The creation of atomic weapons by a team of scientists led by Robert Oppenheimer in 1945 had a powerful impact on nearly every aspect of American culture, so it's not surprising that composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars, two leading figures in contemporary opera, would collaborate on a piece about Oppenheimer and his notorious invention. In 2005, Adams and Sellars teamed up to create Doctor Atomic, an opera that focuses on Oppenheimer during the 48 hours before the first test of the atomic bomb, and filmmaker Jon ...
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The creation of atomic weapons by a team of scientists led by Robert Oppenheimer in 1945 had a powerful impact on nearly every aspect of American culture, so it's not surprising that composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars, two leading figures in contemporary opera, would collaborate on a piece about Oppenheimer and his notorious invention. In 2005, Adams and Sellars teamed up to create Doctor Atomic, an opera that focuses on Oppenheimer during the 48 hours before the first test of the atomic bomb, and filmmaker Jon Else -- whose credits include The Day After Trinity, an award-winning documentary on Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project -- chronicles the writing and staging of this performance piece in the film Wonders Are Many. Wonders Are Many intercuts footage about Oppenheimer's life and career with a detailed look at Adams and Sellars deep in the creative process as they rehearse their cast, work out their staging, struggle to complete last-minute changes in the music and libretto, and attend to hundreds of other details as the date of the premiere performance draws near. Originally created for broadcast on public television, Wonders Are Many also was screened at a number of major film festivals, including the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival. Mark Deming, Rovi
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Add this copy of Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic to cart. $8.99, new condition, Sold by Something Special 8192 rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Acworth, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by New Video Group.
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Peter Sellars, John Adams, Gerald Finley, Freeman Dyson, Ian Robertson. Run time: 94 mins. Originally released: 2008. Language: English. Factory Sealed Brand New DVD The spectacular opening to Jon Else's critically acclaimed WONDERS ARE MANY-nuclear blast after blast in the desert, under the ocean, high in space-intimates what is to follow: a profound and triumphant fusing of art and science, humanity and technology, destruction and creation. WONDERS ARE MANY: THE MAKING OF DOCTOR ATOMIC traces a dazzling double-helix trajectory: one thread follows composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars as they work to create Doctor Atomic, the strange and beautiful opera about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the first atomic bomb; the other recounts the actual historical events that underpin the stage drama. Masterfully interwoven with recently declassified footage of nuclear testing in the deserts of the Southwest and the frenetic backstage action of the San Francisco Opera, the film creates an explosive vortex of performers and physicists, past and present, all of which is anchored by the enigmatic figure of Oppenheimer and channeled into high art by the creative power of Adams and Sellars. A magnificent pastiche of potent elements, WONDERS ARE MANY allows us to see history-and ourselves-in a new light: we learn the humanity in science; the regret in discovery; and, unforgettably, the law that "matter can be neither created nor destroyed, " but only transformed.
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