When, in the 1980s, the director Peter Sellars suggested that he write about Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China – that crucial week in 1972 which saw the American president meet Mao Tse-tung in person – John Adams exploded. laughing. What a funny subject for an opera! And yet…
The resulting work, Nixon in China (1987), is an absolute success, one of the most represented works of the 20th century in the world as well as a major influence on contemporary music. This classic comes in – finally! – to the repertoire of the Paris Opera: here are three good reasons to rush there.
Coincidentally, Nixon in China arrives in Paris as the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Poutine is causing a lot of ink to flow and the New York Times is wondering about the possible “new cold war” between the United States and China… The opera confronts the triumphalism of Nixon, persuaded to pull off a historic coup by establishing a dialogue with China, and the absolute dictatorial mastery of Mao.
“The news has a kind of mystery,” Nixon sings as he steps off the plane, as the microphones crowd in front of him and Premier Zhou Enlai greets him. “We live in troubled times. Who are our friends? Who are our enemies? As the three acts progress, the determined posture of each of the protagonists wavers. It is a path of uncertainty that Nixon in China draws until Zhou Enlai’s final question: “In all that we have done, what has been good?” A more relevant than ever meditation on power and its intricacies.
Minimalist without being dissonant, John Adams’ score is a real splendor, extremely energetic, very American music, notably with a group of saxophones (“I thought that when Nixon sings, he must have Glenn Miller saxophones that accompany it”, explains the composer). The natural dynamism of Gustavo Dudamel, the musical director of the Paris Opera, finds fulfillment here, especially since a real complicity unites the conductor and the composer, of whom he created several of the recent works. The singers are in tune: Thomas Hampson is a larger-than-life Nixon, John Matthew Myers a chilling Mao Tse-tung, while Joshua Bloom succeeds perfectly with his Henry Kissinger. And then there is the absolute star, the American soprano Renée Fleming, an elegant and radiant Pat Nixon of presence.
Argentinian director Valentina Carrasco – who has just produced a highly acclaimed production of Donizetti’s La Favorite at the Bordeaux Opera – worked for 20 years with La Fura dels Baus. We find in his exciting staging of Nixon in China the visual sense of the famous Catalan collective, and a real mastery of the immense plateau of Bastille. His big idea is to use the phrase “ping pong diplomacy” literally. She uses the ping-pong tables to represent very effectively the confrontation between the two powers. “A beautiful image to symbolize the political game, she explains, two spaces clash where the players return the responsibility. Especially since the echo of the bullets echoes the percussive rhythm of John Adams’ music.
“Nixon in China” – until April 16 at the Opéra Bastille. https://www.operadeparis.fr
