Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by the American composer John Adams. Adams composed it between 1984 and 1987 to a libretto (text) by the American poet Alice Goodman. The idea for the opera’s subject matter came from the American opera director Peter Sellars. Sellars directed the first performance of the opera, on Oct. 22, 1987, at the Houston Grand Opera in Texas. The American dancer and choreographer (dance creator) Mark Morris did the choreography.
Nixon in China pioneered a new type of operatic theater, bringing contemporary history and politics into the opera. In the opera, the composer attempted to demonstrate that opera is an art form relevant to the present day.
The action of the opera is built around three days in the 1972 state visit to China by U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, the first to China by a Western political leader. The opera tells the story of the meetings between Nixon and the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and his deputy Zhou Enlai. These meetings led to the opening up of China to Western nations. Accompanying Nixon on the visit are his wife, Pat, and the U.S. secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. Attending Mao and Zhou are three female secretaries. Mao’s wife, the former actress Jiang Qing, also appears in the opera, sung by a coloratura soprano.
In addition to depicting the political events of the visit, the opera seeks also to probe the private thoughts of the main characters at this momentous time. In its first production, Nixon in China sought to re-create the story in a realistic way. Actors were made up to look like their historical counterparts, and the opera attempted to portray authentically such scenes as the arrival at Beijing airport of the U.S. president’s official aircraft. Adams’s music for the whole opera effectively exploits the minimalist technique, blending it with modern romantic elements.
A fantasy ballet scene, known as “The Chairman dances,” shows Mao looking at a portrait of his wife and imagining her descending from it seductively dressed. She dances with him to music by Adams that is both rhythmical and hypnotic. The piece was ultimately excluded from the opera, but the music is performed as a concert piece and has been recorded.
