Nixon in China (opera)
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- For other meanings, see Nixon in China.
Nixon in China is an opera, with music by John Adams and a libretto by Alice Goodman, about the visit of Richard Nixon to China in 1972, where he met with Mao Zedong.
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 is comprised 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, then Chiang Ching 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.
The opera takes an interesting perspective on the historical meeting by focusing on the personalities and personal histories of the six key players, Nixon and his wife Pat, Chiang Ching and Chairman Mao, and the two close advisors to the two parties, Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai.
Musically, the opera perhaps owes more influence to 1940s big band dance music than any Asian styles, and John Adams adapted the foxtrot theme from the last act into a concerto style piece entitled "The Chairman Dances".
A recording was made in 1988 with the original cast and the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s conducted by Edo de Waart (Nonesuch 79177).