Berlin finally sees Nixon in China
OperaIt has taken 36 years for John Adams’ breakthrough opera to reach the German capital.
Why the delay?
Political unease, one suspects, but no-one’s saying.
The show opens at the Deutsche Oper on June 22.
All Chinese parts are played by Asian singers.
Thomas Lehman is Richard Nixon, Seth Carico sings Henry Kissinger, Ya-Chung Huang is Mao Tse-tung and Hye-Young Moon is Chiang Ching , Mao’s wife.
Ummm…
Ya Chung Huang is Taiwanese
Hye Young Moon is South Korean
To say “All Chinese parts are played by Chinese singers” is a bit cringy, even for this lovely outlet
[Ya Chung Huang is Taiwanese
Hye Young Moon is South Korean]
Oh, close enough.
No, it’s not.
Adams himself led a performance in Berlin in 2012 with Kim, Rivera, Oke, Finley, Orth and Rutherford. Not sure if it was staged.
It was semi-staged at the Philharmonie.
Hye-Young Moon, singing Chiang (nasty Mrs Mao), is a Korean member of the Deutsche Oper company.
Kyle Miller, singing Chou, is another company member and hails from San Francisco.
Mao himself, third of the three Chinese principals, is sung by Taiwanese tenor Ya-Chung Huang.
Correct, yes!! Kyle Miller is Chinese-American, however!
About time. I remember seeing the first German production in Bielefeld in 1989.
Thanks John Dew!
Berlin finally sees Nixon in China? I saw Elvis in Sainsbury’s yesterday.
Political unease? Maybe lots of programmers found it a silly subject, the interest of which is fading-away with the passing of time, and the music is not strong enough to let the work survive its time – endless repetition without any clear cause.
I played the premiere in Houston in 1987. The score was challenging and exhilarating to play. We felt we were part of musical history. Some critics dismissed the work, predicting it would soon vanish. They were wrong. Recent opinion recognizes the work to be a significant and lasting contribution to American opera.
It would vanish if it were allowed to…
This production is so horrible. I was at the premiere. It’s a mess and I read a comment that referred to this as arrogance, and that’s absolutely correct. The production company Hauen und Stechen really behaved as if they were above the opera itself and staged complete nonsense. There were so many boos as they stepped on stage.
This review is RIGHT ON POINT!
https://www.mundoclasico.com/articulo/41643/Bottomless-self-indulgence