t perfect all around, but it was pretty damn strong, and Gerald Finley, who sang J. Robert Oppenheimer, gave one of the two or three best performances I’ve ever seen at the Met. And the work itself is unbelievably powerful. I’ve never in any opera house, and I do mean never, seen anything as moving as the first act finale.

If you’re in New York and you have any chance whatsoever to go, go. Don’t see it in HD if you can help it — go see it at the opera house if at all possible. $30 orchestra tickets are available, but you have to get there early and wait on line.