Nixon Kínában

"Nixon in China is John Adams' most successful opera to date and one of the most celebrated in contemporary American music as a whole. In his documentary work, Adams uses music to dissolve the bleakness of news reports, and although the work is about the US President's five-day visit to China, the music is not a vehicle for political messages. The tragicomic power of Adams's music is largely due to the contrast between the two worlds and their customs," Zoltán Csehy's opera guide aptly notes. Nixon in China is an opera that has become popular worldwide and has recently been performed regularly again, precisely because of its exciting theme of the meeting of American and Chinese cultures. Its Hungarian premiere is therefore also timely, framed by OPERA's Angol100 season and directed by the institution's artistic director, András Almási-Tóth, using the special spaces of the Eiffel Workshop with exciting inventiveness, from the Bánffy Hall to the Mozdonycsarnok and the Járay pályák.

"Nixon is like a modern-day Simon Boccanegra whose wife gets a whole act as she gets to know the Chinese world that is new to her. The story of the other pair, Mao and his wife, reveals a fascinating couple behind the ideology in a grand operatic show," says the director.

SOURCES

Composer John Adams

Lyrics by Alice Goodman

Director.

Set, lighting and video designer: Sebastian Hannak

Costume designer: Márton Richárd

Movement Designer: Eszter Lázár

Consultant (sinology): Ágota Révész

Artistic Director: Gábor Csiki