[Marxism] Wonders are Many

[Louis Proyect]

Now available from Netflix, the documentary “Wonders Are Many” is a 
behind the scenes look at John Adams’s opera “Doctor Atomic”, which 
premiered at the San Francisco opera house on October 1, 2005. It allows 
both Adams and director Peter Sellars to explain their various artistic 
decisions as well as providing background on the Los Alamos project and 
its chief administrator Robert Oppenheimer, the “doctor atomic” upon 
whom the opera is based.

John Adams has been grouped with Philip Glass and Steve Reich as a 
leading minimalist composer, although I find his music to be a bit more 
complex and traditional in some ways. Adams is somewhat younger than 
Glass and Reich and his music has been described as post-minimalist. 
What distinguishes Adams from other composers is his focus on politics. 
His first opera, written in 1987, was “Nixon Goes to China”. It was 
described as “coy and insubstantial” in the New York Times but was most 
notable, in my opinion, for its music.

full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/wonders-are-many/