Crouch, Zuber, Etc. Set for Adams and Minghella Operas

The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera (ENO) are joining forces for two collaborations in future seasons: a new co-production of John Adams's Doctor Atomic, directed by Penny Woolcock, and a co-production of the new opera by Osvaldo Golijov and Anthony Minghella that has been commissioned by the Met. Doctor Atomic will premiere in New York on October 13, 2008—marking the first time an opera by Adams will be performed at the Met—and then appear at ENO in February 2009. The Golijov and Minghella commission will be work-shopped by ENO and is tentatively scheduled to premiere at ENO in 2010 and at the Met during the 2011-12 season.

 "Our collaboration with ENO increases the potential for artistic success. The combined resources of our companies and schedules allow for greater artistic preparation and development that these new works demand," said Met General Manager Peter Gelb. "In the case of Doctor Atomic, I believe that this monumental work by John Adams is of such merit that it deserves a production created uniquely for our two stages."

ENO Artistic Director John Berry said, "ENO is delighted to be continuing its close artistic partnership with the Metropolitan Opera on these challenging projects. Our recent critical and public success with Philip Glass's Satyagraha and previously with John Adams's Nixon in China demonstrates an increasing audience appetite for innovative, contemporary work.  To be involved in the creation of a new opera by Golijov and Minghella is a thrilling prospect."

Argentinean-American composer Osvaldo Golijov will write the music for the new opera commissioned by the Met and co-produced by ENO. Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella, who made his Met debut in 2006 directing an acclaimed staging of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, first seen at ENO in 2005, will write the libretto and direct the production.  The Met first announced Golijov's commission in February 2006 as part of the company's renewed efforts to commission operas from contemporary composers, present modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, and provide a venue for artists to nurture their work.

Woolcock, who directed the 2002 movie version of John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer, will make her opera directing debut with the new production of Doctor Atomic. Improbable theater's Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter), who makes his ENO and Met debut as associate director and designer of Philip Glass's Satyagraha, will design the sets. Tony Award-winning designer Catherine Zuber (The Coast of Utopia, The Light in the Piazza), who made her Met debut last season with the Met's new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, will design the costumes. Tony Award-winning artist Brian MacDevitt (The Coast of Utopia, The Pillowman) will be the lighting designer. Alan Gilbert, the newly appointed Music Director Designate of the New York Philharmonic, will make his Met debut conducting the new production. At ENO, the conductor will be Lawrence Renes in his UK opera debut. Gerald Finley will sing the role of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer in both New York and London, reprising his acclaimed portrayal of the title role.

These Met-ENO co-productions are the third and fourth collaborations between the two companies, following Anthony Minghella's celebrated production of Madama Butterfly that opened the Met's 2006-07 season, and Philip Glass's Satyagraha, which opened in London to critical praise in April 2007 and became ENO's best-selling contemporary work in more than 20 years. Satyagraha premieres at the Met on April 11, 2008.        

The world premiere of Doctor Atomic took place on October 1, 2005, at the San Francisco Opera. John Adams's third opera, Doctor Atomic "focuses on the events leading to the first atomic bomb test explosion in the New Mexico desert. The libretto, adapted by Peter Sellars from original documents, memoirs, interviews, and other contemporary sources, portrays the conflicting interests and emotions of the individuals involved in the Manhattan Project, particularly those of the scientist in charge, J. Robert Oppenheimer," state press notes.

Photo of Catherine Zuber by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.