Nixon in China, the Opera by John Adams. Arrival, Act I.
(Shown above is James Maddalena (left) and Janis Kelly (second from right) as Richard and Pat Nixon with dancer Haruno Yamazaki and Kanji Segawa in Adam’s “Nixon in China.” Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera Taken during the rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 25, 2011.)
Nixon made his historic trip to China in 1972, though Henry Kissinger’s trips to plan the event were kept secret from both the international press and most of political establishment. News of the trip came as a shock to fellow Republicans who were no lovers of Chairman Mao’s Chinese Communist regime.
The Nixons arrive in Beijing. Janis Kelly as Pat Nixon and James Maddalena as Richard Nixon. English National Opera production photo: Alastair Muir.
While the music of Adams’ score is constructed in minimalist style, it is far from boring or repetitious. Part of this is due to the intensity of the libretto which reflects the historic nature of Nixon in China. The libretto by Alice Goodman is written completely in rhymed, metered couplets, reminiscent of poetic and theatrical styles native to China.
While some think the opera is the best new work in the past thirty years, others demur. For example, a review by Donal Henahan in The New York Times was dismissive, commenting that it was “a visually striking but coy and insubstantial work”. A line from the same review – “Mr. Adams does for the arpeggio what McDonald’s did for the hamburger” – has been quoted by the composer as an extreme example of early criticism of the opera. Others sneeringly cited it as the birth of “CNN Opera”.
It is one of the handful of 20th Century operas that will survive into future centuries.
“This is partly because Adams and Goodman have concentrated less on the outward signs of the historic trip-the arrival, the banquets, the sightseeing-than on the inward aspects: how the main characters react. And each main character is subtly drawn: Nixon, the wardhouse politico, down-to-earth but always alert to appearances on the world stage, and shrewd enough to take advantage of the knowledge of his sidekick Henry Kissinger (the only character treated badly in the opera). Pat Nixon, the dutiful and loving wife, a Norman Rockwell portrait but a sympathetic one, devoted to her husband and her country. Mao, the old warrior receding into history, and only tangentially connected to what is transpiring, but still alive enough to insist on his focal place in that history, and his wife Chiang Ch’ing, the notorious supporter of the Cultural Revolution, who is still capable of vicious revolutionary action.” - Patrick J. Smith, Portland Opera
In this first clip of the Met’s production, we see the political dance that greeted Nixons visit. The peasants, featuring dancers Haruno Yamazaki and Kanji Segawa demonstrate how they fought to make China Communist.
In the second video above, we see a different production featuring John Duykers as Chairman Mao in the library scene from John Adams’ Nixon in China. Also featured in this fine clip are The Met’s Nixon James Maddalena and Thomas Hammons as Kissinger.
Adams to Conduct his own opera
The Metropolitan Opera will present its first-ever performances of John Adams’ Nixon in China beginning February 2, with the composer conducting his own score. The Met’s new production, staged by internationally acclaimed director Peter Sellars, will star James Maddalena as Richard Nixon, a role he created at the opera’s world premiere in 1987 and has performed at leading opera houses around the world. Nixon in China will also feature Janis Kelly as Pat Nixon, Kathleen Kim as Chiang Ch’ing, Robert Brubaker as Mao Tse-tung, Russell Braun as Chou En-lai, and Richard Paul Fink as Henry Kissinger.
A scene from Adams’s “Nixon in China.” English National Opera production photo: Alastair Muir.
Nixon in China to be telecast by the Metropolitan Opera
American poet and libretto writer Alice Goodman, also collaborated with Adams and Sellars on the opera The Death of Klinghoffer. The Met’s production will feature the work of the world premiere production’s design team, including set designer Adrianne Lobel, costume designer Dunya Ramicova, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and choreographer Mark Morris.
Nixon in China will be experienced by millions of people around the world this season in movie theaters, on the radio, and on the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners.
The February 12 matinee will be transmitted to more than 1,500 movie theaters in more than 40 countries globally as part of The Met: Live in HD series
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The February 2 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79, as will the February 9 and 12 performances.
The February 2 performance will also be available via internet streaming at the Met’s web site www.metopera.org. The February 12 matinee will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.
