Nixon in China

E478655

Nixon in China is a landmark 1987 opera by John Adams that dramatizes U.S. President Richard Nixon’s historic 1972 visit to the People’s Republic of China, blending minimalist music with contemporary political history.

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All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Nixon in China canonical 1
Nixon visit to China 1

Statements (52)

Predicate Object
instanceOf opera
acts 3
basedOn 1972 visit of Richard Nixon to the People’s Republic of China
commissionedBy Brooklyn Academy of Music NERFINISHED
Glyndebourne Festival Opera NERFINISHED
Houston Grand Opera NERFINISHED
composer John Adams NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReception widely regarded as a landmark late-20th-century opera
depictsEvent Nixon’s meeting with Mao Zedong
Nixon’s meeting with Zhou Enlai
state banquet in China
directorOfWorldPremiereProduction Peter Sellars NERFINISHED
firstPerformanceConductor John DeMain NERFINISHED
firstRecordingConductor Edo de Waart NERFINISHED
firstRecordingLabel Nonesuch Records NERFINISHED
firstRecordingOrchestra Orchestra of the Netherlands Opera NERFINISHED
firstRecordingYear 1988
genre contemporary classical music
minimalist opera
hasCharacter Henry Kissinger NERFINISHED
Jiang Qing NERFINISHED
Mao Zedong NERFINISHED
Pat Nixon NERFINISHED
Richard Nixon NERFINISHED
Zhou Enlai NERFINISHED
language English
librettist Alice Goodman NERFINISHED
mainSubject Jiang Qing NERFINISHED
Mao Zedong NERFINISHED
Pat Nixon NERFINISHED
Richard Nixon NERFINISHED
Zhou Enlai NERFINISHED
notableAria I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung
News has a kind of mystery
This is prophetic
notableProduction Metropolitan Opera 2011 production
orchestrationFeature large percussion section
prominent saxophone section
premiereCity Houston NERFINISHED
premiereCountry United States NERFINISHED
premiereDate 1987-10-22
premiereLocation Houston Grand Opera NERFINISHED
settingLocation Beijing NERFINISHED
settingTime 1972
styleCharacteristic fusion of minimalism with late-Romantic orchestration
pulsating harmonic fields
repetitive rhythmic patterns
theme clash of political ideologies
media and political spectacle
mythologizing of contemporary history
public image versus private reflection

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Adams (composer) notableWork Nixon in China
Shanghai Communiqué partOf Nixon in China
this entity surface form: Nixon visit to China