Nixon in China

I can't believe I haven't got around to talking about Nixon in China yet. It was on the 12th of February, at the Met HD screening at Movies@Dundrum that we saw it. I was just recovering from a cold, and Brendan had just caught it. And his cold got a whole lot worse after that night out.

I like John Adams' music - I have the DVD of El Nino, which is divine. Now, Nixon in China takes a bit more of getting used to - I thought the music good (I love the delicate repetitive notes), but some of the singing was strange, though apparently it was designed to imitate the person's speech characteristics or personality. For instance, Nixon sings in short and fast bursts,  "to reflect the real-life president's personal awkwardness and social unease". I loved "This is Prophetic", Pat Nixon's main aria, but then it may be that I was simply more familiar with the piece, as I have it on a Dawn Upshaw CD (The World So Wide - you can listen to a few seconds of it there).

The production by Peter Sellars was, I thought, a bit old fashioned. OK, there was dancing, and the last scene with the beds on the stage was quite modern, but the other scenes looked to me like something straight out of the 70s. Maybe that's what he intended. But when you see how rich new productions can be (Think El Nino or even Iphigénie en Tauride), I felt it was a bit cold.

I did love the 3 secretaries (I thought they were interpreters) - their singing, facial expressions and hand gestures added an abstract dimension.

As always, the interviews at the intervals are part of what makes the Met HD productions special. One of the interviewees mentioned in passing that the text for the meeting with Mao was taken almost word for word from the Chairman himself, whether he was so wise nobody could figure out what he was saying or just going senile, we'll never know.

For an insider's view, read John Adams' own words about his first opera.

And if you want some good old debate about whether this opera is good or junk, check out the comment thread at the bottom of this blog review! It's great that so many people care!