Nixon in China (opera) - John Adams (creator) (1987)
Title
Nixon in China (opera) - John Adams (creator) (1987)
Subject
Houston's Opera House (Klamath Falls, Or.)
Presidents in art
President Richard Nixon
URL
Part 1
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 2
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 3
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 4
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 5
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 6
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 7
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 8
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 9
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 10
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 11
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 12
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 13
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 14
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 15
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 16
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Part 17
To open full-screen view in a new tab, start video and click the Youtube icon at the bottom of the embedded video.
Description
Content description from Wikipedia.org (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_in_China):
Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris. When Sellars approached Adams with the idea for the opera in 1983, Adams was initially reluctant, but eventually decided that the work could be a study in how myths come to be, and accepted the project. Goodman's libretto was the result of considerable research into Nixon's visit, though she disregarded most sources published after the 1972 trip.
To create the sounds he sought, Adams augmented the orchestra with a large saxophone section, additional percussion, and electronic synthesizer. Although sometimes described as minimalist, the score displays a variety of musical styles, embracing minimalism after the manner of Philip Glass alongside passages echoing 19th-century composers such as Wagner and Johann Strauss. With these ingredients, Adams mixes Stravinskian 20th-century neoclassicism, jazz references, and big band sounds reminiscent of Nixon's youth in the 1930s. The combination of these elements varies frequently, to reflect changes in the onstage action.
Following the 1987 premiere, the opera received mixed reviews; some critics dismissed the work, predicting it would soon vanish. However, it has been presented on many occasions since, in both Europe and North America, and has been recorded twice. In 2011, the opera received its Metropolitan Opera debut, a production based on the original sets, and in the same year was given an abstract production in Toronto by the Canadian Opera Company. Recent critical opinion has tended to recognize the work as a significant and lasting contribution to American opera.
Ephemera: None available.
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris. When Sellars approached Adams with the idea for the opera in 1983, Adams was initially reluctant, but eventually decided that the work could be a study in how myths come to be, and accepted the project. Goodman's libretto was the result of considerable research into Nixon's visit, though she disregarded most sources published after the 1972 trip.
To create the sounds he sought, Adams augmented the orchestra with a large saxophone section, additional percussion, and electronic synthesizer. Although sometimes described as minimalist, the score displays a variety of musical styles, embracing minimalism after the manner of Philip Glass alongside passages echoing 19th-century composers such as Wagner and Johann Strauss. With these ingredients, Adams mixes Stravinskian 20th-century neoclassicism, jazz references, and big band sounds reminiscent of Nixon's youth in the 1930s. The combination of these elements varies frequently, to reflect changes in the onstage action.
Following the 1987 premiere, the opera received mixed reviews; some critics dismissed the work, predicting it would soon vanish. However, it has been presented on many occasions since, in both Europe and North America, and has been recorded twice. In 2011, the opera received its Metropolitan Opera debut, a production based on the original sets, and in the same year was given an abstract production in Toronto by the Canadian Opera Company. Recent critical opinion has tended to recognize the work as a significant and lasting contribution to American opera.
Ephemera: None available.
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Original Format
TV broadcast recorded off air by JWK: Betamax tape
Creator
John Adams (creator)
Alice Goodman (librettist)
Peter Sellars (producer)
Mark Morris (choreography)
Publisher
Public Broadcasting Company
Date
1987
Citation
“Nixon in China (opera) - John Adams (creator) (1987),” Cross-Cultural Dance Resources Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://ccdrcollections.omeka.net/items/show/208.