Like many of John Adams’ operas, Doctor Atomic is based on recent world historical events—here, the effusive Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” anxiously awaits the bomb’s first test in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Adams adapted the work into a symphony, comprising its three main acts. In the second half of the program, Adams conducts his 2015 violin concerto, Scheherazade.2, which restages the tale of the One Thousand and One Nights heroine as a strong woman navigating a patriarchial society, incarnated by the solo violin part. The work was composed specifically for Canadian-American virtuoso Leila Josefowicz and co-commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, who perform it to perfection. The evening then closes out with Tromba Lontana, an orchestral fanfare written to mark the 150th anniversary of Texas’s independence from Mexico in 1836.

Registration of the theatre program by the Dutch comedian Brigitte Kaandorp.

Registration of the theatre program by the Dutch comedian Brigitte Kaandorp.

TV adaptation of Brigitte Kaandorp's theatre tour 'CD Opname', in wich the Dutch comedian Brigitte Kaandorp sings a selection from her songs, accompanied by 9 musicians.

TV adaptation of Brigitte Kaandorp's theatre tour 'CD Opname', in wich the Dutch comedian Brigitte Kaandorp sings a selection from her songs, accompanied by 9 musicians.

A beautiful, sensitive, reverent performance. Fischer allows Bach to speak with no unnecessary flourishes. Padmore as the Evangelist is superb, and the other soloists and choirs are near perfect. And of course the Concertgebouw orchestral musicians are absolutely first class.