Comments on: Nixon in China, Houston Grand Opera, 1987

Nixon in China, Houston Grand Opera, 1987

Navelgazer — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:20:45 -0800

We've had excerpts before, but this is the full performance. Nixon in China, with music by John Adams, libretto by Alice Goodman and choreography by Mark Morris. Directed by Peter Sellars, conducted by John DeMain, and presented by Walter Chronkite. Houston Grand Opera, 1987. Parts 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:58:12 -0800

It's Peter Sellers and Walter Cronkite.

By: Navelgazer

Navelgazer — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:03:29 -0800

I'll give you Cronkite (sorry about that one) but no, in this case, it's Sellars.

By: Bromius

Bromius — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:04:12 -0800

No, it's Sellars. Also, it's coming to the Met in 2011! I, for one, can't wait.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:08:37 -0800

Whoa. Lucky guy. It's a shame my last name isn't Rockafeller.

By: immlass

immlass — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:29:25 -0800

Department of things I woulda, coulda, shoulda when I was at Rice. Middle age is full of youthful regrets about operas you didn't see.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:46:46 -0800

Awesome. I love the score, but I've never actually seen it. The only thing is that I'm not crazy about watching it cut up into bits on YouTube. A little googling told me where I can buy in on DVD for $10.

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:58:32 -0800

Even better than "Nixon in China" (in my opinion) is "Foxtrot for Orchestra," a piece Adams wrote as a study for the opera. It shares themes with the opera but is it's own piece. You can listen to it on this NPR page. Click the little icon under "Hear the Music." (Mao was married to a movie actress. You can here her theme when "minimalism" gives way to a swelling, romantic, Hollywood sound.) It's about 13-minutes long. Whenever I listen to it, and it gets to the end, I can't bare it being over. I play it again. I think one day I listened to it five times in a row.

By: Navelgazer

Navelgazer — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:10:25 -0800

grumblebee: I've been sucked into Civilzation IV for the past month to an unhealthy degree. I just came across Nixon in China earlier today when a friend linked me to it, and damned if several of the most amazing earwormy pieces of score from Civ IV don't come directly from this (notably "The Chairman Dances" and whatever the Chinese opening number is called (you know what I mean - "The people are the heroes now...") Amazing stuff indeed.

By: randomkeystrike

randomkeystrike — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:13:35 -0800

The phrase "Nixon in China" has the same rhythm as the phrase "Springtime for Hitler," I just realized. Coincidence?

By: griphus

griphus — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:34:02 -0800

Well, I haven't seen this one but I'll wait for your Doctor Atomic FPP so I can bitch about Adams and Sellars there.

By: Faux Real

Faux Real — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:35:14 -0800

THERATSBEGINTOCHEWTHESHEETS THERATS THERATSBEGINTOCHEWTHESHEETS (There's murmuring down below!) It's Prime Time in the USA!

By: treepour

treepour — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:05:40 -0800

Can I just put in a little plug for my half-hometown of Houston being an incredible place for the arts? Despite the rabid small-mindedness of Texas overall, there's a long tradition in Houston of very serious contemporary high-arts philanthropy.

By: Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:04:03 -0800

I love this crazy show. Adams sets the subject matter perfectly. I went to see ENO's production with a sweet Scotsman who left me an answerphone message the next day singing Madame Mao's aria. Good times, good times.

By: dylanjames

dylanjames — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:09:26 -0800

I've always enjoyed the highlights from this opera (the Chairman Dances CD captures most of them), but the two CD set didn't speak much to me. When I saw the opera in person, (in Portland a few years ago), I was blown away by how much I enjoyed every darn minute.

By: LooseFilter

LooseFilter — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:46:16 -0800

I love, love this opera. Nixon's first aria ("News!") shows, for me, how an old artistic medium like opera can still illuminate contemporary changes and events. Also, it's coming to the Met in 2011! I, for one, can't wait. I will have to go to NY for this.

By: LooseFilter

LooseFilter — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:49:02 -0800

Also: Nixon in China is part of the Met's HD telecast series next year. Catch it at a movie theater near you in February 2011!

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:19:48 -0800

There was a fantastic production of Nixon in China in Vancouver this year. I can honestly say that it was an opera I'd been waiting to see for 23 years-- since I'd seen the broadcast on PBS in 1987-- and there was no disappointment. I SPEAK ACCORDING TO THE BOOK THE BOOK THE BOOK