Houston Grand Opera Marks NIXON IN CHINA 30th Anniversary

In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of NIXON IN CHINA made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.

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A dramatization of President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China that ended decades of isolation from the West, John Adams's first opera, with a libretto by Alice Goodman and staging by Peter Sellars, broke new ground with its visceral portrayal of relatively recent world events and its bold departures in musical style and instrumentation. The Houston production was televised on PBS's Great Performances and recorded the same year; the broadcast won an Emmy Award and the recording won a Grammy in 1988.

Since then, NIXON IN CHINA has been produced worldwide and has become one of the most performed among operas of our time. Composer John Adams wrote, in his 2008 memoir, Hallelujah Junction, "Nixon and Mao virtually embodied the 20th century's great agonistic struggle for human happiness: capitalism versus communism; the market economy versus the social welfare state. The lead characters were so vivid they literally cried out for operatic treatment...." In 2004, director James Robinson created a new production for the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis that takes a more intimate approach than the original staging, including incorporating previously classified 8 mm home movies filmed by the delegation that accompanied Nixon to China.

HGO celebrates the 30th anniversary of the work's historic world premiere by presenting this reinterpretation, directed by Robinson, who will also direct HGO's The Abduction from the Seraglio in the spring of 2017. "Nixon's visit was the biggest TV event after JFK's funeral," says Robinson. "Every aspect was choreographed to hit prime time in the U.S.; it pre-empted everyone's favorite shows. We decided to look at it as a journey that was all about media, about getting your time on TV."

Leading the cast in the title role will be baritone and HGO Studio alumnus Scott Hendricks, whose "sonorous voice" was noted by the Houston Chronicle in his 2015 portrayal of Sharpless in HGO's Madame Butterfly. Pat Nixon will be played by Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman, whose 2014 last-minute replacement of Anna Netrebko in the Metropolitan Opera's The Elixir of Love was deemed "an assured, sparkling success" by the New York Times. This appearance will mark her HGO debut.

Chinese baritone Chen-Ye Yuan, an HGO Studio alumnus who sang the Speaker of the Temple in HGO's 2008 The Magic Flute, and who makes his home in China, will play the role of the premier, Chou En-lai.

Tenor and HGO Studio alumnus Chad Shelton and bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, both frequently seen on HGO's main stage, will portray Mao Tse-tung and Henry Kissinger, respectively. Shelton most recently performed Charles II in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Prince of Players, and Carfizzi sang Dr. Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love earlier this season.

The demanding coloratura role of Chiang Ch'ing (Madame Mao) will be sung by Canadian soprano Tracy Dahl, who has performed the role with Opera Colorado, Portland Opera, and Vancouver Opera. She last appeared at HGO as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (1993).

Conductor Robert Spano, music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival and an active proponent of contemporary composers, will be on the podium. He most recently conducted The Magic Flute at HGO in 2015.

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HGO stages NIXON IN CHINA, sung in English with projected English text in 2017, on January 20, 22m, 24, 26, and 28 at the Wortham Theater Center, 510 Preston Street. For more information, please call 713-228-6737 or visit houstongrandopera.org.