John Adams: Nixon in China
Besides the landing on the moon by the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, Richard Nixon’s meeting with China’s leader Mao Zedong in February 1972 then represented one of the biggest media spectacles in history. Nixon himself established the reference between the two events: “We came in peace for all mankind” not only marked the lunar module Eagle’s landing spot – Nixon also spoke of it into the microphones just before his departure to China. It was not John Adam’s aim to create a superficial or even a caricaturing representation of Nixon’s visit when composing his opera. He attempted to create a “heroic opera” about the construction of modern myths by using archetypical characters and situations. Director Marco Štorman stages Adams’ minimal music opera as a deconstruction review about the power of images, the politics of staging and the staging of politics.
Release Date: 2019-05-11
Official website: https://www.staatsoper-stuttgart.de/en/schedule/a-z/nixon-in-china/
Michael Mayes
Richard Nixon
Matthias Klink
Mao Tse-tung
Katherine Manley
Pat Nixon
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod
Chiang Ch’ing
Shigeo Ishino
Henry Kissinger
Jarett Ott
Chou En-lai
Ida Ränzlöv
First Secretary to Mao
Fiorella Hincapié
Second Secretary to Mao
Luise von Garnier
Third Secretary to Mao