Nixon In China

A longtime collaborator of John Adams and champion of his music, Marin Alsop directs this live recording of Opera Colorado’s 25th Anniversary Celebration production of Nixon in China, presented at Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the 2008 National Performing Arts Convention, and featuring an internationally recognized cast.

Alice Goodman’s epic libretto and John Adams’s distinctive music weave together a colourful fabric of actual events from President Nixon’s historic visit to the People’s Republic of China with intimate examinations of the opera’s real life characters.

The spectacle, drama, humor and pathos of this masterpiece remain as compelling today as when the opera was premièred in 1987.

“[The] performance, brilliantly conducted by Marin Alsop and delivered by a strong cast led by baritone Robert Orth in the title role… Alsop, a proven master of Adams’ style both early and late, led a dynamic performance… Conducting the Colorado Symphony, she shepherded her forces nimbly.”
San Francisco Chronicle concert review

"…Marin Alsop is the persuasive conductor of this live recording from Opera Colorado's 2008 production. Robert Orth is powerful yet detailed in the title-role, and Maria Kanyova sings the neurotic Pat Nixon with great intensity. Tracy Dahl is strong in Madame Mao's coloratura, and there are good performances from Thomas Hammons (Kissinger) and Marc Heller (Mao Tse-tung)..."
Gramophone Magazine - December 2009
 
"Alsop has this music in her very being, and her version is cast from strength. Robert Orth is a strong Nixon and his wife Pat is intensely and sympathetically characterized by Maria Kanyova. But Tracy Dahl steals the shows in her sympathetic portrayal of Madame Mao, particularly in the coloratura of the closing Act. An unforgettable set."
Penguin Guide - 2011 edition