adams - naxos music library

JohnADAMS

Nixon in ChinaOrth • Kanyova • Hammons • Heller • Dahl

Yuan • Malde • Simson • DeDominiciColorado Symphony Orchestra • Opera Colorado Chorus

Marin Alsop

AMERICAN OPERA CLASSICS

3 CDs8.669022-24 32

CHIANG CH’ING! Peking watches the stars,Nanking sleeps naked. MurderersStretch out in doorways in Shanghai.MAOAs we ride eastwards to PekingI shut my eyes and, listeningHard, hear the old harmoniumWe left behind. CHIANG CH’INGChungking’s old-fashioned armoryLies undefended. Yenan restsLike a wise virgin.MAOI … I … I dreamThat schools of small transparent fishRace down a shallow river.CHIANG CH’INGAll the coastsAre clear, and all the oceans stillAs we ride eastwards…CHOU… to PekingMAOWe recoil from victory and all its works.What do you think of that, Karl Marx?Speak up![CHIANG CH’INGHush.]PAT@ You won at poker.NIXONI sure did.I had a system. Five card studTaught me a lot about mankind.Speak softly and don’t show your handBecame my motto.PATTell me more.NIXONWell, the Pacific theaterWas not much to write home about.PATYes, dear. I think you told me that.I read it while I did my hairAnd put it in my stocking drawerWith all the others.

NIXONI was “Nick.”I must have told you that.Christ, it was beautiful. I swappedSpam for hamburger meat and ropedIn a few men to rig a stand.CHIANG CH’ING (lontano)We should go underground.The revolution must not end. NIXONThey called it “Nick’s Snack Shack.” I foundThe smell of burgers on the grillMade strong men cry. PATYes, Dick.CHIANG CH’ING, MAO (lontano)The revolution must not end. NIXONNow, BougainvilleWas a refueling stop …PATI know.Each fighter pilot that came throughGot a free burger and a beer.NIXONDone to a turn; [medium-rare,]Rare, medium, well-done, anythingYou say. The Customer is King.Sorry, we’re low on relish. Drinks?This is my way of saying thanks.CHOU# I am old and I cannot sleepForever, like the young, nor hopeThat death will be a noveltyBut endless wakefulness when IPut down my work and go to bed.How much of what we did was good?Everything seems to move beyondOur remedy. Come, heal this wound.At this hour nothing can be done.Just before dawn the birds begin,The warblers who prefer the dark,The cage-birds answering. To work!Outside this room the chill of graceLies heavy on the morning grass.

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 32

8.669022-2431

Saved from our decaysAdmire that perfect skeleton,CHOUNo one I killed, but those I sawStarved to death.MAOThose veins, that skin like cellophane.Take them and press them in a book.Dare we behave as if the meekWill mark the places of the wise?CHOUOnly they can tellHow the land lies, where the pitfallWas excavated, the mines laid …CHIANG CH’INGThe masses stride ahead of us.We follow:MAOThe instant before bombs explodesIntricate struggles coexistWithin an entity, embracedTill they ignite.CHIANG CH’ING9 I can keep still,I can say nothing for a while,While the sparks die high in the airThe sun moves on. Nothing I fearHas ever harmed me, why should you?Marshal your forces, I’ll lie lowThe drought has made me thin and strong.When they took off their coats and hungThem over branches, and the pickScraped the eroded ground, I shookWith pure excitement.CHIANG CH’ING0 (I can keep still,I can say nothing for a while,While the sparks die high in the airThe sun moves on. Nothing I fearHas ever harmed me, why should you?)NIXONAfter that …PATA penny for your thoughts.NIXONThe sweat had soaked my uniform, [My hair dripped down my forehead …]

PATDid it dear?NIXONI began to take in all the sights.PATYou’ve always suffered terriblyFrom nervous perspiration.NIXONPicture a thousand coconutsLike mandrills’ heads or native masks,Milk oozing from their broken husks,The flooded rib of a palm frondWhere several centipedes had drowned,Unsanded wood that smelled like meat …Jesus, it grabbed you by the throat.PATWonder what I was doing then?Dressing up as if you’d walk in.At any moment. CHIANG CH’ING(When they took off their coats and hungThem over branches, and the pickScraped the eroded ground, I shookWith pure excitement.)NIXONThe war was dislocated. PAT Go on, dear.Don’t let me interrupt.NIXONHold a shell Up to your ear. GuadalcanalSounds distant, roughly like the sea.CHOUThe east is red;As we ride eastwards to PekingPreoccupied with our last longTriumphal march, the early lightEmbalms each soldier on the route.MAOAs they advance we melt awayInto the underbrush; we strikeWhile they’re asleep, a single sparkSets them alight. Cast the net wideAnd draw it in.[MAOWell said!]

8.669022-24 2

John

ADAMS(b. 1947)

Nixon in ChinaOpera in Three Acts

Libretto by Alice Goodman (b. 1958)

Richard Nixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert OrthPat Nixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria KanyovaHenry Kissinger . . . . . . . . Thomas HammonsMao Tse-tung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marc HellerMadame Mao (Chiang Ch’ing) . . Tracy DahlChou En-lai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chen-Ye Yuan1st Secretary (Nancy T’ang) . . Melissa Malde2nd Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Simson3rd Secretary . . . . . . . . . Jennifer DeDominici

Opera Colorado ChorusDouglas Kinney Frost, Chorus Master

Colorado Symphony OrchestraMarin Alsop

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 2

8.669022-24 30

In Yenan we were just boys.MAORevolution is a boys’ game.CHOUI have grown oldAnd done no more work than a child.NIXONThere was so much I couldn’t tell.PATSuch as?NIXON5 Sitting around the radioWith the enlisted men, I knewMy time had come. The signal clearedTransmitting nothing like a word.There was a cross round one guy’s neck.I noticed that.PATYou told me, Dick.NIXONThe corrugated metal roofShook in the rain. The men were safe.I said goodbye to you then, Pat.PATDid you?NIXONThen I began to wait.The rain seeped in under the door.The lights went out.PATYou told me, dear.NIXONThat was the time I should have died.MAO6 Let us examine what you did.We led a quiet life, we grewStronger, we walked behind the plow,And as we worked year after yearThe yellow dust that filled the airSoftened the Buddha’s well-known faceAnd made him seem like one of us.CHIANG CH’INGWe ate wild apricots.CHOUThe taste is still in my mouth.

CHIANG CH’INGOnce we had roast chicken with peppers.MAOAnd a light film of dust settled on each plate.Your few subjectivist mistakes Only confirm Mythology’s eternal charm;Roused from a state of seeming restIts landscape offers up the ghost...CHIANG CH’INGSmall lizards basked among the rocks,Warm as your hand.MAO An ancient tactical retreat,Retrenched in the inanimate.These things were men.NIXON7 When I woke upI dimly realized the JapBombers had given us a miss …[It was the weather I suppose.]PATThank heaven for that.NIXONThen I went out.Already it was getting hot,A cloud of steam rose from the baseJust like a Roman sacrifice.PATI never doubted you’d come back.I always knew.NIXONI felt so weakWith disappointment and reliefEverything seemed larger than life.CHOU8 I have no offspring. In my dreamsThe peasants with their hundred names,Unnamed children and nameless wivesDeaden my footsteps like dead leaves;MAOYour few subjectivist mistakes Only confirm Mythology’s eternal charm;Roused from a state of seeming restIts landscape offers up the ghostAn ancient tactical retreat,Retrenched in the inanimate.

8.669022-243

CD 1 66:22

Act I, Scene 1

1 Beginning (Orchestra) 2:462 “Soldiers of Heaven Hold the Sky” (Chorus) 2:453 “The People Are the Heroes Now” (Chorus) 2:514 Landing of the Spirit of ’76 (Orchestra) 2:345 “Your Flight Was Smooth, I Hope?” (Chou, Nixon) 1:256 “News Has a Kind of Mystery” (Nixon, Chou, Kissinger, Chorus) 7:29

Act I, Scene 2

7 Beginning (Mao, Nixon, Chou, Kissinger, Secretaries) 4:198 “You Know We’ll Meet with Your Confrère, The Democratic Candidate” (Mao, Nixon, Kissinger) 2:409 “You’ve Said That There’s a Certain Well-known Tree” (Chou, Nixon, Mao, Kissinger, Secretaries) 2:480 “Founders Come First, then Profiteers” (Mao, Secretaries, Nixon, Chou, Kissinger) 7:25! “We No Longer Need Confucius” (Mao, Secretaries) 3:10@ “Like the Ming Tombs” (Nixon, Secretaries, Mao, Chou) 5:34

Act I, Scene 3

# Beginning (Nixon, Pat, Chou, Kissinger, Chorus) 6:32$ “Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends” (Chou, Chorus, Pat, Kissinger) 7:00% “Mr. Premier, Distinguished Guests” (Nixon, Chorus) 2:48^ Cheers! (Chorus, Nixon, Chou, Pat, Kissinger) 4:16

CD 2 51:04

Act II, Scene 1

1 Beginning (Pat) 3:492 “Look Down at the Earth” (Chorus, Pat, Secretaries) 5:513 “This Is Prophetic!” (Pat) 7:584 “At Last the Weather’s Warming Up” (Pat, Chorus) 3:19

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 30

8.669022-2429

KISSINGERThat’s how it goes.MAOI am unknown.Give me a cigarette.CHIANG CH’INGCome down.Give me your hand, old man.MAOWhy not?

She takes his hand and he climbs out of the portrait’sbackground.

CHOUAnd to what end? Tell me.KISSINGERPremier, please, where’s the toilet?CHOUThrough that door.KISSINGERExcuse me for one moment, please.

Kissinger exits at the double.

CHOUWe saw our parents’ nakedness;Rivers of blood will be requiredTo cover them. Rivers of blood.PATI squeezed your paycheck till it screamed,There was the rent, there were those damnedSlipcovers, and the groceries.NIXONYou made that place a home.PATThat place was heaven next to this.

Mao and Chiang Ch’ing begin to dance.

[NIXONYou shouldThink positive. Try not to brood.

PATThe trouble was, we moved too much.We should have stayed put, Dick.]CHIANG CH’ING4 We’ll teach these motherfuckers how to dance![CHOUIt makes me sick.]MAOWe did this once before.CHIANG CH’INGOh? When?MAOIt was the timeThat tasty little starlet cameTo infiltrate my headquarters.CHIANG CH’INGGo on!MAOWhat did she call herself? Lan P’ing?CHIANG CH’INGYou named me. I was very young.PATI thank my lucky starsI kept those letters that you wroteFrom the Pacific. Seems like thatWas the best time of all; you hadMy picture, and each night I readYour mind.MAOYou were a little fool.CHIANG CH’INGAnd your best pupil.MAORevolution is a boys’ game.NIXONWhat an idealist.There was so much I couldn’t tell.CHOUA bankrupt people repossessedThe ciphers of its historyAnd not one character could sayWhether the war was over yetOr if they’d written off the debt.

8.669022-24 4

Act II, Scene 2

5 Beginning (Secretaries) 3:026 “Oh What a Day I Thought I’d Die!” (Kissinger, Chorus, Secretaries, Pat) 4:417 “Whip Her to Death!” (Kissinger, Pat, Nixon) 2:588 Tropical Storm (Pat) 4:579 “Flesh Rebels” (Chorus) 3:090 “I Have My Brief” (Kissinger, Nixon) 1:11! “It Seems So Strange” (Chorus, Chiang Ch’ing, Pat, Nixon, Secretaries) 3:02@ “I Am The Wife of Mao Tse-tung” (Chiang Ch’ing, Chorus) 7:05

CD 3 36:27

Act III

1 Beginning (Orchestra) 1:102 “Some Men You Cannot Satisfy” (Kissinger, Nixon, Pat, Chou, Chiang Ch’ing) 3:093 “I Am No One” (Mao, Chou, Kissinger, Chiang Ch’ing, Pat) 3:474 The Maos Dance (Chiang Ch’ing, Mao, Pat, Nixon, Chou) 2:055 “Sitting Around The Radio” (Nixon, Pat) 1:176 “Let Us Examine What You Did” (Mao, Chiang Ch’ing, Chou) 2:557 “When I Woke Up I Dimly Realized The Jap Bombers Had Given Us A Miss...” (Nixon, Pat) 1:228 “I Have No Offspring” (Chou, Mao, Chiang Ch’ing) 2:059 “I Can Keep Still” (Chiang Ch’ing) 3:140 “After That The Sweat Had Soaked My Uniform” (Nixon, Pat, Chiang Ch’ing, Mao, Chou) 2:55! “Peking Watches The Stars” (Chiang Ch’ing, Mao) 3:30@ “You Won at Poker” (Pat, Nixon, Chiang Ch’ing, Mao) 4:02# “I Am Old and I Cannot Sleep” (Chou) 4:57

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 4

8.669022-24 28

Your sacred heartIs rotten meat;Your little treasureYour precious flowerYour sweet revenge.Nothing can changeWithout disciplineGive me that gun.CHIANG CH’ING@ I am the wife of Mao Tse-tungWho raised the weak above the strongWhen I appear the people hangUpon my words, and for his sakeWhose wreaths are heavy round my neckI speak according to the book.When did the Chinese people lastExpose its daughters? At the breastOf history I sucked and pissed,Thoughtless and heartless, red and blind,I cut my teeth upon the landAnd when I walked my feet were boundOn revolution. Let me beA grain of sand in heaven’s eyeAnd I shall taste eternal joy.CHORUSJoy! Joy! Joy!CHIANG CH’INGI am the wife of Mao Tse-tungWho raised the weak above the strongWhen I appear the people hangUpon my words, and for his sakeWhose wreaths are heavy round my neckI speak according to the book.CHORUSI speak according to the book.

The people express their bitterness againstcounterrevolutionary elements.

CD 3: Act III

1 It is the last night in Peking. The President is very, verytired: the lights do not flatter him. The First Lady looks

fragile and heavily powdered. Madame Mao is smallerthan they had remembered her. And Chou En-lai seemsold and quite worn out. Only Chairman Mao appears athis best, full of the joy of youth and the hope of revolutionin his picture on the wall. Dr. Kissinger is impatient. Hescratches the back of his neck, his nose and his ear.

KISSINGER2 Some men you cannot satisfy.NIXONThat’s what I tell them.KISSINGERThey can’t say you didn’t tell them.NIXONIt’s no good.All that I say is misconstrued.Your lipstick’s crooked.PATIs it? Oh.There isn’t much that I can do,Is there? Who’s seen my handkerchief?CHOUPlease accept mine.CHIANG CH’INGI’ve heard enough.Who chose these numbers?KISSINGERAll of us.Doesn’t she like the people’s choice?NIXONNow for a solo on the spoons.PATI like it when they play our tunes.CHIANG CH’INGThis should be better. Hit it boys!PATOh! California! Hold me close.MAO3 I am no one.CHOUWe fight, we die,And if we do not fight, we die.

8.669022-245

Few operas written in the last quarter of the twentiethcentury have withstood the test of time to remain asmusically and dramatically vibrant today as they were attheir premières. Nixon in China is one of a handful ofcontemporary American operas to achieve celebritystatus, having multiple performances during its 1987première co-commissioned by the Houston GrandOpera, The Brooklyn Academy of Music and The JohnF. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Throughsubsequent decades it has been performed nationallyand internationally in both concert and fully-stagedproductions. Now, stage director James Robinson hascreated a new production of this timeless workpresented by Opera Colorado in 2008, co-produced withOpera Theatre of Saint Louis, Portland Opera,Minnesota Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre and HoustonGrand Opera.

Opera Colorado selected this monumental work tobe part of its 25th Anniversary Celebration andpresented it at Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins OperaHouse during the 2008 National Performing ArtsConvention. Opera Colorado worked closely with JamesRobinson to assemble an internationally recognized castincluding Thomas Hammons (Henry Kissinger) fromthe world première cast of 1987, Robert Orth (RichardNixon), Maria Kanyova (Pat Nixon), Marc Heller (MaoTse-tung), Tracy Dahl (Chiang Ch’ing), and Chen-YeYuan (Chou En-lai). Conducting superstar Marin Alsopled the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. This new liverecording was inspired by Marin Alsop’s dedication toperforming and promoting major twentieth centuryworks, and produced as a result of the co-operativeefforts of Opera Colorado and the Colorado SymphonyOrchestra Association.

At the heart of the success of Nixon in China is theartistic genius of composer John Adams and librettistAlice Goodman. Early in the creative process, John andAlice held meetings in Washington, D.C. to pore overback issues of news magazines, and tapes of television

newscasts and other media coverage surrounding thehistoric seven days (21st-27th February, 1972) thatbrought together President Richard M. Nixon andChairman Mao Tse-tung. The result of these researchsessions was the construction of a highly dramatic workwhose fabric is a colorful weave of actual events and anintimate look at the personalities of the individualsinvolved.

John Adams is considered one of America’s mostadmired and respected composers of works spanning theoperatic, symphonic, choral and chamber music genres.Influenced by minimalist composers Steve Reich andPhilip Glass, Adams has created a distinct style ofcomposition that imaginatively uses the restrictedharmonic vocabulary and steady pulse that became thehallmarks of the minimalist movement. Adams has anuncanny talent for recognizing the dramatic possibilitiesof continually repeating melodies, harmonies andrhythms, and knows exactly when to alter thosecompositional elements to reflect the dramatic action ofeach scene. These alterations can sometimes be jarringand at other times be as subtle as to be almostimperceptible.

Librettist Alice Goodman spent painstaking hourscollecting translations of Mao’s poems, magazinearticles, newspaper clippings, photographs and literaryworks such as Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China,Agnes Smedley’s biography of Chu Teh, and theSelected Works of Mao Tse-tung, to name a few. Out ofthis vast research came an epic libretto imbued witheloquence of thought and feeling, giving voice to eachcharacter in a highly individualistic way. Through herbeautifully crafted couplets, Goodman has brought adepth of meaning to this historic event, allowing theaudience to experience history in a new and morerevealing way.

Nixon in China is constructed within the frameworkof conventional opera, beginning with a traditionalchorus which builds to the entrance of two of the

John Adams (b. 1947)Nixon in China

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 28

8.669022-24 8.669022-24

principal characters, Richard and Pat Nixon, steppingdown the gangway from Air Force One. The first twoacts of the opera advance through a series of dramaticexchanges between characters represented in arias andensembles re-enacting the official meeting betweenRichard Nixon and Mao Tse-tung, the interactionsbetween Nixon, Kissinger and Premier Chou En-lai, thevarious speeches which took place at the first evening’sbanquet, Pat Nixon’s tour of numerous points of culturalinterest, and the performance of The Red Detachment ofWomen, the revolutionary ballet devised by ChairmanMao’s wife Chiang Ch’ing.

In the final act of Nixon in China, the six principalcharacters reflect upon the journey that has broughtthem to this place and moment in time. Through a seriesof inner monologues and short dialogues, each characterprobes the past with humor and pathos to reveal akinder, gentler, more vulnerable side of their nature. Theopera concludes with Chou En-lai’s thought-provokingline “How much of what we did was good?”

James Robinson’s ground-breaking productionviews the historic events through the eyes of the mediaand the millions of television viewers who weremesmerized by the Nixons’ historic visit to the People’sRepublic of China. Collaborating with set designerAllen Moyer and costume designer James Schuette,Robinson brings a sense of shared experience to thisnew production. The news media footage and historicphotos studied by Adams and Goodman become the setas televisions continually loop news footage of theactual events, while the characters simultaneously re-enact each event. The effect on the audience is one ofnostalgia and revelation. We not only relive this historicevent which undeniably changed the course of worldpolitics, but we also have time to reflect and absorb newinsights into the significance of this life-changing eventand the individuals whose vision made history.

Gregory CarpenterGeneral Director, Opera Colorado

6 27

He stands like a stone wallAnd stinks of success.I’m here to liaiseWith the backroom boysWho know how to live.And me, I contriveTo catch a few crumbs …The ringleaders’ namesThe gist of their schemes …Loose change.NIXONHere friend, something for you.You’re talking like a real pro.

The President hands a few coins to Lao Szu, and Hungtosses a handful of small change to the guards, whoscramble on the ground and fight among themselves.Embarrassed, Lao Szu orders his men to fetch theentertainment. A number of serving girls enter, dressedmostly in flowers. They are members of the RedWomen’s Militia. The guards compel them to dance.Grimly the girls begin to execute a colorful LiNationality Dance. Only one of them allows her angerto break the surface. It is Ching-hua. Her eyes sweepthe crowded courtyard, resting briefly on Lao Szu.Madame Mao has risen from her chair in the audience.She raises one hand and points to Ching-hua.

CHORUS (as Ching-hua)! It seems so strangeTo take revengeAfter so longTo find the wrongCan be undone.The silent gunWarms in my handSalving the woundMade by the menIt will gun downAll in good timeI shall kill themYes, every oneRevenge is mine.

CHIANG CH’INGThat is your cue.

Ching-hua produces an automatic pistol and fires twoshots. But it was not her cue. The company is stunned.

PATShe’s started shooting, Dick.NIXONI know.CHIANG CH’INGWhat are you gaping at?CHORUSOh no!CHIANG CH’INGForward Red Troupe! AnnihilateThis tyrant and his running dog!NIXONOh no!CHIANG CH’INGThrow off those stupid rags!Advance and fire! Fix bayonets!The worms are hungry! Must the fruitsOf victory rot on the vine?[PATIs Henry okay?NIXONChrist, he’s gone.]

The three contraltos, joined by Hung, severely rebukeChing-hua and disarm her. She is deeply distressed.For a moment Madame Mao, standing in their midst,seems almost left out. Then she shoulders them asideand begins to sing.

THREE SECRETARIESAre you one of us?You are what you choose.Your paradiseBegins and endsIn open woundsAnd self-abuseWhere your heart is.

John Adams

One of America’s most admired and respected composers, JohnAdams is a musician of enormous range and technical command. Hismany operatic works, including Nixon in China, The Death ofKlinghoffer, and Doctor Atomic, stand out among contemporarycompositions for their depth of expression and the profoundlyhumanist nature of their themes. His work, On the Transmigration ofSouls, written to mark the first anniversary of the World TradeCenter attacks, received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 2003, afilm version of The Death of Klinghoffer was released in theaters, ontelevision, and on DVD. Adams has been awarded honorary degreesand proclamations by Cambridge University, Harvard University,Yale School of Music, Phi Beta Kappa, the governor of California,the French Legion of Honor, and Northwestern University, where hewas awarded an honorary doctorate and the first Michael LudwigNemmers Prize in Music Composition. John Adams is active as aconductor, appearing with the world’s greatest orchestras.

Photo: Margaretta Mitchell

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 6

8.669022-24 26

[NIXONThere there, there there.Jesus it’s wet. What would I do without you, Pat?]

As quickly as it rose the wind dies down and with it therain. Party Representative Hung Chang-ching enters ona scouting mission. Together he and Mrs. Nixon raiseChing-hua to her feet.

PATThank God you came. Just look at this!Poor thing! It’s simply barbarous!“Whip her to death!” he said. I’d likeTo give his God-damned whip a crack!Oh Dick! You’re sopping!

Hung is filled with deep Proletarian feeling for thispeasant’s daughter who has suffered so bitterly. Heoffers her a glass of orange juice. It is the first act ofkindness she has ever known. Trembling, she raises theglass with both hands and drinks. Then the clouds part,the sky is filled with a blaze of light and the fulldetachment of the Red Women’s Militia enters information and unfurls its banners. Entry March of theWomen’s Company. Hung points to the company andto the flags waving in the rain-washed air, invitingChing-hua to join her fellow workers and peasants inthe People’s Army. Everyone cheers as Hung presentsher with a rifle, and she joins her new comrades in aspirited drill. Target Practice and Bayonet Dance.

CHORUS (as Militia)9 Flesh rebelsThe body pullsThose inflamed soulsThat mark its trialsInto the war.Arm this soldier!Rise up in arms!Tropical stormsUproot the palmsEnding their sway.The Red Army

Showed us the way.From the scorched earthPeople step forthOver dead woodAnd over the dead:Follow their lead.The hand grenadeBeats in the chestLet the heart burst,Let the clenched fistStrike the first blowFor Chairman MaoAnd overthrowThe tyrant, andShare out the land.Share out the land,Unclench the fist,Let the heart burstAnd sow broadcastThe dragon’s teethYour kin and kithSeed of your seedYour flesh and blood.

The scene changes to the courtyard of the tyrant’smansion. Sleek Kuomintang officers, political bossesand well-fed farmers celebrate their host’s birthday.Waiters pour wine as the guards display their militarytraining. Dance of the Mercenaries. Hung enters,dressed as a foreign merchant. He is accompanied bythe President who presents the doorman with a red-and-gilt card. Lao Szu rushes to greet the exotic guests.

KISSINGER (as Lao Szu)0 I have my briefI flatter myselfI know my manThe sine qua nonThe face on the coinYou see what I meanThe empire builderThe man with his shoulderAgainst the roulette wheel:

8.669022-247

Robert Orth (Richard Nixon)

Robert Orth is a leading baritone with major opera companies and symphonyorchestras throughout the United States. New York City Opera gave him theChristopher Keene Award for new and unusual repertoire. Among his manycontemporary and traditional opera performances, some notable rôles include JohnBuchanan, Jr., in Lee Hoiby’s Summer And Smoke, the Lodger in Dominic Argento’sThe Aspern Papers, and the Lecturer in Argento’s one-man opera A Waterbird Talk.He has created leading rôles in many new operas including the title rôle in the worldpremière of Harvey Milk by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie, Frank Lloyd Wrightin Shining Brow by Daron Aric Hagen, Owen Hart in Jake Heggie’s Dead ManWalking, Garrison Keillor’s opera Mr. And Mrs. Olson, Mr. Parkis in Heggie’s TheEnd Of The Affair, Uncle John in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes Of Wrath, andCapt. Compson in Midnight Angel by David Carlson. His recordings includeMenotti’s The Telephone, Weisgall’s Six Characters In Search Of An Author, HarveyMilk, Dead Man Walking, and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel.

Maria Kanyova (Pat Nixon)

Maria Kanyova has been acclaimed as much for her lustrous singing as for herviscerally enthralling stage performances. Career highlights include Cio-Cio-Sanin Madama Butterfly at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera; Violetta inLa traviata at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Portland Opera; Marie Antoinette in TheGhosts of Versailles at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wexford Opera Festival;Nedda in Pagliacci at Dallas Opera, New York City Opera; Donna Elvira in DonGiovanni at Los Angeles Opera, Opera Colorado; Mimì in La bohème at HoustonGrand Opera, Dallas Opera, New York City Opera (PBS telecast); Adina in L’elisird’amore and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at Boston Lyric Opera; Blanche in TheDialogues of the Carmelites and Jenufa in Jenufa at Glimmerglass Opera; Rita in theworld première of William Bolcom’s A Wedding at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She hassung the rôle of Pat Nixon at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Ravinia Festival,Chicago Opera Theatre, and Opera Colorado.

Photo: Ken Howard

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 26

8.669022-24 8.669022-248 25

A sacrificeRunning with juiceAt my caress.She was so hotI was hard-putTo be politeWhen the first cut—Come on you slut!—Scored her brown skinI started in,Man upon hen!

Ching-hua embraces the other women. They dancewhile the women in the chorus sing:

CHORUS (as Ching-hua)How thin you are!If every scarOn this poor backCould only speakThese walls would crackThis thick-walled heartCast in the dirtWould raise the cry “Hate Tyranny!”

Suddenly she seizes the whip from Lao Szu’s hand,brandishes it and kicks him to the ground. Just as theguard lays hands on her, the two women fling themselveson the guard and Lao Szu. Ching-hua escapes.

THREE SECRETARIES (as Ching-hua)The land outsideThis cell is red,Running with blood,Hot in the sunWe have not seenNot until now.Now let me through!PATDoesn’t he look like you-know-who!

At once the scene changes to the coconut grove.Mercenaries in battle-dress run, crouching slightly,

through the clearing. Ching-hua enters, dancing. She isquick and wary and eludes the dispersing troops.

CHORUS (as Ching-hua)Can’t find the path …Must find the path …

She collides with Lao Szu. They stare. He torments herwith his cane. The mercenaries reenter.

KISSINGER (as Lao Szu)7 Whip her to death!PATThey can’t do that!NIXONIt’s just a play.She’ll get up afterwards, you’ll see.Easy there, Hon.KISSINGER (as Lao Szu)Whip her to death!PATIt’s terrible! I hate you both!Make them stop, make them stop!NIXONSweetheart,Leave them alone, you might get hurt.

The First Lady rushes onstage. The President, who hasreluctantly followed her, holds her by the shoulders asChing-hua is beaten insensible. She has resisted to thelast.

KISSINGER (as Lao Szu)This is the fateOf all who setSmall against great.Leave it to rot.8 The sky looks ominous. Tyrant, factotum andmercenaries all retreat in the face of a tropical storm.Rain pelts down. The coconut palms bow like grass.The President and the First Lady stand onstage with thebody of Ching-hua, the recumbent dancer. He isstunned, she is rapt, they are both soaked to the skin.

Thomas Hammons (Henry Kissinger)

Thomas Hammons is acclaimed throughout the world in over forty rôles in the classicbasso buffo repertoire and in the world of modern music theater. He created the rôle ofHenry Kissinger in the world première of Nixon in China by John Adams for the HoustonGrand Opera in 1987, and his iconic portrayal was subsequently seen in Amsterdam, Paris,Frankfurt, and Los Angeles, along with important revivals at the Cincinnati Opera, OperaColorado, Canadian Opera Company and Vancouver Opera. His association with JohnAdams continued in the inaugural production of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Opéra de laMonnaie in Brussels, with later performances in Lyon, Vienna, San Francisco and at theBrooklyn Academy of Music. Thomas Hammons made his début at the Metropolitan Operaas the Sacristan in Tosca during the 1996-1997 season, and has returned to the Met everyseason thereafter in numerous performances.

Marc Heller (Mao Tse-tung)

Marc Heller has appeared at major opera houses across the United States and Europe,including the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the MacauInternational Music Festival, Croatian National Opera, Zagreb, and many others in suchrôles as Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Cavaradossi, Duca di Mantova, Alfredo, Riccardo, Don José,Romeo (Gounod), Faust (Gounod), Des Grieux (Massenet) and others. He originated thepivotal rôle of Gao Jian-li in the Shanghai workshop of Tan Dun’s opera The First Emperor.Heller went on to make his Metropolitan Opera début in the rôle opposite Placido Domingo.He appeared as the Prince in the North American première of Tan Dun’s Tea, with thecomposer conducting. In 2008 he travelled to China to sing the rôle of Lukas in Haydn’s DieJahreszeiten in pre-Olympic ceremonies. Other recordings include Modinhas e Cançoes(songs of Heitor Villa-Lobos), Take Me To The World (songs of Stephen Sondheim) as wellas Great Poets in Song and Rome by Night (compositions by the late Steve Allen).

Chen-Ye Yuan (Chou En-lai)

Chen-Ye Yuan has performed the rôle of Chou En-lai in numerous productions includingChicago Opera Theater, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado and Opera Theater of St. Louis,Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera Company. His masterful Rigoletto has openedthe doors to some of the best venues in the United States and Europe including WelshNational Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Minnesota Opera, San Antonio Opera, PalmBeach Opera, Sacramento Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. Additional rôles includeFriedrich Bhaer in Little Women, Marcello in La bohème, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor,the Dragon King in the world première of Legend of Yao Ji, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust,Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Amonasro in Aida, and the Speaker in The Magic Flute.His performance of Bhaer in Adamo’s Little Women with Houston Grand Opera was airedon PBS’s Great Performances and released on CD.

Photo: Lisa Kohler

Photo: Sandy Wilson

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 8

8.669022-24 24

CHORUS 1 and 2We should go back now.PATWhat a shame!

The First Lady takes the arm of her interpreter—afriendly gesture—as the group turns back towards thelimousine whose engine has been running for sometime. The sun is setting, the west is red and the moon isclearly visible.

5 Scene two – The curtain rises to reveal an audience.Madame Mao, in a dark Sun Yatsen suit and black-rimmed men’s glasses, sits between the President andMrs. Nixon, who has changed her scarlet costume for apastel colored one, and has been exchanging small talkwith the Premier, who sits on her other side. We haveonly few seconds to grasp these details before anothercurtain rises onstage. Three beautiful young women arechained to posts. The First Lady sits forward a little, as,indeed, does the President. The young women wearrags—and defiantly new ballet shoes. This is theopening of The Red Detachment of Women. Thedancer in the center, the proudest one, the one mostheavily laden with chains, is Wu Ching-hua, theheroine. We understand that they are in the lock-up ofan estate on a tropical island. Two women step fromtheir posts and begin a furious dance. Ching-hua standsstock-still. Three contraltos from the chorus sing:

THREE SECRETARIESYoung as we areWe expect fear,Every yearMore of us bowBeneath the shadowOf the next blow.Down on all foursOur grandfathersSwallow abuseAs if by choiceThe humble fleshKisses the lash,

Spit and polish,Polish and spitBlacken the bootAnd they submit,Embrace the foot,Cushion the kick:Rabbit and snakeDance cheek to cheek.We are awake,We know these matters,How the poor debtorsStill sell their daughters,How in the droughtMen still grow fatOn the profitWon grain by grainFrom other menCaught in the famineWho trade their oxenFor a day’s ration;Then the plow goes,Then tools, then clothes,At last the land.Where is he bound,Naked and stunned?Hand over handHe drags his skin.Look at him grinHe can’t complainLook at that thingThat was his tongueHe won’t be long.

Lao Szu, the landlord’s factotum, enters, accompaniedby a guard. Singing to himself, he fumbles with his keysand Ching-hua’s shackles.

KISSINGER (as Lao Szu)6 Oh what a dayI thought I’d die!That luscious thighThat swelling breastScented and greased,

8.669022-249

Tracy Dahl (Madame Mao)

Tracy Dahl has appeared with opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, SanFrancisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Milan’s La Scala. She hasperformed the rôle of Madame Mao in Nixon in China with Houston Grand Opera,Vancouver Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Portland Opera and Opera Colorado. Herrepertoire encompasses all the major coloratura rôles: Gilda in Rigoletto, Olympia in Lescontes d’Hoffmann, the title rôle in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta in Ariadne aufNaxos, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Florestine in The Ghosts of Versailles, Cunégonde inCandide, Oskar in Un ballo in maschera and Amor and Eurydice in Orpheus in theUnderworld, Despina in Così fan tutte, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, and Servilia in Laclemenza di Tito. Her discography includes A Disney Spectacular with the Cincinnati Pops(Telarc), Glitter and Be Gay with the Calgary Philharmonic (CBC), A Gilbert and Sullivan

Gala with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (CBC), and Love Walked In, a Gershwin collection with theBramwell Tovey Trio (Red Phone Box Company).

Melissa Malde (Nancy T’ang)

Melissa Malde has performed with numerous orchestras and opera companies throughoutthe United States, including Kentucky Opera and the Bangor Symphony. She has sungabroad with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, with the Prague Radio Symphony, and hasalso performed in Germany. She holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory,Northwestern University, the University of Cincinnati, and the Hochschule für Musik inMunich, where she studied under the auspices of a German Academic Exchange grant.While in Munich, she won first prize in the Kulturforum Competition. Other honors includewinning Cincinnati Conservatory’s Concerto Contest, first prize in Chicago’s SudlerOratorio Competition, a Farwell Award, and the Brice-Gooter Award from the NATSAAcompetition. She is certified as an Andover Educator to teach Body Mapping. Her book onthat subject, What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body, was published in 2008 by

Plural Publishing. She serves on the faculty of the University of Northern Colorado.

Photo: Lisa Kohler

Photo: Eric Weber

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 24

Julie Simson (Second Secretary)

Julie Simson has sung with opera companies throughout the United States includingHouston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Memphis, and OperaColorado. She has also performed as soloist in major oratorio works with the Denver,Colorado Springs, Cedar Rapids, Omaha and Milwaukee Symphonies and in Boulder at theMahlerFest and Bach Festival. She won the prestigious Mozart Prize at the InternationalBelvedere Competition in Vienna. After winning First Prize at the East and West ArtistsInternational Competition, she made her New York recital début in Weill Recital Hall atCarnegie Hall. Julie Simson was featured in two concerts at the International GeorgeCrumb Festival in Prague in the Czech Republic, and in recital and master-classes at theHochschule für Musik Hans Eisler in Berlin Germany. Her recordings include Mahler’sEighth Symphony with the Colorado MahlerFest and Horatio Parker’s Hora Novissima on

the Albany label, and an American Art Song CD on the songs of Richard Faith. She is currently a Professor of Voiceat the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Jennifer DeDominici (Third Secretary)

Jennifer DeDominici has performed with Opera Colorado and Central City Opera,and has been an Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera. She was declared aRegional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and wasalso one of only eleven singers world-wide chosen to study at Italy’s famedEPCASO in 2006, where she studied with renowned Italian musicians ClaudiaPinza and Enza Ferrari. She sang the rôles of Mrs. Jones in Street Scene, Hänsel inHänsel und Gretel, and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha. She also sang the rôle ofSharon Falconer in an excerpt from Elmer Gantry for the Opera America NationalConvention in 2008.

Opera Colorado

Based in Denver, Opera Colorado has been committed to presenting the highest quality live performances of operain their original languages since 1983. Founded by famed stage director Nathaniel Merrill, the company originallyperformed in the round in Boettcher Concert Hall. The company is dedicated to enriching the quality of life inColorado through the presentation of opera performances that inspire audiences and serve the community througheducation and cultural programs. Over the years, Opera Colorado audiences have enjoyed performances by the bestand brightest of the opera world. The company presents both established stars and emerging talent as well asengaging innovative directors and designers to create an annual season of traditional and pioneering operaperformances. Since its inception, Opera Colorado has performed in partnership with the Colorado SymphonyOrchestra. In 2005, the company moved into the state-of-the-art Ellie Caulkins Opera House inside the historicQuigg Newton Municipal Auditorium at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Under the leadership of Gregory

8.669022-24 8.669022-2410 23

In the bedroom communitiesLet us be taken by surprise;Yes! Let the band play on and on;Let the stand-up comedianFinish his act, let Gypsy RoseKick off her high-heeled party shoes;Let interested businessmenSpeculate further, let routineDull the edge of mortality.Let days grow imperceptiblyLonger, let the sun set in cloud;Let lonely drivers on the roadPull over for a bite to eat,Let the farmer switch on the lightOver the porch, let passersbyLook in at the large familyAround the table, let them pass.Let the expression on the faceOf the Statue of LibertyChange just a little, let her seeWhat lies inland: across the plainOne man is marching—the UnknownSoldier has risen from his tomb;Let him be recognized at home.The Prodigal. Give him his share:The eagle nailed to the barn door.Let him be quick. The sirens wailAs bride and groom kiss through the veil.Bless this union with all its might,Let it remain inviolate.

There’s some clapping, then the First Lady is usheredinto the limousine for the ride to the Ming Tombs,where ancient Chinese emperors were laid to rest. It isabout four o’clock in the afternoon and the warmcolored light which precedes sunset in the very earlyspring illuminates the limestone statues. Or are theysandstone? The First Lady pats the pockmarked leg ofan archaic elephant. She has put on her mink hatduring the drive. She revels in the quiet—no traffic, noairplanes, no loudspeakers, only the sound of thehuman voice and the sound of the footsteps onflagstones and new snow.

PAT4 At last the weather’s warming up.Look! The sky’s clear now.CHORUSWatch your step.PATI said it would, remember?CHORUSPlease,Mrs. Nixon, watch …PATOh yes.And look! Another elephant!Why hello, Jumbo! I was meantTo come here. What a lovely park!Time for a picnic?CHORUS 1They could work stone in those days.CHORUS 2Labor was cheap.CHORUS 1Men dug their own graves.CHORUS 2They rose up like statues covered in the dustOf their creationCHORUS 1Communist elements!CHORUS 2Men like these beholdEach revolution of the world.CHORUS 1Swimming through space as fish swim throughThe sea.CHORUS 2Resting in currents.CHORUS 1Though they got two bowls of rice a day …CHORUS 2The salt was black.CHORUS 1They drank white tea.PATIt sounds like you remember them.

Photo: Eric Weber

Photo: Kellie Coughlin

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 10

8.669022-24 22

Like Christmas. Never have I caredFor trivialities. Good Lord!Trivial things are not for me,I come from a poor family.CHORUS2 Look down, look down,Look down at the earth, down from the northThe snowstorm comes. Mile after mileOn each side of the ice-locked wallVanishes. Far as you can seeYou cannot see the land or sky.PATThis little elephant in glassBrings back so many memories.The symbol of our party, Prize of our success, our sacred cowSurrounded by blind Brahmins, slowMuscle-bound, well-dressed, half-awake,With Liberty upon her back.Tell me, is it one of a kind?THREE SECRETARIESIt has been carefully designedBy workers in our factory.They can make hundreds every day.PATWonderful!CHORUSLook down at the earth,A living current moves beneathRivers caught in the hand of death,Serpentine mountains cross the plainTo bask in an uncertain sun,And elephantine hills rejoiceAdvancing towards a sky of ice.This country is so beautiful;One fine day you will see it all.

The tour moves away; it is time the First Lady saw theEvergreen People’s Commune and its model swine-rearingfacilities, People’s Clinic, recreation building and school.

THREE SECRETARIESThis is the People’s Clinic.

PATOuch!I think it’s sort of rude to watch.THREE SECRETARIES“Do not distress yourself,” she begs.She will get well. Come see the pigs.PATI once raised a red-ribbon boar.CHORUS (as the press photographers)Do you think you could scratch his ear?Thank you.PATAnd how was that?CHORUSJust fine.THREE SECRETARIESHere are some children having fun.PATThe children in the U.S.A.All say hello. I used to beA teacher many years agoAnd now I’m here to learn from you.

Smiling and waving, Mrs. Nixon and her entourageleave the commune and proceed to the next stop on hertour: the Summer Palace where she is photographedstrolling through the Hall of Benevolence andLongevity, the Hall of Happiness in Longevity, the Hallof Dispelling the Clouds and the Pavilion of theFragrance of Buddha. She pauses in the Gate ofLongevity and Good Will to sing:

PAT3 This is prophetic! I foreseeA time will come when luxuryDissolves into the atmosphereLike a perfume, and everywhereThe simple virtues root and branchAnd leaf and flower. And on that benchThere we’ll relax and taste the fruitOf all our actions. Why regretLife which is so much like a dream?Let the eternal plan resume:

8.669022-2411

Carpenter, the company served as one of the hosts for the National Performing Arts Convention during the spring of2008. To celebrate this momentous event, Opera Colorado produced director James Robinson’s acclaimed newstaging of Nixon in China at the opera house under the baton of Marin Alsop, Conductor Laureate of the ColoradoSymphony Orchestra. The Opera Colorado Chorus is a group of dedicated volunteers who perform under theleadership of chorus master John Baril. For more information about Opera Colorado visit www.operacolorado.org.

Marin Alsop

Music Director of the BaltimoreSymphony Orchestra since 2007, arelationship now extended to 2015, MarinAlsop is the first woman to head a majorAmerican orchestra. Currently ConductorEmeritus of the Bournemouth SymphonyOrchestra and Music Director Laureate ofthe Colorado Symphony Orchestra, shecontinues as Music Director of California’sprizewinning Cabrillo Festival ofContemporary Music, a post she has heldsince 1992. The first artist to win both TheGramophone’s Artist of the Year awardand the Royal Philharmonic Society’sConductor’s Award in the same season,Alsop was named to a MacArthurFellowship and won the Classical BritAward for Best Female Artist that year –

the first conductor to receive this prestigious American honor. Marin Alsop is a regular guest conductor of the NewYork Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She can be heardregularly as a commentator on NPR’s Weekend Edition segment “Marin on Music”, and on BBC’s Radio 3. MarinAlsop is a native of New York City; she attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from theJuilliard School.

Photo: Kym Thomson

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 22

Act I

Scene one – The airport outside Peking It is a cold, clear, dry morning: Monday, February 21,1972. Contingents of army, navy and air force circle thefield and sing “The Three Main Rules of Discipline”and “The Eight Points of Attention.” Premier Chou En-lai, accompanied by a small group of officials, strollsonto the runway just as The Spirit of ‘76 taxis into view.President Nixon disembarks. They shake hands and thePresident sings of his excitement and his fears.

Scene two – Chairman Mao’s study An hour later he is meeting with Chairman Mao. Mao’sconversational armory contains philosophicalapothegms, unexpected political observations andgnomic jokes, and everything he sings is amplified byhis secretaries and the Premier. It is not easy for aWesterner to hold his own in such a dialogue.

Scene three – The Great Hall of the People After the audience with Mao, everyone at the firstevening’s banquet is euphoric. The President and Mrs.Nixon manage to exchange a few words before PremierChou rises to make the first of the evening’s toasts, atribute to patriotic fraternity. The President replies,toasting the Chinese people and the hope of peace. Thetoasts continue, with less formality, as the night goes on.

Act II

Scene one – Mrs. Nixon views China Snow has fallen during the night. In the morning Mrs.Nixon is ushered onstage by her party of guides andjournalists. She explains a little of what it feels like for awoman like her to be First Lady and accepts a glasselephant from the workers at the Peking Glass Factory.She visits the Evergreen People’s Commune and theSummer Palace, where she pauses in the Gate ofLongevity and Goodwill to sing, “This is prophetic!”Then, on to the Ming Tombs before sunset.

Scene two – An evening at the Peking Opera In the evening, the Nixons attend a performance of TheRed Detachment of Women, a revolutionary balletdevised by Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing. The balletentwines ideological rectitude with Hollywood-styleemotion. The Nixons respond to the latter; they aredrawn to the downtrodden peasant girl – in fact, they aredrawn into the action on the side of simple virtue. Thiswas not precisely what Chiang Ch’ing had in mind. Shesings “I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung,” ending with fullchoral backing.

Act III

The last evening in Peking.

8.669022-24 8.669022-2412 21

And heading for a single goal.The world watches and listens. WeMust seize the hour and seize the day.

President Nixon and Premier Chou toast each other,then Mrs. Nixon. Caught up in the spirit of friendship,the banqueters go from table to table toasting oneanother.

NIXON^ This is the hour!CHOUYour health!PATAnd yours!CHOUTo Doctor Kissinger!NIXONCheers!KISSINGERCheers!New friends and present company!NIXONTo Chairman Mao!CHOUThe U.S.A.!PATHave you forgotten Washington?CHOUWashington’s birthday!NIXONEveryone listen, just let me say one thing.I opposed China. I was wrong.KISSINGERBottoms up, Mr. President.PATWhat did you say, Sweetheart? I can’tCatch every word in all this noise.CHORUS 1We have at times been enemies.CHORUS 2The Chinese people are renowned.

NIXONIdeas we have entertained …PAT“America the Beautiful!”CHORUS 1We must broadcast seeds of goodwill.CHORUS 2Comrades and friends …NIXON… in former yearsGrow in a night to touch the stars.CHORUSLook down and think what the ChinesePeople have done to earn this praise.KISSINGERYou won’t believe how moved I am.CHORUSWe marvel now.NIXONIt’s like a dream.

CD 2: Act II

1 Scene one – It is the morning of February 22,another cold day. Although it is snowing, the First Ladywears no protection for her blonde hair. She has goneoff on her own for a sight-seeing trip. Anti-Americanposters have been torn off walls, market stalls are piledwith goods, children in snowsuits wave the flag. Mrs.Nixon is “loving every minute of it.” She has justshaken hands with many of the one hundred and fifteenkitchen workers at the Peking Hotel. Ahead on herschedule are the Evergreen People’s Commune, theSummer Palace and the Ming Tombs. In the eveningthere will be the opera. The citizens of Peking,seconded from their factories to clear the streets, lookup and smile as the knot of guides and reporters pausesin its progress.PATI don’t daydream and don’t look back,In this world you can’t count on luck.I think what is to be will beIn spite of us. I treat each day

Nixon in ChinaAn opera in three acts

Music by John AdamsLibretto by Alice Goodman

© Copyright 1987 by Hendon Music Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes companyReprinted by permission

Setting: Peking; February 21 – 27, 1972

Synopsis

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 12

8.669022-24 20

“At the edge of the RubiconMen don’t go fishing.” I know oneStatesman who thinks a fishing tripWill help him land the Great White Hope.CHOUIntelligence is no bad thing.NIXONIt’s Henry’s trump card. This stuff’s strong poison.CHOUA universal cure,Or so we call it over here.

After the third course is finished, Premier Chou rises totoast his American guests.

CHOU, CHORUS, NIXONGam bei!CHORUSShh, shh.CHOU$ Ladies and gentlemen,Comrades and friends, we have begunTo celebrate the different waysThat led us to this mountain pass,This summit where we stand. Look downAnd think what we have undergone.Future and past lie far belowHalf-visible. We marvel nowThat we survived those battles, tookThose shifting paths, blasted that rockTo lay those rails. Through the cold nightUncompromising lines of thoughtAttempted to find common groundWhere their militias might contend,Confident that the day would comeFor shadow-boxers to strike home.We saw by the first light of dawnThe outlined cities of the plain,And see them still, surrounded byThe pastures of their tenantry.On land we have not taken yetInnumerable blades of wheat

Salute the sun. Our children raceDownhill unflustered into peace.We will not sow their fields with saltOr burn their standing crop. We builtThese terraces for them alone.The virtuous AmericanAnd the Chinese make manifestTheir destinies in time. We toastThat endless province whose frontierWe occupy from hour to hour,Holding in perpetuityThe ground our people won todayFrom vision to inheritance.All patriots were brothers once:Let us drink to the time when theyShall be brothers again. Gam bei!

President Nixon rises to respond.

NIXON% Mr. Premier, distinguished guests,I have attended many feastsBut never have I so enjoyedA dinner, nor have I heard playedBetter the music that I loveOutside America. I moveA vote of thanks to one and allWhose efforts made this possible.No one who heard could but admireYour eloquent remarks, Premier,And millions more hear what we sayThrough satellite technologyThan ever heard a public speechBefore. No one is out of touch.Telecommunication hasBroadcast your message into space.Yet soon our words won’t be recalledWhile what we do can change the world.We have at times been enemies,We still have differences, God knows.But let us, in these next five daysStart a long march on new highways,In different lanes, but parallel

8.669022-2413

CD 1: Act I

1 Scene one – The airfield outside Peking. It is a verycold, clear morning; Monday, February 21, 1972; theair is full of static electricity. No airplanes are arriving;there is odd note of birdsong. Finally, from behindsome buildings come the sounds of troops marching.Contingents of army, navy and air force—120 men ofeach service—circle the field and begin to sing TheThree Main Rules of Discipline and The Eight Points ofAttention.

CHORUS2 Soldiers of heaven hold the skyThe morning breaks and shadows flyFollow the orders of the poorYour master is the laborerWho rules the world with truth and graceDeal with him justly, face to facePay a fair price for all you buyPay to replace what you destroyDivide the landlord’s propertyTake nothing from the tenantryDo not mistreat the captive foeRespect women, it is their dueReplace doors when you leave a houseRoll up straw matting after use3 The people are the heroes nowBehemoth pulls the peasant’s plowWhen we look up, the fields are whiteWith harvest in the morning lightAnd mountain ranges one by oneRise red beneath the harvest moon

4 A jet is heard approaching, touching down andtaxiing across the runway. As The Spirit of ’76 comesinto to view, slowing to a stop, Premier Chou En-laiand a small group of officials stroll out to meet it,casting lone shadows in the pale yellow light. A ramp isdrawn up to the hatchway. After a pause the door opensand President Nixon stands in the opening for aninstant, then begins to descend the ramp, closelyfollowed by the First Lady in her scarlet coat. When the

President reaches the middle of the ramp, PremierChou begins to clap and the President stops short andreturns the gesture, according to the Chinese custom.He reaches the bottom step and extends right hand ashe walks towards the Premier. They shake hands.

CHOU5 Your flight was smooth, I hope?NIXONOh yes.Smoother than usual I guess.Yes, it was very pleasant. WeStopped in Hawaii for a dayAnd Guam, to catch up on the time.It’s easier that way. The PrimeMinister knows about that. HeIs such a traveler.CHOUNo, not I;But as a traveler come homeFor good to China, one for whomAll travel is a penance nowI am most proud to welcome you.

As the rest of the American party disembarks, the bandstrikes up. The Premier introduces the President to theChinese official entourage, and together they review themassed ranks of the honor guard. All heads turn as theypass. While the introductions are beginning, thePresident begins to sing, and, as he sings, the joy ofanticipated triumph becomes the terrible expectation offailure. The Chinese and American official parties indue course leave the stage. The brilliant sunshinedwindles to the light of incandescent lamps. Atelephone rings twice offstage and is picked up offstage.In a moment Henry Kissinger interrupts the Presidentto tell him that Chairman Mao wishes to meet with him.

NIXON6 News has a kind of mystery:When I shook hands with Chou En-laiOn this bare field outside PekingJust now, the whole world was listening.

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 20

8.669022-2419

MAOFounders come first, then profiteers.SECRETARIESFounders come first, then profiteers.

They write it down.

# Scene three – It is the evening of the first day. TheAmericans are being fêted in the Great Hall of thePeople. Outside, the roof is outlined by strings of lights,inside there are tables set for nine hundred. Against thefar wall a small dais supports a bank of microphones.The American and Chinese flags are pinned against thewall. The President and the First Lady sit on either sideof the Premier, their backs to the flags, and gaze acrossa snowy field of table linen. There is their party, therethe newsmen, there the important Chinese. In thedistance the vision begins to blur. The atmosphere isconvivial; in that huge hall the President feels strangelyjoyful and lighthearted, as if this were the evening ofarrival in heaven. And so the conversation rises andfalls throughout the courses of the banquet.

NIXONThe night is young.PATA long, long trailUnwinding towards my dreams, uphillRight to the very last frontier,And then we’re home. I love you dear.NIXONYou must be worn out.PATNo, I washedAnd rested, so I feel refreshed.But you …NIXONThis air agrees with me.Wish we could send some to D.C.I’ve never felt so good.PATI sawA snow moon on our way here. Snow!

Snow over China! Think of that!It makes me shiver.NIXONJust you waitUntil the toasting starts. BetweenThe booze and praise you’ll warm up then.PATIt may go to my head.NIXONAnd I might be a Russian spy.PATSeriously …NIXONYou saw the moonIn clouds and forecast snow. Go on.PATBe a peacemaker, Premier Chou.CHOUAll Mrs. Nixon says is true enough. The pressure’s falling fast.I feel it in my bones.NIXON, PATAt leastThis Great Hall of the People standsLike a fortress against the windsWhatever their direction. YetThe west wind heralds spring.CHOUI doubt that spring has come.PATTake a deep breathAnd you can taste it. It’s the truth.Although there’s more snow still to fallThe spring’s as good as here.KISSINGERMeanwhile we sit together in the cold.CHOUHuddled for warmth you mean? But couldWe not take some encouragementFrom this appearance of détente?NIXONHe can’t hear you. He’s miles away.A Frenchman once observed to me

8.669022-24 14

CHOUMay I …NIXONAnd though we spoke quietlyThe eyes and ears of historyCaught every gesture …CHOU… introduce …NIXONAnd every word, transforming usAs we, transfixed …CHOU… the DeputyMinister of Security.NIXONMade history. [Our shaking handsWere shaping time. Each moment standsOut sharp and clear.CHOU… Army.] The Minister …[bracketed lines not set by the composer]NIXONOn our flight over from ShanghaiThe countrysideLooked drab and grey. “Brueghel,” Pat said.“We came in peace for all mankind”I said, and I was put in mindOf our Apollo astronautsSimply …[CHOU… of the United States]NIXONAchieving a great human dream.We live in an unsettled time.Who are our enemies? Who areOur friends? The Eastern HemisphereBeckoned to us, and we have flownEast of the sun, west of the moonAcross an ocean of distrustFilled with the bodies of our lost;The earth’s Sea of Tranquility.It’s prime time in the U.S.A.

Yesterday night. They watch us now;The three main networks’ colors glowLivid through drapes onto the lawn.Dishes are washed and homework done,The dog and grandma fall asleep,A car roars past playing loud pop,Is gone. As I look down the roadI know America is goodAt heart. An old cold warriorPiloting towards an unknown shoreThrough shoals. The rats begin to chewThe sheets. There’s murmuring below.Now there’s ingratitude! My handIs steady as a rock. A soundLike mourning doves reaches my ears,Nobody is a friend of ours.[Let’s face it. If we don’t succeedOn this summit, our name is mud.We’re not out of the woods, not yet.]The nation’s heartland skips a beatAs our hands shield the spinning globeFrom the flame-throwers of the mob.We must press on. We know we want …KISSINGERMr. President …NIXONWhat?… Oh yes …

7 Scene two – The incandescent lamps are the lamps ofChairman Mao’s study. They are old-fashioned standardlamps with tasseled shades. Books lie open everywhere,face down or face up. The walls are filled with books,most of them stuffed with long paper bookmarks.Chairman Mao Tse-tung is seated on one of severaloverstuffed brown slipcovered armchairs arranged in asemicircle. Several Chinese photographers slip into theroom, then President Nixon, Premier Chou En-lai andDr. Kissinger make their entrance. A girl secretary (oneof three who will sit on straight chairs behind Mao andsing back-up) takes the Chairman’s arm, and he hoistshimself out of the chair and advances to shake hands.

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 14

8.669022-24 18

Of Pao An want to spend their livesIn the daylight, to hear the soundOf industry borne on the wind:The plow breaking the furrow, clothPierced by the needle, giant earth-Movers, and these men want to work, andNot turn back, dazzled, to the dark …Echoes, shadows, and chains. Such menWill drive away the Yellow CraneAt last, to harness the Yangtze.Another generation mayTurn up Confucius’ China GuardWaiting in bunkers for their lord.NIXON@ Like the Ming Tombs. I think this leapForward to light is the first stepOf all our youth, of all nations’ youth;Our duty is to show them bothTheir future and our past, the fireAnd the noon glare. How they inspireOur poor dry bones, put us in mindOf our forgotten dreams! We sendChildren on our crusades, we bringChildren our countries, right or wrong.Then we retire. Fathers and sons,Let us join hands, make peace for once.History is our mother, weBest do her honor in this way.MAOHistory is a dirty sow:If we by chance escape her mawShe overlies us.NIXONThat’s true, sure,And yet we still must seize the hourAnd seize the day.CHOUYou overlookThe fact that hands are raised to strike,Hands are stretched out to seize their kill.Here where we stand, beyond the pale,Your outstretched hand, the Russian’s wave,Appear ambiguous. Forgive my bluntness.

[NIXONThere’s no reason whyYou should trust us. I’ll never sayI’ll do something I cannot do,And I’ll do more than you can know.But since you do not know me, pleaseDon’t trust me. Wait. These may be lies.KISSINGERI can vouch for the President.]

The Premier has been discreetly glancing at his watchfor some time. Now he stands up, and the President andDr. Kissinger follow his example. Chairman Mao isassisted by his secretaries as he hauls himself up.Walking slowly and talking, they take their leave.

MAOI’m growing old and soft, and won’tDemand your overthrow.NIXONYour lifeIs known to all. It’s a reliefTo think I may be spared.MAOI thoughtYou might be overwhelmed!NIXONMy feet are firmly planted on the ground,Like yours, like you I take my standAmong poor people. We can talk.MAOSix Crises isn’t a bad book.NIXONHe reads too much.CHOUAh, who can say?NIXONHas study given Chairman MaoAn iron constitution?MAONo.The Chairman sees his visitors offstage and shufflesback to his books.

8.669022-2415

MAOI can’t talk very well. My throat …NIXONI’m nearly speechless with delightJust to be here.MAOWe’re even then.That is the right way to begin.Our common old friend Chiang Kai-shekWith all his virtues would not lookToo kindly on all this. We seemTo be beneath the likes of him.You’ve seen his latest speech?NIXONYou bet.It was a scorcher. Still, he’s spitInto the wind before, and willAgain. That puts it into scale.You shouldn’t despise Chiang.MAONo fear of that. We’ve followed his careerFor generations. There’s not muchBeneath our notice.CHOUWe will touchOn this in our communiqué.

They sit down, and the photographers who havesnapped the handshakes continue to photograph them.The Chairman and the President sit next to one anotherat the center of the semicircle while the Premier sitsnext to the Chairman and Dr. Kissinger sits next to thePresident, facing each other, at its ends. Thesecretaries take their seats behind the Chairman.

MAOAh, the philosopher! I seeParis can spare you then.KISSINGERThe Chairman may be gratified to hearHe’s read at Harvard. I assignAll four volumes.

MAOThose books of mineAren’t anything. IncorporateTheir words within a people’s thoughtAs poor men’s common sense and tryTheir strength on women’s nerves, then sayThey live.NIXONThe Chairman’s books enthralledA nation, and have changed the world.MAOI could not change it. I’d be gladTo think that in the neighborhoodOf Peking something will remain.NIXONLet us turn our talk towards Taiwan,Vietnam and the problems there, Japan …MAOSave that for the Premier.My business is philosophy.Now Doctor Kissinger …KISSINGER Who me?MAO… has made his reputation inForeign affairs.NIXONMy right hand man.You’d never know to look at himThat he’s James Bond.CHOUAnd all the timeHe’s doing undercover work.KISSINGERI had a cover.MAOIn the darkAll diplomats are gray.CHOUOr grisWhen their work takes them to Paris.KISSINGERI pull the wool over their …

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 18

8.669022-2417

Survives in that, and not in time.While it is young in us it lives;We can save it, it never saves.KISSINGERAnd yours will last a thousand years.MAO0 Founders come first, then profiteers.NIXONCapitalists?MAOFishers of men.An organized oblivion.NIXONThe crane …MAOLet us not be misled.NIXONThe Yellow Crane has flown abroad.Think of what we have lost and gainedSince forty-nine.CHOUThe current trendSuggests that China’s future might …NIXONMight break the Futures Market.MAOThat would be a break. No doubt our plungeInto the New York Stock ExchangeWill line some pockets here and there.Will these investments be secure?No. Not precisely.NIXONThere’s the catch.You don’t want China to be rich.MAOYou want to bring your boys back home.NIXONWhat if we do? Is that a crime?MAOOur armies do not go abroad.Why should they? We have all we need:New missionaries, businesslike,Survey the field and then attack,

Promise to change our rice to bread,And wash us in our brothers’ blood,[And give us beads,] and crucifyUs on a cross of usury.After them come the Green Berets,Insuring their securities.NIXONWhere is the Chinese people’s faith?MAOThe people’s faith? Another mythTo sell bonds. It’s worked well for you.The people are determined toDivide the land to make it whole.Piecing the broken Golden BowlThe world to come has come, is theirs.We cried “Long live the Ancestors!”Once, it’s “Long live the Living!” now.NIXONHistory holds her breath.MAOWe knowThe great silent majorityWill bide its time.KISSINGERThere you’ve got me.I’m lost.CHOUThe Chairman means the dead.NIXONConfucius …MAO, SECRETARIES! We no longer need Confucius. Let him rot … no curse …Words decompose to feed their source …Old leaves absorbed into the treeTo grow again as branches. TheySprang from the land, they are alikeIts food and dung. Upon a rockYou may well build your tomb, but giveUs the earth, and we’ll dig a grave.A hundred years, and ears may pressHard to the ground to hear his voice.Platonic men freed from the caves

8.669022-24 16

NIXONStop!MAOHe pulls the wool over their lap.NIXONHe’s a consummate diplomat.Girls think he’s lukewarm when he’s hot.MAOYou also dally with your girls?NIXONHis girls, not mine.KISSINGERHe never tells.CHOUAnd this is an election year.

The photographers have finished, and Chou ushersthem out into the hall. When he returns he sits a littlestraighter as do the President and Dr. Kissinger. OnlyChairman Mao continues to lean back, his arms overthe chair’s arms, as the conversation moves on.

MAO8 You know we’ll meet with your confrèreThe Democratic candidateIf he should win.NIXONThat is a fateWe hope you won’t have to endure.I’d like to make another tourAs President.MAOYou’ve got my vote.I back the man who’s on the right.KISSINGERWho’s in the right you mean.MAONo, no.NIXONWhat they put forward we put through.MAOI like right-wingers: Nixon, Heath …

NIXONDe Gaulle.MAONo, not De Gaulle. I’m loathTo file him in that pigeonhole.KISSINGERBut Germany’s another tale.MAOWe’ve more than once led the right wingForward while textbook cadres swungBack into goosestep, home at last.How your most rigid theoristRevises as he goes along!NIXONNow you’re referring to Wang Ming,Chiang, Chang Kuo-tao and Li Li-san.MAOI spoke generally. The lineWe take now is a paradox.Among the followers of MarxThe extreme left, the doctrinaire,Tend to be fascist.NIXONAnd the far right?MAOTrue Marxism is called that byThe extreme left. OccasionallyThe true left calls a spade a spadeAnd tells the left it’s right.CHOU9 You’ve saidThat there’s a certain well-known treeThat grows from nothing in a day,Lives only as a sapling, diesJust at its prime, when good men raiseIt as their idol.NIXONNot the cross?MAOThe Liberty Tree. Let it pass.It was a riddle, not a test.The revolution does not last.It is duration … the regime

669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 16