Deutsche Oper Berlin - Nixon in China

A contemporary and topical opera for our time: When US President Richard Nixon lands on Chinese soil one foggy February morning in 1972, the world holds its collective breath. After decades of silence, the rival powers are starting to come together. A momentous instant in diplomatic history and a superlative media spectacle unfolds as cameras and microphones follow Nixon and Mao Zedong constantly. American composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman have taken original, historical documents to create a poppy narration of modern myths and spectacular imagery politics. This minimalist music opera follows the protocol of the state visit like a satirically exaggerated TV documentary, and shows figures between larger-than-life self-presentation and boundless self-deception. Musical theatre collective Hauen und Stechen, known for its anarchic directorial bent, focuses amidst the rush of images on the propagandistic aspect of the summit and provides furious insight into the power plays of the 20th century.

age recommendation: from age 16

duration: 3 hours 30 minutes / including an interval after approx. 100 minutes

introduction: 45 minutes before the performance in the Rang Foyer on the right

program

Nixon in China

Oper in drei Akten von John Adams

Libretto von Alice Goodman

In englischer Sprache mit deutschen und englischen Übertiteln

Place

On September 24, 1961 the Opernhaus that had been inaugurated in 1912 and destroyed during the War was reopened as Deutsche Oper Berlin. Ever since it has been Berlin´s largest and Germany´s second largest music theatre, featuring among the most modern institutions in Europe. The straightforward and elegant building that was realized by architect Fritz Bornemann (he also conceived the America Memorial Library and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a. o.) seats 1.859 and guarantees a maximum viewing and hearing experience for every visitor.