Nixon in China
English National Opera, Coliseum, London

Gerard Lynch
posted 23 June 2006

John Adams' Nixon in China is so much part of the established scene now that it is difficult to remember just how groundbreaking it was when premiered in Houston in 1987. The first of the so-called CNN operas, four of the six main characters depicted in the piece were alive to have attended the premiere had they so wished. Using very recent history - only 15 years separated the events depicted with the opera's first performance - has become commonplace now. Indeed the ENO plan to the open their 2006/7 season with a new commission called Gaddafi. That was not how the opera world worked in the 1980s.

The radical nature of Nixon's plot grabs the commentariat's attention and often obscures how radical the work was musically. Twelve tone technique was sliding into its logical dead end twenty years ago, while minimalism was a still a little too fettered by, well, minimalism - although Philip Glass, who stands alongside Adams as a rare living composer who can pull in the punters, had also moved from the puritan plotlessness of Einstein on the Beach to more eclectic Akhnaten and Satyagraha. Still, the deaths of Shostakovich and Britten had left classical music without a genuinely popular composer, with few operas in the post-War period had established themselves as part of the core repertoire. Adams' delightful marriage of minimalism, American show music and pastiche orientalism gave lie to the idea that modern opera could either be important musically or successful commercially, but not both.

This London run of Nixon in China seems set to be very commercially successful indeed. The first two nights were both sell-outs, and one has to question the ENO's decision to put on such a short run - only five performances. We all know that the ENO isn't in the healthiest financial state, but surely a company founded to promote opera in English might show a bit more faith in the most successful of recent English-language operas? Surely something written a bit more recently than Tosca and Turandot can fill houses? Indeed, as with Poul Rouders' The Handmaid's Tale three years ago, surely ENO's managers have learned that a contemporary opera with suitably fashionable pop culture resonance can draw in patrons who wouldn't normally darken the door of an opera house? Nixon in China's pop culture resonances couldn't be much cooler or more contemporary - it is heavily sampled on the soundtrack to Sid Meier's empire building computer game for über-geeks, Civilization IV, and it was amusing to divide the geeks from the culture vultures in the Coliseum for the performance I saw.

Personally, I'm not convinced that the constant quest for 'inclusiveness' is necessarily conducive to producing great opera, but as ticking that box new seems to be the raison d'etre of classical music in Britain, the ENO might, you know, not let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.

And what about the most important issue, namely does this production deserve its success? It most certainly does. Peter Sellars is a director who never resists a touch of the flamboyant, and his abandon in using the big Coliseum stage is amply rewarded. Nixon's descent from Air Force One is a masterpiece of spin meistery, the first night banquet is a riot of drunken toasting and flashing cameras, while Madame Mao's own opera within an opera is a flurry of prancing dancers and mock Kung Fu.

As far as the music goes, the prime drawing card of this production is James Maddalena, the 'orginial' Nixon from 1987, in the title role, and he is simply superb in it. Here is a singer who has spent decades making this role his own, always honing, always improving, until now it's sometimes difficult to believe that he isn't actually Nixon. Maddalena isn't getting any younger, and this may well be his last appearance in the role in the UK, and for that reason alone this production is worth seeing.

Not that the rest of the cast aren't worth seeing. Janis Kelly, another 1987 original, is superbly credible as the somewhat credulous Pat Nixon, the good-hearted but rather naive lady of the American heartland lost in a strange country. Chou En-lai is the most sympathetically written character in Alice Goodman's libretto, and Mark Stone's lyric baritone captures the essence of this wise and world-weary character, a perfect contrast to Adrian Thompson's shrill, sex-crazed, decrepit and witty (yes, all at the same time) Mao. The up and coming Roland Wood was an enjoyably twisted Kissinger, and Judith Howarth was the find of the night for me, her Madame Mao arrogant, power crazed and oh so wonderfully psychotic. I've always thought Paul Daniel is a much better conductor than he was a manager, and he directs an ENO house orchestra in perfect form, with flawless playing from the brass in particular.

Those expecting a satire of Watergate's Tricky Dicky will be disappointed. Adams and Goodman conceived of this work as a heroic opera, and the Nixons and Chou in particular are treated as honest seekers after a difficult peace. The opera begins by being almost rigidly faithful to the actual story of the visit - excepting, of course, musical episodes like Nixon's wonderful opening aria 'News has a kind of mystery', sung during the initial round of handshakes. As the opera progresses, however, it moves from documentary to surrealism, allowing the characters to reveal their true natures, and finally to reflection. And it is Chou's self-critical finale 'How much of what we did was good?' that captures the spirit of the piece. Despite the posturing for the media and the hidden agendas, all faithfully captured in the libretto, the main protagonists approach matters with a sincere desire for peace and normal relations - but good intentions are not enough to make thoses desires realty. A heroic opera, perhaps, but one that celebrates heroic failure; it's not whether you win or lose, but the fact that you play the game. As Chou says 'We fight, we die, and if we do not fight we die'.

Nothing about either Adams' opera or this ENO performance smacks of failure, however. The phrase 'modern classic' is tediously overused, but absolutely correct in this case. Coming after a superb Makropulos Case and a commercially brave and artistically successful production of Vaughan-Williams' neglected Sir John in Love, it goes to prove ENO is at its best when it is at its boldest.

Remaining dates: 23, 29 June, 6 July 2006.