Premiere New York Premiere
Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description Co-commissioned by BAM, the Houston Grand Opera, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Nixon in China is the powerhouse collaboration between composer John Adams, director Peter Sellars, choreographer Mark Morris, with a libretto supplied by poet and Anglican priest Alice Goodman. Often compared to Einstein on the Beach, Nixon takes many cues from the minimalism of Philip Glass while offering a more varied musical and choreographic palette. When the piece premiered in 1987, critical response was varied. It has seemed, however, to age well with time. As the Los Angeles Times wrote in a review of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 production: “An opera that was belittled in 1987 by major New York critics – as a CNN Opera of no lasting merit when Houston Grand Opera premiered it – has clearly remained relevant. Reaching the Met for the first time, it is now hailed as a classic.”
Identifier 1987f.00009
