Two of the world’s most powerful men shake hands – as the world looks on. With their opera about the state visit by US President Nixon to China in 1972 composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman rendered a recent historical event in operatic form. They envisioned a »heroic opera« telling of modern myths and the power of images. This rapprochement between the two great powers gave rise to one of the most prodigious media spectacles of the 20th century. Nixon himself put the event on a par with the moon landing. The opera, whose composition was pushed for by Peter Sellars, the director of the eventual premiere, is a depiction of both the details of the visit and the coverage by the media. Alice Goodman’s libretto reflects the tradition of 19th-century opera, with larger-than-life characters interacting and the protagonists dealing with both affairs of state and their private lives. Staged in the style of an excessively satirical documentary, the minimal-music opera sticks close to protocols from the state visit, depicting the larger-than-life protagonists swerving between exhibitionism, helplessness and the desire to reach a mutual understanding.

Nixon in China

Deutsche Oper Berlin

A contemporary and topical opera for our time: When US President Richard Nixon lands on Chinese soil one foggy February morning in 1972, the world holds its collective breath. After decades of silence, the rival powers are starting to come together. A momentous instant in diplomatic history and a superlative media spectacle unfolds as cameras and microphones follow Nixon and Mao Zedong constantly. American composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman have taken original, historical documents to create a poppy narration of modern myths and spectacular imagery politics. This minimalist music opera follows the protocol of the state visit like a satirically exaggerated TV documentary, and shows figures between larger-than-life self-presentation and boundless self-deception. Musical theatre collective Hauen und Stechen, known for its anarchic directorial bent, focuses amidst the rush of images on the propagandistic aspect of the summit and provides furious insight into the power plays of the 20th century.

Franziska Kronfoth

Events

Upcoming events

10 - 30 Jan, 2027

Nixon in China · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

Feb 28 - Mar 5, 2025

Nixon in China · Deutsche Oper Berlin

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