The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959) Joseph M. Newman, Joel Mccrea, Julie Adams, John Mcintire, Western

John Adams’ 2005 opera explores the personal and moral issues surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb. Captured live in concert, it has colossal power and conviction. At its center is Gerald Finley’s commanding performance as Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist wracked by doubts. Having sung it at the premiere and many times since, he produces a magnificently characterized creation. Julia Bullock, Brindley Sherratt, Samuel Sakker, and Andrew Staples are all superb in supporting roles and Adams himself draws virtuoso playing from a truly galvanized BBC Symphony Orchestra. A major recording of a modern operatic classic.

John Adams’ 2005 opera explores the personal and moral issues surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb. Captured live in concert, it has colossal power and conviction. At its center is Gerald Finley’s commanding performance as Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist wracked by doubts. Having sung it at the premiere and many times since, he produces a magnificently characterized creation. Julia Bullock, Brindley Sherratt, Samuel Sakker, and Andrew Staples are all superb in supporting roles and Adams himself draws virtuoso playing from a truly galvanized BBC Symphony Orchestra. A major recording of a modern operatic classic.

In purgatory, the Ghosts of Versailles are waiting impatiently for Beaumarchais' new play: what if he manages to save Marie Antoinette from the scaffold? Here is Count Almaviva, the famous Figaro, but also Rosina and Cherubino, plunged into a thousand twists and turns to make the famous Queen's Necklace disappear, thwarting the spies of the Revolution. But the situation escapes it's creator, and Beaumarchais must himself become involved in the trial of the Queen - with whom he is in love? With assumed brio, Corigliano's music navigates between Mozart and Rossini, and takes the audience into an unexpected opera, all the characters of which are familiar to us! The Ghosts of Versailles are indeed there, and will fulfil their destiny once again…