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Opera Southwest is ushering in Halloween by pairing a psychological thriller with a symphony about the horrors of the bomb.

The musicians will perform B茅la Bart贸k鈥檚 chilling one-act opera 鈥淏luebeard鈥檚 Castle鈥� with John Adams鈥� 鈥淒octor Atomic Symphony.鈥�

The concert is slated for three performances on Sunday, Oct. 22, Friday, Oct. 27, and Sunday, Oct. 29, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

鈥淏luebeard鈥檚 Castle鈥� is the story of Judith, the young new wife of the menacing Duke Bluebeard, who unlocks the seven forbidden doors in her husband鈥檚 castle, only to be confronted by the women he has already loved and murdered.

The libretto is based on a French fairy tale.

鈥淏luebeard is a wealthy older duke who has married a much younger wife,鈥� said Tony Zancanella, executive director of Opera Southwest. 鈥淗e鈥檚 brought her to the castle for the first time. She asks him all these questions about what鈥檚 behind each door. He says, 鈥楧on鈥檛 ask me.鈥� 鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a metaphor for the internal dialogue between the prototypical masculine and feminine sides of the brain.鈥�

Or it could form a message warning women not to ask their husbands about former lovers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more symbolic than operatic,鈥� Zancanella said. 鈥淭he orchestra is quite big, and it uses a lot of color. The orchestra can鈥檛 fit into the pit of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, so the orchestra will be on the stage.鈥�

Meow Wolf installation artists Lance Ryan McGoldrick and David Cudney are designing works to appear behind the doors. This marks the opera鈥檚 third collaboration with the two artists; the first was in Richard Wagner鈥檚 鈥淟ohengrin鈥� in 2019.

Bart贸k composed his Symbolist opera in 1911 with a Hungarian libretto by his friend and poet B茅la Bal谩zs.

鈥淭he music underneath is doing something intimate and unique,鈥� Zancanella said.

鈥淏art贸k is a master of color and orchestration.鈥�

Adams wrote the 鈥淒octor Atomic Symphony鈥� based on his opera 鈥淒octor Atomic,鈥� the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb. Adams lifted music from the overture with various interludes and orchestral settings, including arias like Oppenheimer鈥檚 signature 鈥淏atter My Heart.鈥�

Zancanella sees some historic threads tying 鈥淏luebeard鈥檚 Castle鈥� to 鈥淒octor Atomic.鈥�

鈥淚t almost kind of bookends the 20th century,鈥� he said. 鈥淏luebeard comes out of this pre-World War I Viennese milieu. So much of that world has disappeared. At the end, you reach modernism in the second half, with World War II modernism bracketed together. There are parallels going on between the two things. The castle itself is a major driver of the drama 鈥� it breathes; it makes noise. Similarly, the bomb is active in the music.鈥�