Richard Paul Fink to play Teller in `Doctor Atomic' opera

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Acclaimed baritone Richard Paul Fink is taking over the part of Edward Teller in the San Francisco Opera's world premiere production of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic."

Fink, whose noted roles include the title role in Wagner's "Der Fliegende Hollander," Telramund in Wagner's "Lohengrin" and Alberich in Wagner's Ring Cycle, was chosen to replace Friedemann Rohlig after the part was rewritten for a high bass/baritone instead of a low bass. After rehearsals began, Rohlig agreed to withdraw from the production in favor of a better suited voice, the company said in a news release Friday.

"Doctor Atomic," directed by Peter Sellars, is the story of how physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team, racing against Hitler, created the world's first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. The production stars baritone Gerald Finley as Oppenheimer and mezzo-soprano Kristine Jepson as the scientist's wife, Kitty. Jepson replaced Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who is recovering from a back injury.

The show opens Oct. 1.