Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 22, 2012



The opera Nixon in China by John Adams (pictured), with a libretto by Alice Goodman, premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The composer augmented the usual orchestral instruments with a large saxophone section, additional percussion, and an electronic synthesizer. Displaying a variety of musical styles, the score embraces minimalism alongside passages echoing 19th-century composers, and mixes Stravinskian 20th-century neoclassicism, jazz references, and big band sounds reminiscent of Nixon's youth in the 1930s. The opera has been presented on many occasions, in both Europe and North America, and has been recorded twice. In 2011, the opera was staged at the Metropolitan Opera, based on the original sets. Recent critical opinion recognizes the work as a significant and lasting contribution to American opera. (more...)

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