Nixon in China - Opera - Season 22/23 Programming - Opéra national de Paris

  • New

    Opera

    Nixon in China

    John Adams

    Opéra Bastille - from 25 March to 16 April 2023

    Everett Collection/Bridgeman Images

See all informations

Nixon in China

Opéra Bastille - from 25 March to 16 April 2023

Opera

Nixon in China

John Adams

Opéra Bastille - from 25 March to 16 April 2023

3h10 with 1 interval

Language : English

Surtitle : French / English

  • Pre‑opening for the young : 22 March 2023

    Opening night : 25 March 2023

About

In few words:

In February 1972, the American president Richard Nixon went to China to meet Mao Zedong. In the context of the war in Vietnam and the cold war, this encounter marked a turning point in Chinese‑ American relations. John Adams, a major musical figure of the last forty years, made this event of contemporary history the subject of his first opera. Nixon in China tackles the political thaw instigated by ping-pong diplomacy, begun by the invitation of the American table tennis players by their Chinese counterparts, one year before the presidential visit. A mesmerising work in which the pulsations and repetitions typical of minimalism are combined with melodic lines of great lyricism. For its entry into the Paris Opera repertoire, this work has been entrusted to the director Valentina Carrasco, who underlines the importance and the mediating power of Chinese national sport in history.

Characters

Richard Nixon: President of the United States
Mao Tse-tung: Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
Pat Nixon: First Lady of the United States
Chiang Ch’ing: Mao’s wife
Henry Kissinger: US National Security Advisor
Chou En-lai: Chinese Prime Minister  

  • Opening
  • First part 65 mn
  • Intermission 30 mn
  • Second part 95 mn
  • End

Media coverage

  • Direction, lighting and a legendary cast… Performed for the first time at the Opéra Bastille, John Adams' work is spectacular, using all the resources of machinery.

    Le Figaro / 2023
  • Minimalist without being dissonant, John Adams' score is a real splendor, an extremely energetic music, very American, including a group of saxophones.

    Le Point / 2023
  • The work of goldsmith in the art of minimalism (...), John Adams' score is ideally nuanced by Gustavo Dudamel.

    Le Monde / 2023
  • Valentina Carrasco signs a fabulous production at the Opéra Bastille.

    Le Monde / 2023
  • The director Valentina Carrasco puts at a distance the initial purpose of John Adams' work to probe with humour the violence of history and the vanity of men.

    L'Humanité / 2023
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Performances

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Audio clips

Nixon in China (saison 22/23) - Acte 1 - Thomas Hampson (Nixon)

Nixon in China (saison 22/23) - Acte 1 (Orchestre)

Nixon in China (saison 22/23) - Acte 2 - Yajie Zhang, Ning Liang, Emanuela Pascu

Nixon in China (saison 22/23) - Acte 2

Backstage

  • Nixon's true trip to China

    Video

    Nixon's true trip to China

  • Adams in Paris

    Video

    Adams in Paris

  • A modern mythology

    Video

    A modern mythology

  • A presidential couple at the Opera

    Video

    A presidential couple at the Opera

  • Podcast Nixon in China

    Podcast

    Podcast Nixon in China

Nixon's true trip to China

07:52’

Video

Nixon's true trip to China

Behind the scenes of the story

By Camera Lucida

John Adams' opera, Nixon in China, is based on a genuine historical fact: the trip taken by US President Richard Nixon and his wife to Mao Zedong's communist China in February 1972, during the Cold War. What were the aims and the outcome? This documentary deciphers the story in just 8 minutes, using archive footage.

Adams in Paris

04:41’

Video

Adams in Paris

Interview with John Adams

By Isabelle Stibbe

Present for the premiere of Nixon in China at the Opéra Bastille, the composer John Adams granted us an exclusive interview a few minutes before the performance. An opportunity to discuss the relevance of his opera in the current international context as well as the two main performers, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

© Elena Bauer / OnP

A modern mythology

08:50’

Video

A modern mythology

Interview with Valentina Carrasco and Alexander Neef

By Isabelle Stibbe

Why has John Adams' score become a classic? How can it be staged today? The Paris Opera's General Director and the director of Nixon in China discuss the entry of this major score into the repertoire and the artistic choices of the new production presented at the Opéra Bastille.  

A presidential couple at the Opera

Video

A presidential couple at the Opera

Interview with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson

By Isabelle Stibbe

As Nixon in China enters the repertoire, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson, both playing Richard and Pat Nixon for the first time, talk about their roles, the challenges and the importance of John Adams' score.  

© Everett Collection/Bridgeman Images

Podcast Nixon in China

Podcast

Podcast Nixon in China

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