Nixon in China
Nixon in China (1987) is an opera with music by the American composer John Adams and a libretto by Alice Goodman. It is about the visit of United States President Richard M. Nixon to China in 1972, where he met with China's Chairman Mao Zedong and other Chinese officials.
The work was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Houston Grand Opera and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, October 22, 1987 in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris.
The opera focuses on six key personalities: Nixon and his wife Pat; Jiang Qing (spelled "Chiang Ch'ing" in the libretto) and Chairman Mao ("Mao Tse-tung"); and the two close advisors to the two parties, Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai ("Chou En-lai"). It is composed of three acts. The first details the anticipation and arrival of the Nixon cortege and the first meeting and evening in China. The second act shifts focus to Pat Nixon, as she makes tours of rural China, including an encounter at a pig farm. The second scene includes a performance of a Communist propaganda play, in which first Pat Nixon, then her husband and then Jiang Qing, intercede in the performance. The last act chronicles the last night in China, in which the characters dance a foxtrot, their thoughts wandering to their own pasts.
Musically, the opera perhaps owes more influence to minimalism than any Asian styles. (John Adams adapted the foxtrot theme from the last act into a concert piece entitled "The Chairman Dances", published before the opera in 1985. In the intervening period, Adams switched publishers, hence the Foxtrot for Orchestra being published by G. Schirmer and the opera by Boosey & Hawkes.) The libretto, by contrast, was written completely in rhymed, metered couplets, reminiscent of poetic and theatrical styles native to China.
Performance history
Since 2000, several new productions of the opera have been staged and well received. In 2004, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presented the first major U.S. production following the 1987 premiere.[1] The production was staged by James Robinson, who was named the company's Artistic Director in 2008. Robinson's production went on to Chicago Opera Theater in 2006.[2]
The opera received its Canadian premiere in Vancouver by Vancouver Opera as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics' Cultural Olympiad[3][4] and is scheduled to be a part of the Canadian Opera Company's 2010/2011 season.[5] The Vancouver production was praised as "brilliantly effective" by David Gordon Duke of The Vancouver Sun.[6]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, October 22, 1987 (Conductor: John DeMain) |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Nixon | baritone | James Maddalena |
| Pat Nixon | soprano | Carolann Page |
| Chou En-lai | baritone | Sanford Sylvan |
| Mao Tse-tung | tenor | John Duykers |
| Henry Kissinger | bass | Thomas Hammons |
| Chiang Ch'ing | soprano | Trudy Ellen Craney |
| Nancy T'sang, first secretary to Mao | mezzo-soprano | Mari Opatz |
| Second secretary to Mao | alto | Stephanie Friedman |
| Third secretary to Mao | contralto | Marion Dry |
| Dancers, militia, citizens of Beijing | ||
Synopsis
Act 1
The opera begins at Beijing Airport. A detachment of Chinese troops marches on to the stage and sings a 1930s Red Army song, The Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention. As the soldiers wait, an airplane taxis and lands on the stage - the Nixons and Henry Kissinger disembark and are greeted by Chou Enlai. As Nixon is introduced to various Chinese officials by Chou, he sings of his hopes and fears for his historic visit.
Later, Richard Nixon and Kissinger visit Mao's study along with Chou. While Nixon attempts to set out his stall with a simplistic vision of peace between America and China, Mao wishes to discuss philosophy with Nixon and speaks in riddles. The visit is not entirely a success, and the elderly Mao is soon worn out. Chou departs with Nixon and Kissinger.
On the first night of the visit, a great feast for the American delegation is held in the Great Hall of the People. The Nixons and Chou gradually relax in one another's company as good food and strong drink takes its effect. Chou rises to make a toast to the American delegation, full of fulsome praise and wishes for peaceful co-existence. Nixon responds in kind, congratulating the Chinese for their hospitality and recanting his previous opposition to China. The party continues with mutual compliments and toasting.
Act 2
Pat Nixon is being escorted to various showcases of contemporary Chinese life - a glass factory, a health centre, pig farm and a primary school. However, the language of Pat's Chinese guides is stilted and formal - they hint darkly of the repressive side of Chinese life that lies underneath the façade shown to foreign dignitaries. Pat sings an aria of her own hopes for the future, a peaceful future of modesty and good neighbourliness, a future based on the values of the American heartland.
Later that night, the Nixons attend the Chinese opera, to see a piece written by Madam Mao called The Red Detachment of Women. The piece is a simplistic display of politicised music-theatre, with the oppressed peasants of a tropical island saved from their brutal landlord by heroic women of the Red Army.
However, somehow the main characters are drawn into the opera, each revealing their true nature, with Pat Nixon defending the weak, Kissinger siding with the brutal landlord and Madam Mao's desire to save the peasants at all costs leading her to become more brutal than the landlord was in the first place. Eventually, a riot develops on stage with Chou and Madam Mao on opposite sides - the opera has become a rerun of the Cultural Revolution.
Act 3
On the Americans' final night in Beijing, it has become apparent to all that there will be no great breakthrough – the Shanghai Communiqué is no more than words, a face-saving formula for the world's press to buy into. The main characters look back over their lives – the Maos and the Nixons look back to the struggles of their early years together, Richard Nixon recalls his younger days as a sailor. Only Chou looks deeper, asking "how much of what we did was good?", before casting doubts aside and wearily carrying on with his work.
Instrumentation
Woodwinds: 2 flutes (doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling English horn), 3 clarinets (1 E-flat, 2 B-flat), 4 saxophones (soprano, 2 alto, baritone)
Brass: 3 trumpets, 3 trombones
Percussion (1 player): bass drum, pedal bass drum, woodblock, suspended cymbal, snare drum, sandpaper blocks, tambourine, hi-hat, tenor drum, glockenspiel, slapping sound, triangle, sleigh bells.
Keyboards: 2 synthesizer or sampler
Strings: 6 1st violins, 6 2nd violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 4 double basses
Reception
In response to the opera's 1987 world premiere, a review by Donal Henahan in The New York Times was dismissive, commenting that it was "a visually striking but coy and insubstantial work".[7] A line from the same review - "Mr. Adams does for the arpeggio what McDonald's did for the hamburger"[7] - has been quoted by the composer as an extreme example of early criticism of the opera.[8] In contrast to this initial scepticism, when reviewing a 2006 London revival Erica Jeal of The Guardian stated that "Nixon in China has been arguably the most influential opera of the past 20 years", pioneering the genre of the "CNN opera".[9] This growth in reputation was to a significant measure driven by the 1988 recording with the original cast and the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by Edo de Waart (Nonesuch Records 79177).[citation needed]
References
- ^ von Rhein, John. "St. Louis tuning up for Chicago", Chicago Tribune, Chicago, June 24, 2004
- ^ Delacoma, Wynne (14 May 2006). "Nixon before the Fall". Chicago Sun-Times. Digital Chicago.
- ^ Vancouver Opera Events Listing, 2009.
- ^ Smith, Janet. "Vancouver Opera's Nixon in China an artful triumph", Straight.com: Vancouver's Online Source, Vancouver, March 14, 2010.
- ^ Canadian Opera Company Events Listing, 2010.
- ^ Duke, David Gordon. "Vancouver Opera's 'Nixon in China' a brilliant Canadian premiere", The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, March 16, 2010.
- ^ a b Henahan, Donal. "Opera: Nixon in China", The New York Times, New York, October 24, 1987.
- ^ John Adams - A Portrait and Concert of American Music. [DVD] Arthaus Musik.
- ^ Jeal, Erica. "Nixon in China", The Guardian, London, June 19, 2006.
External links
- Nixon in China page from John C. Adams' official site
- "Nixon in China: A Great American Opera", by Patrick J. Smith (Portland Opera 2005–2006 season webpage)
- "Nixon in China", review by James Wierzbicki, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 1987.
- "Nixon in China", review by Julie DuRose on Aisle Say website.
- JAMES R. OESTREICH (June 17, 2008). "Music Review The Nixonian Psyche, With Arias and a Bluish Glow". The New York Times.
- "Nixon In China", English National Opera @ Coliseum, London: Helen Wright