Amsterdam

Dear Family and Friends,

Here I am safe in Amsterdam, living in a broom-closet of an apartment. The weather is cold and rainy, but at least I have internet, cable tv and a warm blanket.

I'm here singing with the Netherlands Opera, preparing the second production of John Adams' new opera, "Doctor Atomic." It's an opera, based on the events surrounding the development and first testing of the Atomic Bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and a treatment of the moral dilemma of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese in order to acheive an end to WWII. My character is a young scientist on the project who petitions the powers that be, on behalf of many of the working scientists, not to use the bomb in a combat situation; but, rather, to invite the Japanese to view the test, hoping that that will instill enough deterence to produce a cease-fire. Anyway, rehearsals are going well. We have 4 more weeks before we open and I've already staged every scene.

So, Amsterdam, as you may well know, is a coastal town on the north sea, north of Germany and East of Belgium. The centre of town, where I live, is broken up by a series of canals built in concentric rings. One of these canals, lies below my apartment and I can hear the sound of ducks disturbing the water every evening as they dodge the occasional passing tour boat or rowing crew. This is one of the dirtier places I've lived in Europe. Nevertheless, the local architecture and cobblestone transform the litter and street persons into characteristic ornaments.

I don't speak a lick of Dutch. It's a strange language. Someone told me that it's a mix of German and English, but I don't hear that... Maybe a lot of German, but the intonation and contraction is so idiosyncratic that I can't break down the syntax. Not to worry. Nederlanders are obliged, by reason of their small sovereignty, to communicate with their sizeable neighbours, i.e. Germany, France/Belgium and England. So everyone here speaks all of those languages, particularly English. It's a business imperative, especially when dealing with American and English tourists, (Which aren't the rudest, by the way... The Germans are nefarious tourists - very loud and messy...)

I must say that it's a beautiful thing to work in a country whose government supports the arts. The Opera building is enormous and the employees are many. The opera has its own cashier who, on the first day, told me that he could disburse any amount of my fee to me at any time. This is unheard of. Usually I just get a check at the intermissions. I love Europe (yeah, just wait 'til I have to pay taxes...).

My daughters, Audrey and Bronwyn had their 8th birthday this week. I was really excited for them (although we celebrated last week together). I don't know where the time went for them to grow up so fast. We try to talk every day via ichat - video conferencing, but with nine hours difference I must either contact them at 5pm (the few minutes before they go to school) or wait up until midnight (no fun).

Well, I'm going to go out for a walk because I'm sick of sitting around.

loves,

-Thomas Glenn

Links

http://www.dno.nl/index.php?m=performances&sm=season&sea=21&s=173