Nixon in China

　　Music by John Adams
　　Libretto by Alice Goodman
　　First performance at the Houston Grand Opera, October 22, 1987
　　Original stage production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris
　　Chou En-lai: baritone
　　Richard Nixon: baritone
　　Henry Kissinger: bass
　　Nancy T’ang (first secretary to Mao): mezzo soprano
　　Second secretary to Mao: alto
　　Third secretary to Mao: contralto
　　Mao Tse-tung: tenor
　　Pat Nixon: lyric soprano
　　Chiang Ch’ing (Madame Mao Tse-tung): coloratura soprano
　　-----------
　　Nixon in China (1985-87) is an opera with music by the American composer John Adams and a libretto by Alice Goodman, about the visit of Richard Nixon to China in 1972, where he met with Mao Zedong and other Chinese officials.
　　The work was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Houston Grand Opera and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, October 22, 1987 in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris.
　　The opera is composed of three acts. The first details the anticipation and arrival of the Nixon cortege and the first meeting and evening in China. The second act shifts focus to Pat Nixon, as she makes tours of rural China, including an encounter at a pig farm. The second scene includes a performance of a Communist propaganda play, in which first Pat Nixon, then her husband and then Jiang Qing, intercede in the performance. The last act chronicles the last night in China, in which the characters dance a foxtrot, their thoughts wandering to their own pasts.
　　The opera takes an interesting perspective on the historical meeting by focusing on the personalities and personal histories of the six key players, Nixon and his wife Pat, Jiang Qing and Chairman Mao, and the two close advisors to the two parties, Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai.
　　Musically, the opera perhaps owes more influence to 1940s big band dance music than any Asian styles, and John Adams adapted the foxtrot theme from the last act into a concert piece entitled "The Chairman Dances". The libretto, however, was written completely in rhymed, metered couplets, reminiscent of poetic and theatrical styles native to China.

　　Disc: 1
　　1. Act I, Scene I: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　2. Act I, Scene I: 'Soldiers Of Heaven Hold The Sky'
　　3. Act I, Scene I: 'The People Are The Heroes Now'
　　4. Act I, Scene I: Landing Of The Spirit Of '76
　　5. Act I, Scene I: 'Your Flight Was Smooth, I Hope?'
　　6. Act I, Scene I: 'News Has A Kind Of Mystery:'
　　7. Act I, Scene II: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　8. Act I, Scene II: 'You Know We'll Meet With Your Confrere The Democratic Candidate If He Should Win.'
　　9. Act I, Scene II: 'You've Said That There's A Certain Well-Known Tree'
　　10. Act I, Scene II: 'Founders Come First, Then Profiteers.'
　　11. Act I, Scene II: 'We No Longer Need Confucius.'
　　12. Act I, Scene II: 'Like The Ming Tombs.'
　　13. Act I, Scene III: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　14. Act I, Scene III: 'Ladies And Gentlemen, Comrades And Friends,'
　　15. Act I, Scene III: 'Mr. Premier, Distinguished Guests,'
　　16. Act I, Scene III: Cheers
　　Disc: 2
　　1. Act II, Scene I: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　2. Act II, Scene I: 'Look Down At The Earth,'
　　3. Act II, Scene I: 'This Is Prophetic!'
　　4. Act II, Scene I: 'At Last The Weather's Warming Up.'
　　5. Act II, Scene II: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　6. Act II, Scene II: 'Oh What A Day I Thought I'd Die!'
　　7. Act II, Scene II: 'Whip Her To Death!'
　　8. Act II, Scene II: Tropical Storm
　　9. Act II, Scene II: 'Flesh Rebels'
　　10. Act II, Scene II: 'I Have My Brief'
　　11. Act II, Scene II: 'It Seems So Strange'
　　12. Act II, Scene II: 'I Am The Wife Of Mao Tse-Tung'
　　Disc: 3
　　1. Act III: Beginning - Orch Of St. Luke's/Edo De Waart
　　2. Act III: 'Some Men You Cannot Satisfy.'
　　3. Act III: 'I Am No One.'
　　4. Act III: The Maos Dance
　　5. Act III: 'Sitting Around The Radio'
　　6. Act III: 'Let Us Examine What You Did.'
　　7. Act III: 'When I Woke Up I Dimly Realized The Jap Bombers Had Given...
　　8. Act III: 'I Have No Offspring.'
　　9. Act III: 'I Can Keep Still,'
　　10. Act III: 'After That The Sweat Had Soaked My Uniform'
　　11. Act III: 'Peking Watches The Stars,'
　　12. Act III: 'You Won At Poker.'
　　13. Act III: 'I Am Old And I Cannot Sleep'

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rs	来自Francoise		2008-04-23