Minnesota Opera's Nixon in China Program

J O H N A DA M S

The Schubert Club

Saint Paul Summer Song Festival June 10 – 18, 2005 • Saint Paul, Minnesota Art Song Recitals

Beautiful Singing Intimate Setting Downtown Saint Paul

Michael Schade, tenor and Hannelore Auer, piano Friday, June 10 • 8 P.M. Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano and Warren Jones, piano Saturday, June 11• 8 P.M. New York Festival of Song: “Latin Lovers” Steven Blier, piano, Hugh Russell, baritone, Jennifer Aylmer, soprano, Jeffrey Picón, tenor Tuesday, June 14 • 8 P.M. Bejun Mehta, countertenor and Kevin Murphy, piano Friday, June 17 • 8 P.M. Dawn Upshaw, soprano and Gilbert Kalish, piano Saturday, June 18 • 8 P.M. • SOLD OUT THE SPCO CENTER • HAMM BUILDING 408 ST. PETER STREET • SAINT PAUL

Landmark Center • Free Gallery 205 • Landmark Center

— Recital — Maria Jette, soprano Wednesday, June 15 • 8 P.M. (with Michael Jorgensen, baritone & Esther Wang, piano)

Isabel Bayrakdarian Dawn Upshaw

Single Tickets: $30.00 Season Tickets: All five concerts for $120 To Order: Please call 651-292-3268 and/or Visit our web site: www.schubert.org

— Master Classes — Cynthia Munzer, soprano • Monday, June 13 • 3 P.M. Bejun Mehta, countertenor • Thursday, June 16 • 3 P.M. Dawn Upshaw, soprano • Friday, June 17 • 3 P.M.

Public Concert • Free Sunday, June 12 The Schubert Club Bandstand, Raspberry Island Co-sponsored with MPR

Strolling Song Picnic • Noon to 3 P.M. VocalEssence Ensemble Singers • 3 P.M. Philip Brunelle, Artistic Director

SPONSORED BY: Ecolab Foundation • Frauenshuh Companies Katherine B. Andersen Fund of the Saint Paul Foundation Lowry Hill Private Wealth Management F. R. Bigelow Foundation In association with Minnesota Public Radio • Minnesota Opera • The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra • VocalEssence

5 • nixon in china

Contents The Minnesota Opera Sta∂ and Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Notes from the Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2005 – 2006 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Nixon in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Background Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 John Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Artist Interview: Antony Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Director’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Minnesota Opera Chorus and Orchestra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Young Professionals Group Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Opera at the Ordway Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Minnesota Opera Annual Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

The Minnesota Opera President & CEO Artistic Director Chair, Board of Directors

Kevin Smith Dale Johnson John A. Blanchard, III

The Minnesota Opera, 620 North First Street Minneapolis, MN 55401 (612) 333-2700 www.mnopera.org The Minnesota Opera is a member of OPERA America.

This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature. This project is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

May 2005

The Minnesota Opera Program

Keri Picket

is published by Arts & Custom Publishing Co., Inc. Corporate Administrator/Publisher Assoc. Publisher/Director of Production Senior Account Executives Creative Designer Production Designers

Todd Hyde Marsha Kitchel Liesl Hyde, Yvonne Christiansen Michael Gutierres Jill Adler, Sue Sentyrz Klapmeier, Robert Ochsner

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850 Grand Avenue,St Paul 55105 651-224-5687 www.cafelatte.com

the minnesota opera • 6

Minnesota Opera Staff President & CEO Kevin Smith Artistic Director Dale Johnson Welcome to today’s production of Nixon in China. For more than four decades The Minnesota Opera has enriched the cultural life of our community by producing outstanding and innovative operas that inspire and entertain.

U.S. Bank is honored to sponsor the 2004 – 2005 season. We are proud of our 20+ year relationship with The Minnesota Opera and of our sponsorship at this great setting of the Ordway in St. Paul.

At U.S. Bank, we support great dreams, great art and great arts organizations. They enrich the community with vibrancy, creativity, and excellence. As the sixth largest bank in America today, U.S. bank is the only major bank headquartered in Minnesota, and we’re deeply committed to giving back in this community.

Thank you for coming and enjoy the performance.

Jose A. Peris, Senior Vice President, Region Manager, U.S. Bank Private Client Group, and Minnesota Opera board member

Artistic Artistic Administrator . .Roxanne Stou∂er Cruz Artistic Associate . . . . . . Floyd Anderson Community Education Director . . . . . . . . .

Jamie Andrews Dramaturg . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Sander Production Stage Manager . . . Alex Farino Assistant Stage Managers . . .Kristen E. Burke, Katie Preissner Head of Music . . . . . . . . . . .Bruce Stasyna Resident Artist Assistant Conductor . . . .Christopher Zemliauskas Resident Artist Coach/ Accompanist . . . . . . . . . . .Korey Barrett Resident Artist Singers . .Raymond Ayers, Jonathan Carle, Theodore Chletsos, Anna Jablonski, Seth Keeton RAP Faculty . . .Allysum Tai Chi Center, Nancy Boler, Peter Robinson Teaching Artist . . . . . . . . .Angela Keeton KIDS . . . . . .Lloyd Clausen, Paul Cochran, Mario Diaz-Moresco, Andrew Penning, Sara Sawyer Children’s Chorusmaster . . .Janice Kimes Artistic Intern . . . . . . . . . . . .Matt Bluem Costumes Costume Director . . . . . . . .Gail Bakkom Assistant Costume Director . . .Beth Sanders Drapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chris Bur, Yancey Thrift First Hands . . . . . . . . .Helen Ammann, Valerie Hill, Stephanie Vogel Stitchers . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rebecca Ballas, Jennifer Dawson, Christine Richardson Wig/Makeup Supervisor . .Charles Lapointe Wig/Makeup Assistants . . . . . Sarah Opstead Emily Rosenmeier, Ashley Ryan

Scenery Production Administrator . . Holly Carpenter Technical Director . . . . . . . . . . . Mike McQuiston Asst. Technical Director/ Lighting Coordinator .Marc D. Johnson Sound Consultant . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Mayer Properties Master . . Stanley Dean Hawthorne Properties Assistant . . . . . . . . Mike Long Production Carpenter . . . . . . . . J.C. Amel Scene Shop Foreman . . . . . . . . Rod Aird Master Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . .Steve Rovie Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Veldey Administration Finance Director . . . . . . . . . . Je∂ Couture Operations/Systems Manager . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Mittelholtz HR/Accounting Manager . . Jennifer Thill Executive Assistant . . . . . Theresa Murray Receptionist/Finance Assistant . .Jill Pawelak Development Development Director . . .Patrick Dewane Individual Gifts Director . . . . .Dawn Loven Institutional Gifts Director . . Linda Johnson Institutional Gifts Associate/ Gala Coordinator . . . . . . .Kelly Classen Individual Gifts Associate . . . . . . . . . . .

Megan Stevenson Development Director Assistant . . . . . .

Kelly Clemens Marketing/Communications Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . .Carl Lee Communications Director . . . Lani Willis Ticket O∑ce Manager . . . . Andrea Corich Marketing & Communications Assistant/ Volunteer Coordinator . . . . .Reid Tuenge Ticket O∑ce Assistant . . . .Carol Corich

Minnesota Opera Volunteers The following volunteers contribute their time and talent in support of key activities of The Minnesota Opera.

Harry Swepston (Volunteer Chair) Ann Albertson Gerald Benson Colleen Boyer Jim Brownback* Sue Brownback Jerry Cassidy Joann Cierniak Tricia Clarke Susan Cogger Caroline Coopersmith Lindsay Craig Beverly Dailey* Jeanette Daun Lee Drawert Judith Duncan

Sally Economon Hazel Francois Jane Fuller Joan Gacki* Christine A. Garner* Juhi Gupta-Gulati Mark Gustin Mary E. Hagen Lucinda Hallet Merle J. Hanson John Harris* Anne Hesselroth Alisandra Johnson Karen Johnson Nancy Johnson Steve Johnson Jeannie Johnston Robin Keck Eleanore Kolar

Lucinda Lamont Shirley Larson Jerry Lillquist Joyce Lillquist Abby Marier Margery Martin Joan Masuck Mary McDiarmid* Beth McGuire Verne Melberg Irma Monson Barbara Moore Doug Myhra Pam Nielsen Dan Panshin Pat Panshin Liliana Payne Megan Pelka Sydney Phillips

Bill Phillips Julia Porter John Rosse Florence Ruhland John Sauer Michael Silhavy Wendy Silhavy Angie Solomon Wendi Sott Dawn Stafki Dave Terwilliger Doris Unger Carolyn Wahtera Mary Weitz Barbara Willis* *Lead volunteer

Notes from the Leadership

Board of Directors

Welcome to the final performances of the 2004-2005 season. We are pleased that you are here to enjoy one of the most important works of the 20th century.

John Adams broke ground in an unexpected way, dramatizing one of the most significant political events of the last century. But he didn’t do it in a vacuum – the practice of putting politics on the opera stage was used by Mozart, Puccini, and especially Verdi.

It’s the way Adams and librettist Alice Goodman created this opera that makes it special. Instead of the traditional dramatic arc, this opera paints six vignettes, using the actual historical events as frames and filling them with vivid character portraits of the Maos, the Nixons, Chou En-lai and Henry Kissinger. With the exception of the latter, who is almost a caricature; these are poetic treatments of these larger-than-life personalities. We’re given a glimpse of the real power of the first ladies, and we hear the leaders’ preoccupation with how they are being viewed worldwide during their well-choreographed dance with the media.

Adams pioneered a new genre of post-modern musical theater with Nixon in China that resulted in “docudramas” for the opera stage such as his later work The Death of Klinghoffer, Malcolm X by Anthony Davis, Harvey Milk by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie, and Adams’s own upcoming Dr. Atomic (which is about Robert Oppenheimer).

Some opera buffs are resistance to modern music, especially when words like “minimalist” are used to describe it. Maestro Walker has some insights into the score on page 14. Adams is a consummate opera composer who writes not only for characters, but for voices, and in Nixon in China sets Goodman’s poetry with grace and clarity. My advice is to sit back, listen and simply let the music in. Enjoy the show.

Officers John A. Blanchard, III, Chair Rolf Engh Vice Chair Lynne E. Looney Secretary Thomas J. Foley Treasurer Kevin Smith, President & CEO

Directors Karen Bachman Susan S. Boren Nicky B. Carpenter Richard P. Carroll Jane M. Confer Susan J. Crockett Sara Donaldson Brad F. England John G. Forsythe Steve Fox Sharon Hawkins Directors Emeritus Karen Himle Burt Cohen Ruth S. Huss Julia W. Dayton Heinz F. Hutter Mary W. Vaughan Paula R. Johnson Lucy Rosenberry Legal Counsel Jones James A. Rubenstein, Michael F. Kelly, Jr. Moss & Barnett Elizabeth “Becky” Malkerson Honorary Directors Thomas R. Dominick Argento McBurney Philip Brunelle Brian E. Palmer Elizabeth Close Jose Peris Dolly Fiterman Steve Rothschild Charles C. Fullner Stephanie Simon Norton M. Hintz Catie Tobin Donald W. Judkins H. Bernt von Ohlen Liz Kochiras Jevne Pennock Patricia H. Sheppard

Dale Johnson Artistic Director

from the President Welcome to the Twin Cities premiere of Nixon in China.

The Minnesota Opera is proud to conclude this season with this powerful and entertaining work, particularly in this first new staging since its 1987 premiere. This is a coproduction with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Portland Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Opera Theater and Opera Colorado. It is a thrill to be a part of a movement reinvigorating this work, and are confident you will enjoy the bold and dynamic staging by James Robinson and designers Allen Moyer and James Schuette.

The Minnesota Opera has a 42-year history rich with contemporary work and commissions, and Nixon in China is the latest part of that legacy. Next season, we will produce two American premieres – Petitgirard’s Joseph Mer-

rick, the Elephant Man, which opened to great success in Prague in 2002; and Mercadante’s thriller, Orazi e Curiazi, a Romeo and Juliet-style love story which is not contemporary, but rather a neglected bel canto opera like this season’s Maria Padilla. And of course, next season wouldn’t be complete without a familiar favorite or two, and our picks are Puccini’s Tosca and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Subscriptions are the still best way to guarantee yourself a great seat at the opera, and they are on sale now (see p. 8).

We hope you enjoy this performance and that we will see you next season at the opera!

Kevin Smith President & CEO

7 • nixon in china

from the Artistic Director

The dream the rehearsals the script the rehearsals the direction the rehearsals the encouragement the rehearsals the trust the rehearsals the premiere.

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t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 10

Conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Antony Walker Stage Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Robinson Choreographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seán Curran Set Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Allen Moyer Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Schuette Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Paul Palazzo Video Designer . . . . . . . . . . . .Wendall K. Harrington Wigs and Makeup . . . . . . .Tom Watson & Associates Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . .Kevin Lee Newbury Chorusmaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bruce Stasyna Production Stage Manager . . . . . . .Alexander Farino

Music by John Adams Libretto by Alice Goodman World premiere at Houston Grand Opera October 22, 1987 May 14, 17, 19, 21 and 22, 2005 Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

The Cast

Sung in English with English captions

Richard Nixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carlos Archuleta Pat Nixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Angela Fout Mao Tse-tung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Simon O’Neill Chiang Ch’ing (Madame Mao Tse-tung) . .Helen Todd Chou En-lai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Raymond Ayers Henry Kissinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Wilkowske Nancy T’ang, First Secretary to Mao . .Anna Jablonski Second Secretary to Mao . . . . . . . . . .Angela Keeton Third Secretary to Mao . . . . . . . . . . .KrisAnne Weiss Principal Dancers . . . . .Kimberly Jewart, Sun Ho Kim

Background Notes by David Sander

A

s we recently bid farewell to a former president, America’s focus was decidedly

on Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments rather than his shortcomings. Much of the same can be said of Richard Nixon (who, dying in 1994, skipped the state funeral because he never felt welcome in Washington) when

Members of the Chinese army, navy, air force, media, Red Women’s Militia, guards, factory workers, farmers, waiters, people of Peking

one recalls his diplomatic coup, the first visit of a sitting American president to the People’s Republic of China. The event was of

Setting: Peking; February 21 – 27, 1972 AT&T Foundation is the national corporate sponsor of Nixon in China.

This production received funding from OPERA America’s opera fund.

The opera fund, launched by The National Endowment for the Arts, is funded by the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Canada Council for the Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James S. and John L. Knight Foundation, The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, and Lee Day Gillespie. Nixon in China is also sponsored by a grant from the City of St. Paul Cultural STAR Program.

Nixon in China is co-produced in association with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Minnesota Opera, Portland Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Opera Theater and Opera Colorado.

The Minnesota Opera would like to recognize Paul Vershbow, associate video Designer/programmer, David Bieding, motion graphics, and Susan Hormuth, image research, for their work on this prodution. Video excerpts courtesy of the following: nbc News Archives; National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; © 2004 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/ars, New York; American Gothic by Grand Wood, Friends of the American Art Colletion, all rights reserved by The Art Institute of Chicago and vaga, New York, ny.

By arrangement with Hendon Music, Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company, publisher and copyright owner.

The appearances of Angela Fout and Simon O’Neill, national finalists, and Anna Jablonski and Helen Todd, regional finalists of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, are made possible through a Minnesota Opera Endowment Fund established for Artist Enhancement by Barbara White Bemis.

Performances of Nixon in China are being taped for delayed broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, ksjn 99.5 in the Twin Cities.

such significance as to warrant the writing of an opera 15 years later by one of this country’s leading composers.

A note on amplification in Nixon in China: John Adams specifically scored Nixon in China for amplified voices and amplified instrumentation.

The Minnesota Opera season is sponsored by U.S. Bank, Private Client Group.

Rogers & Hollands is the O∑cial Jeweler of The Minnesota Opera.

Intermission receptions sponsored by Lowry Hill Private Wealth Management.

Opera Insights is sponsored by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

The appearances of the 2004–2005 season conductors are underwritten by SpencerStuart.

The 2004–2005 Camerata Circle Dinners are sponsored by Rider Bennett.

Courtesy of Getty Images

11 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

Chinese Chinese communist communist leader leader Chairman Chairman Mao Mao Zedong Zedong with with Richard Richard Nixon Nixon (AFP) (AFP)

ity. As there existed no diplomatic relations between the One can appreciate the value of this endeavor when retwo countries, subtle attempts were made to court Chinese calling how the relationship between the two countries had emissaries uno∑cially, including a “chance” meeting at a deteriorated. After the communist takeover in 1949, the fashion show hosted at the Yugoslavian embassy in Warsaw.

United States had broken o∂ all contact with mainland Another serendipitous opportunity occurred in March China, instead favoring the Nationalists who had sought 1971, at the World Table Tennis Championship in Nagoya, refuge on the nearby island of Taiwan. The Chinese involveJapan. Later dubbed “Ping Pong Diplomacy,” members of ment in the Korean War didn’t help the hostile situation, the Chinese team invited their American counterparts for a nor did the regime’s apparent alignment with the ideology visit to their native soil. A reciprocal inof the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. From the start, Richard “… we simply cannot afford to vitation to America soon followed.

To show a friendly face, Nixon reNixon had been closely involved in anti- leave China forever outside the famcommunism, serving on the House Un- ily of nations, there to nurture its laxed travel restrictions and eliminated American Activities Committee, which fantasies, cherish its hates and an existing trade embargo. Using Pakistan as an intermediary for concealed provided a model for Senator Joseph threaten its neighbors.”

McCarthy’s hearings on the same sub—Richard Nixon c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , C h i n a fi n a l l y confirmed it would welcome a visit ject in the early 1950s. For his part, from a high ranking American representative. There was Nixon managed to flush out at least one former State Demuch to discuss – the recognition of Taiwan as the “o∑cial” partment o∑cial, Alger Hiss, who was accused of leaking China remained a thorny issue, as well as America’s ininformation to the Soviets. volvement in the Vietnam War and its overall military By the late ’60s, however, it became apparent China was presence in the Asian community. Still, China needed a just as estranged from Russia. Nixon seemed to have counterbalance to the Soviet military stockpile along the changed his opinion as well, realizing China was a force northern border – there had already been several skirmishes with which to be reckoned. As early as 1967 he made a between the two nations. A bond between the world’s most passing reference in an article published by Foreign A∂airs: populous nation and its most powerful one would also serve “… we simply cannot a∂ord to leave China forever outside the Americans, as the Soviets had been evasive with regard the family of nations, there to nurture its fantasies, cherish to arms reduction talks. its hates and threaten its neighbors.” Two years later, just a All contact had to remain top secret in case the endeavor week into his presidency, Nixon directed his Assistant for would bear no fruit. Rather than using his Secretary of State National Security, Henry Kissinger, to make China a priorContinues on page 20

Production photos by Ken Howard, courtesy of Opera Theatre of St. Louis

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 12

Synopsis act i Scene one – The airport outside Peking Richard and Pat Nixon disembark from The Spirit of 76 and are greeted by Premier Chou En-lai. As introductions are made, Nixon ponders the magnitude of this momentous event. Henry Kissinger quietly informs the President that Chairman Mao wishes to meet with him immediately.

Scene two – Chairman Mao’s study Mao and Nixon exchange pleasantries as press photographs are taken. Mao brings up the key issues at stake – Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan – and compliments Kissinger’s diplomacy. Mao’s strength is philosophy, and Kissinger notes that his teachings (which he promotes to his students at Harvard) will last a thousand years. The merits of Marxism, Capitalism and Confucianism are then discussed in Maoist apothegms, echoed by Chou and the secretaries. As the visit comes to a close, the Chairman abstractly emphasizes a notion stated earlier, “Founders come first, then profiteers.”

Scene three – The Great Hall of the People At the state dinner that evening, Pat and Dick trade some initial observations with one another. Chou raises a toast to his guests and Nixon returns the gesture. All celebrate the glowing mutual goodwill between the two countries.

– Intermission – act ii Scene one – Mrs. Nixon views China Accompanied by the press, Pat Nixon is shown the efficiency of glass factory workers, then tours the Evergreen People’s Commune, which boasts of its model swine-rearing factory. On the

other side of luxury, she is escorted to the Summer Palace and the exquisite Ming Tombs. At the Gate of Longevity and Goodwill, she extols the prophetic nature of her overseas voyage.

Scene two – The Peking Opera Dick and Pat attend the evening’s entertainment with Premier Chou and Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing. They observe a politically motivated ballet orchestrated by Madame Mao, The Red Detachment of Women, which represents the oppression of Ching-hua by her tyrant landlord, Lao Szu. Pat objects to the depiction of Ching-hua’s brutal treatment, and the Nixons are drawn into the drama as a result.

As the dance continues, the Red Women’s Militia enters, and Party Representative Hung invites Ching-hua to join her fellow workers. She is presented with a rifle, and she and her new comrades perform the Target Practice and Bayonet Dance. At the home of Lao Szu, serving girls (really the Red Women’s Militia) are coerced to dance for the tyrant and his guards. Ching-hua’s anger overcomes her, and she draws a pistol. At the height of the drama, Madame Mao intercedes to deliver a stirring patriotic dialogue.

– Intermission – act iii The last night in Peking All parties are exhausted, except Chairman Mao who appears as energetic as his youthful propaganda poster depicts. He and his wife dance and recall the past. Pat and Dick also reminisce, thinking of their impoverished early days, while Chou considers the merits of revolution and what still remains to be accomplished.

Costume designs by James Schuette

Nixon

Mao

Pat Nixon

Kissinger

Madame Mao

Red Militia

peasant

old woman

John Adams

photo by Deborah O’Grady

O

ne of America’s most admired and frequently performed composers, John Adams was born in Worchester, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University in 1971, he moved to California, where he taught and conducted at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for ten years. His innovative concerts led to his appointment first as contemporary music adviser to the San Francisco Symphony and then as the orchestra’s composer-inresidence between 1979 and 1985, the period in which his reputation became established with the success of such works as Harmonium and Harmonielehre.

Recordings on the New Albion and ecm labels were followed in 1986 by an exclusive contract with Nonesuch Records, an association that continues today.

In 1985 Adams began a collaboration with poet Alice Goodman and stage director Peter Sellars that resulted in two operas, Nixon in China and The Death of Klingho∂er, worldwide performances of which made them among the most performed operas in recent history. A third stage work, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky, a “song play” with libretto by the poet June Jordan, was also staged in more than 50 performances in both the United States and Europe. His most recent stage project, El Niño, a further collaboration with Peter Sellars, was premiered in Paris in December 2000, and further performances took place in San Francisco in January 2001.

Adams’ works have received numerous awards, among them the 1994 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his Chamber Symphony, and the 1995 Grawemeyer Award for his Violin Concerto.

In 2002 Adams composed On the Transmigration of Souls for the New York Philharmonic, a work written in commemoration of the first anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

This work received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Adams’ most recent work is My Father Knew Charles Ives, a musical selfportrait of the composer’s childhood in

John Adams

Concord, New Hampshire, where he played in marching bands with his father and first heard live jazz in the summer dance hall owned by his grandfather. The work was premiered in April 2003 by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

In April and May 2003, Lincoln Center presented a festival entitled “John Adams: An American Master,” the most extensive festival ever mounted at Lincoln Center devoted to a living composer.

Among the significant events of the 2003 season has been the unveiling of a new filmed version of The Death of Klingho∂er, Adams’ second opera, directed by Penny Woolcock for Channel Four. The film, shot on location in the Mediterranean and on board a cruise liner, breaks new ground in the presentation of opera on film. The composer conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in this film, which had its American premiere at the Sundance Festival and played at other international festivals in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, San Francisco and New York.

In September 2003, Adams succeeded Pierre Boulez as Composer-inResidence at Carnegie Hall. Among his activities there will be the planning and directing of concerts in the new 600-seat Zankel Hall.

Adams is the subject of two documentary films, one by Tony Palmer, entitled Hail Bop! (1998) and a more recent one by David Je∂cock (2003).

After a successful run of Nixon in China at the English National Opera in 2000, a new film of that opera, directed by Peter Sellars, is to be made in January 2004.

Future projects include The Dharma at Big Sur (composed for Los Angeles Philharmonic and the opening of Disney Hall in Los Angeles in October 2003); a new opera, working title: Doctor Atomic, based on the life of Robert Oppenheimer, commissioned by the San Francisco Opera for premiere in September 2005, and a new orchestral work for Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, due in early 2006.

In celebration of a fifteen-year partnership, in 1999 Nonesuch Records released The John Adams Earbox, a 10-compact disc compilation comprising almost all of the composer’s music over a 20-year period.

Adams continues to conduct regularly, appearing with the world’s greatest orchestras, and with programs combining his own works with composers as diverse as Debussy, Stravinsky and Ravel to Zappa, Ives, Reich, Glass and Ellington. In recent seasons he has conducted the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland, Montreal and Philadelphia Orchestras, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. European engagements have included performances with the Deutsche Kammer-Philharmonie, Ensemble Modern, Oslo Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie -Orchester Berlin, Concertgebouw, Santa Cecilia and London Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest at the bbc Proms concerts and performed there with pianist Hélène Grimaud during their 2003 season. Future appearances include concerts with the Seattle Symphony, the bbc Symphony, the Hessischer Rundfunk and the Finnish Radio Orchestra. reprinted courtesy of www.earbox.com

13 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

b Worchester, ma, February 15, 1947

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 14

Artist Interview: Antony Walker An interview by Lauren Rico

Broadcast Host Lauren Rico For the last 15 years, Lauren Rico has been able to combine her love of music with her passion for public radio. A longtime student of the French horn, Lauren holds a Master’s degree from George Mason University. She has worked at numerous radio stations in cities across the country including Tampa, Washington dc, New York City and Charlotte. Lauren has been on the sta∂ of Classical 24, Minnesota Public Radio’s national classical music service since 1999. In 2001, she received the Gracie Allen Award for Best National Radio Special from the Association of Women in Radio and Television for Instrumental Women: Orchestrating Change, a series on the role of women in American orchestras. She has served as host and producer of The Minnesota Opera broadcasts since 2001.

Director’s Note Minneapolis, Minnesota 1988 As a graduate student in Composition and Theory at the University of Minnesota, I was part of an unforgettable discussion in the composition seminar that followed the first television broadcast of Nixon in China. We were an opinionated and serious lot, usually found lazily agonizing over the merits of the twelve-tone system versus Neo-Romanticism or trying to outdo each other with clever excuses for skipping performances of landmark 20th-century works or newer compositions that would doubtless enhance our knowledge and prospective careers. The day after the Nixon broadcast, however, was di∂erent: the conversation was fresh and biting, fists pounded the table, the air was electric with opinion and yes, even a few tears were shed. In short, it was a wonderfully polarizing event that made me realize how relevant a new opera can be – and how quickly it can transform our view of the world. It was also the day I realized that a life dedicated to composition was (mercifully) just not in my future, but a life working in opera and music theater (hopefully) might be.

After class that day, everyone agreed that the best place for a composer to make his mark was in the opera house and that this thing called “minimalism” might just be where it’s at. One professor, however, when asked about minimalism smiled and sang “I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it” all the way back to his office.

Claremore, Oklahoma 1972 As a 10-year-old child in front of a large walnut-grain stereo console television, I still vividly recall watching (albeit with reluctance) as our president, Richard Nixon, visited China in February 1972. Clearly it was a momentous occasion for it preempted many of my favorite programs, and it piqued my curiosity about Richard Nixon and Communism. At that time, I only knew that Communism was a scary and terrible thing, and God save you if you turned into one. I knew even less about our president. Try as they might, my patient parents could not quite convey the importance of Nixon’s trip to China, but it did make me acutely aware that our smart walnut-grain stereo console television had become not just a gathering place for discussion, meals or sibling warfare, but a place where a quickly changing, frightening and exciting world was increasingly commanding my attention. Later in front of that same TV, I shrugged when Nixon resigned and groaned when the endless Watergate trials forced me to actually go outside and play with the other kids on the block.

Brooklyn, New York 2004 As a director who has been working almost exclusively in opera for the past twelve years, I still recall the day that Colin Graham called to invite me to mount a new production of Nixon in China for Opera Theatre of St. Louis

and the absolute delight I felt at the prospect. I have taken on many new or newer works over the years (and continue to do so), but most of them have been in the “neglected but interesting” category or (as was the case with Miss Havisham’s Fire) have needed some reconstruction or revision. For me Nixon was the perfect modern opera: smart, relevant, fresh and complete. And Adams’s music, still curiously labeled “minimalist,” soared with lyrical beauty and shimmered with dazzling orchestration. It was also an opera happily married to a marvelous first production by a director whose work I admire to this day. “How can such a legendary event be challenged?” I asked myself. My initial enthusiasm gave way to despair. But after a lively discussion with my design colleagues during which we talked about everything from American politics to Mao’s poetry to our memories of our families’ televisions, renewed excitement pulled me from an abyss of insecurity. We agreed that our shared experiences in viewing Nixon’s historic trip on television, and the perspective we have gained from the event as it has impacted not just our country but the world, were shaping our vision of Adams’s opera. So with this new production of Nixon in China, we present a lyrical fantasy-journey, a collision of East and West and a theatrical history basking in the romantic bluish glow of the television screen.

15 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

By James Robinson

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at www.mnopera.org

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 16

The Artists Carlos Archuleta Richard Nixon Minnesota Opera Debut Lucia di Lammermoor, 2001 Recently Luisa Fernanda; Il trovatore, Washington Opera The Magic Flute; others, The Minnesota Opera La fanciulla del West, Utah Opera La vida breve, Dallas Opera Upcoming The Barber of Seville, Lyric Opera of San Antonio The Magic Flute, Utah Opera L’elisir d’amore, Washington National Opera

Angela Fout Pat Nixon Minnesota Opera Debut Recently La traviata; Le nozze di Figaro; Carmen; The Magic Flute, New York City Opera La bohème; Carmen, Palm Beach Opera The Turn of the Screw, Aspen Music Festival Die Fledermaus; Così fan tutte, Annapolis Opera Così fan tutte, Spoleto USA Street Scene; Xerxes; Le nozze di Figaro, Wolf Trap Opera Upcoming Don Giovanni, Austin Lyric Opera; Vancouver Opera

Kimberly Jewart Principal Dancer Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Nixon in China, Opera Theatre of St. Louis Turandot; Haroun and the Sea of Stories, New York City Opera Un ballo in maschera, Pittsburgh Opera Artistic Director – Orquidea Dance Dancer – hjw/Dimensions; Proving Grounds Movement; ClancyWorks; labco Dance

Sun Ho Kim Principal Dancer Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Eugene Onegin, Boston Lyric Opera Nixon in China, Opera Theatre of St. Louis Sun Ho Kim and Dancers, CASA ASIA (Barcelona); The Joyce Soho (New York) Les Troyens, Metropolitan Opera Daphne; Haroun and the Sea of Stories; Turandot, NYC Opera Director – Boston Dance Collective Dancer – Prometheus Dance; Boston Pops; Boston, Frostburg & Harvard Universities; Boston Liturgical Dance

Helen Todd Chiang Ch’ing Minnesota Opera Debut La traviata, 1997 Recently The Handmaid’s Tale, Canadian Opera Co.; Minnesota Opera Lucia di Lammermoor, Opera Illinois; Il turco in Italia, Cleveland Roméo et Juliette, Sugar Creek Symphony & Song; Shreveport Regina, Baltimore Opera; Barber, Athena Grand Opera The Magic Flute, Cleveland, New York City, Tulsa Operas La traviata, Asheville Lyric Opera; Bohème Opera Co. Rigoletto, Calgary Opera; Annapolis Opera Le nozze di Figaro, Abilene Opera; Connecticut Opera Of Mice and Men, Arizona Opera; Cleveland Opera

Andrew Wilkowske Henry Kissinger Minnesota Opera Debut Transatlantic, 1998 Recently Don Pasquale, San Francisco Opera Merola Program Maria Padilla; The Magic Flute; Passion; Lucrezia Borgia; The Merry Widow; La traviata, others, Minnesota Opera Guest Soloist – Minnesota Orch.; St. Paul Chamber Orch.

The Magic Flute, Virginia Opera La bohème; The Barber of Seville, Lyric Opera of San Antonio Upcoming Portrait of Manon; Death in Venice, Glimmerglass Opera

Raymond Ayers Chou En-Lai Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently Carmen; Maria Padilla, Madame Butterfly, Minnesota Opera Fiddler; Faust; Susannah; Roméo et Juliette, Chautauqua Opera Mirandolina; Madame Butterfly; The Seagull, Manhattan School of Music Bach Cantata No. 80, Princeton Symphony Orchestra Apprentice Artist – Académie Internationale d’Eté de Nice Upcoming Madame Butterfly, Nagasaki Symphony Tosca; Don Giovanni, The Minnesota Opera

Anna Jablonski Nancy T’ang Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Recently Carmen; Maria Padilla; The Magic Flute; Passion; Rigoletto; The Handmaid’s Tale; La traviata; The Flying Dutchman; The Merry Widow, The Minnesota Opera Chautauqua Opera Young Artist Program Sea Pictures (Elgar), The Allegro Sinfonia Le nozze di Figaro, The Astoria Music Festival Il barbiere di Siviglia, Portland SummerFest La Cenerentola, Portland State University Albert Herring; others, Bel Canto nw

Angela Keeton Second Secretary Minnesota Opera Debut Lucrezia Borgia, 2004 Recently Madame Butterfly, The Minnesota Opera Kiss Me Kate, Brevard Music Center Jeppe; Little Women; Manon; Faust; Bach Mass in B Minor; Mozart Mass in C Major; Vivaldi Magnificat, Indiana University Into the Woods, Bloomington Music Works Handel Messiah, Our Lady of Grace Church Teaching Artist – The Minnesota Opera

Simon O’Neill Mao Tse-tung Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Le roi Arthus, BBC Symphony Orchestra Of Mice and Men; The Magic Flute, New York City Opera La clemenza di Tito, Wolf Trap Opera Company Upcoming The Bartered Bride, Royal Opera House – Covent Garden The Magic Flute, Salzburg Festival Parsifal, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Susannah, Wexford Festival Lohengrin, Bard Festival (New York)

KrisAnne Weiss Third Secretary Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Carmen, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra Madame Butterfly; Così fan tutte, Fargo-Moorhead Opera The Chocolate Soldier, North Star Opera Cold Sassy Tree, Opera Omaha L’italiana in Algeri; Gabriel’s Daughter, Central City Opera Les contes d’Hoffmann; The Dangerous Liaisons; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Eric Hermannson’s Soul; Die Fledermaus; Dialogues of the Carmelites, University of Minnesota Opera Theatre

Seán Curran Choreographer Minnesota Opera Debut Recently James Joyce’s The Dead, Broadway Haroun and the Sea Stories; Turandot; Alcina; L’étoile, NYC Opera Much Ado; Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare Theater My Life with Albertine, Playwright’s Horizon Upcoming Seán Curran Company (Artistic Director), The Joyce Theater (New York); College of St. Benedict (Minnesota) The Rivals, Lincoln Center Roméo et Juliette, Metropolitan Opera

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at www.mnopera.org

Video Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Transatlantic, 1997 Recently The Nutcracker, San Francisco Ballet The Good Body, Broadway Manon Lescaut, Washington Opera Anna Karenina, Royal Danish Ballet A View from the Bridge (Bolcom), Metropolitan Opera Upcoming Don Quixote, San Francisco Ballet (Paris tour) The Turn of the Screw, Royal Danish Opera

Kevin Lee Newbury Assistant Director Minnesota Opera Debut Recently Assistant Director – Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Boston Lyric Opera; Opera Colorado; NY City Opera Director – Young Playwrights; Ensemble Studio Theatre; American Theatre of Actors; New York City Fringe Festival; Atlantic Theater School; NYU Upcoming Candy and Dorothy, Off-Broadway (Director) Turandot, Santa Fe Opera (Assistant Director) Nixon in China, Portland Opera (Director)

James Robinson Stage Director Minnesota Opera Debut Turandot, 1995 Recently Eugene Onegin, Boston Lyric Opera Giulio Cesare; Salsipuedes, Houston Grand Opera Carmen, Cincinatti Opera; Così fan tutte, Santa Fe Opera Lucia di Lammermoor; La bohème, New York City Opera Upcoming Norma; The Abduction from the Seraglio, Opera Colorado Street Scene, Opera Theatre of St. Louis Norma, San Francisco Opera

Dr. Stan Hill, Artistic Director Joann Usher, Executive Director

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Allen Moyer Set Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Norma, 1991 Recently Salsipuedes, Houston Opera; Reckless; 12 Angry Men, Broadway Agrippina, Santa Fe Opera; Carmen, Seattle Opera The Mother of Us All, San Francisco Opera Sylvia, Mark Morris with the San Francisco Ballet Il trittico; La bohème, New York City Opera Upcoming The Constant Wife, Broadway The Grapes of Wrath, The Minnesota Opera

Paul Palazzo Lighting Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Tosca, 1991 Recently La bohème; Giulio Cesare, Opera Colorado The Abduction from the Seraglio, Houston Grand Opera Hansel and Gretel, Los Angeles Opera Il trovatore; Barber; Pagliacci/Carmina, Minnesota Opera Eugene Onegin; Rigoletto, Boston Lyric Opera Beatrice and Benedict, Manhattan School of Music Così fan tutte, Wolf Trap Opera Company La fanciulla del West, Utah Opera

James Schuette Costume Designer Minnesota Opera Debut Transatlantic, 1997 Recently Rigoletto; Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Colorado Of Thee I Sing, Papermill Playhouse Time of Your Life, Seattle Repertory Theater Oedipus Complex, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Giulio Cesare, Houston Grand Opera Carmen, Seattle Opera Upcoming After the Quake, Steppenwolf

17 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

Wendall K. Harrington

The Artists

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at www.mnopera.org

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 18

The Artists Bruce Stasyna

Antony Walker

Chorusmaster Minnesota Opera Debut Der Rosenkavalier, 2000 Recently Carmen; Maria Padilla; others, The Minnesota Opera Madame Butterfly; La Cenerentola, Des Moines Metro Opera Fidelio, Minnesota Orchestra Die ägyptische Helena, American Symphony Orchestra The Barber of Seville; Tito; Don Pasquale, Wolf Trap Opera Upcoming Sweeney Todd, Murder and Mayham, The Latest Word, Wolf Trap Tosca; Don Giovanni; Orazi e Curiazi, Minnesota Opera

Conductor Minnesota Opera Debut Le nozze di Figaro, 2000 Recently Orlando, New York City Opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Pittsburgh Opera Theater La donna del lago; Roberto Devereux, Wash. Concert Opera Madame Butterfly; The Handmaid’s Tale; others, Minn. Opera Upcoming Rigoletto, Hawaii Opera Theatre; Dardanus, Pinchgut Opera Esclarmonde; Luisa Miller, Washington Concert Opera Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, The Minnesota Opera

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1920 Chou moves to France and becomes a member of the French Communist Party; he spends the next few years traveling in Europe, returning to China in 1926.

1923 Mao Tse-tung is elected to the Third Congress of the Communist Party of China.

1927 Mao barely escapes execution for his role in the Autumn Harvest Uprising.

(years later he still feared leaks), Nixon chose his National Security Advisor for t h e c o v e r t m i s s i o n. O n Ju ly 1 , Kissinger began a public tour of Asia, which included a stop in Pakistan. To elude the press, he feigned a stomach ache after a state dinner hosted by President Yahya Khan and was put up at the government’s mountain retreat in order to recuperate. There he was secretly taken to the airport and whisked across the border for 17 hours of hushed meetings with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai.

Upon Kissinger’s return, things appeared to be in place, and Nixon made a public announcement on July 15 that shocked the world. Not wanting to show either side as being too eager or conciliatory, the language was selected with care: “Knowing of President Nixon’s expressed desire to visit the People’s Republic of China, Premier Chou En-lai, on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China, has extended an invitation to President Nixon to visit China. President Nixon has accepted the invitation with pleasure.” The Taiwanese embassy was understandably upset and the Japanese were equally unenthused.

Conservatives griped that the president was bowing to a yoke of world communism and the Soviets were likewise rattled – four days later they scheduled the postponed salt talks for May, three months after Nixon’s proposed visit.

The lasting potential of the journey was guarded. It was highly unlikely diplomatic relations would be immediately resumed – Mao’s communists believed in one China, which included the island of Taiwan. As long as there was a Taiwanese embassy in Washing-

1934 The long march begins – Mao and his Communist guerrillas move through the mountains to evade Nationalist troops; Mao meets Chiang Ch’ing, later to become his fourth wife; Chou throws his entire support behind Mao. 1938 Japan invades China.

Chiang Kai-Shek, retreat to Taiwan.

1950 The Korean War begins as China and the United States fight on opposite sides.

1958 Mao initiates the Great Leap Forward in an attempt to industrialize his nation; it is later deemed a failure.

1945 World War II comes to a close; the Japanese are repelled; civil war in China ensues.

1964 Nixon declares that the Vietnam conflict is a de facto war between the U.S. and China: "A United States defeat in Vietnam means a [Chinese] Communist victory."

1949 The Communists are victorious and establish the People’s Republic of China with Chou En-lai as premier, and Mao Tsetung as chief of state and Communist Party chairman; the Nationalists, led by

1966 F o r m e r l y a l l i e d w i t h t h e C h i n e s e government, the Soviet Union amasses troops along the Sino-Soviet border; Mao initiates the Cultural Revolution and

ton, there would be no return visit.

Though the communists had achieved a small triumph at the United Nations, which had recently voted to oust Taiwan in favor of Mao’s administration, the United States had voted against the resolution. The ultimate

Time & Life Pictures photo by John Dominis Courtesy of Getty Images

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 20

1919 Chou En-lai comes to national prominence during the May Fourth movement when he led a raid on a local government office during the student protests against the humiliating Versailles Treaty.

Richard and Pat Nixon at the Great Wall of China

goal of the visit was to issue a worldwide communiqué detailing both countries’ positions in Asia – understanding (and possibly resolving) those di∂erences would be the first step toward normalization between China and the United States. Kissinger began to negotiate the details with Chou during a second visit in October, but the exact language of this document became a troublesome issue throughout the entire process.

Nixon arrived in Peking on February 21, 1972. It was intended to be an especially telling gesture for the

President to deplane unescorted (other than his wife Pat) and immediately shake the Premier’s hand (Chou had been very publicly snubbed by thenSecretary of State John Foster Dulles in Geneva back in 1954). During the entire trip, the president’s retinue orchestrated his actions very purposefully – key moments, such as the arrival and subsequent state functions and banquets were prime timed for live broadcast on the morning network television and the evening news. Television was Nixon’s preferred medium and was quite successfully employed to enhance the visibility of his high profile visit, which came about quite nicely during an election year. Chinese o∑cials were initially hesitant to allow any reporters, but eventually admitted 87 American j o u r na l i s t s w h o w e r e c a r e f u l ly controlled, sent out to cover touristtype excursions with Pat and glitzy public events rather than any diplomatic talks. One reporter later recalled, “To keep us out of mischief, the Chinese organized bus tours for the journalists to go to the Great Wall, or the Ming Tombs … the food was absolutely sensational, the toasts and the dancing girls … all that was terrific. But try to find out what was really going on, and you were in the dark (Stanley Karnow).”

Meanwhile Chou and Nixon met for a series of four-hour private talks (recently declassified and available online at the National Security Archive), discussing all of the vital issues at hand – Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, Japan – and briefly, the content of the joint communiqué, which would be ironed out

by Kissinger and his Chinese counter-

Chiang Ch’ing assumes a leading role; China explodes its first hydrogen bomb.

1970 In a Time magazine interview, President Nixon notes, "If there is anything I want to do before I die, it is to go to China."

1971 A friendly table tennis tournament in Japan leads to a visit of the American

1972 Nixon makes his historic trip in February; in June five men are caught trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex; Nixon is reelected in November.

1973 The Watergate hearings begin in May. 1974 Richard Nixon resigns from office to avoid impeachment proceedings.

part, Deputy Foreign Minister Ch’iao Kuan-hua.

As Nixon remained ever distrustful of the State Department, William Rogers, Secretary of State and his close personal friend, was left out of the inner circle. This action would create di∑culties in the trip’s final days.

John Adams’s opera begins with Nixon’s arrival, and Alice Goodman’s adaptation of the visit is an e∂ective recreation of this major event.

One of the highlights of the summit was the president’s one-hour visit with the ailing Chairman Mao shortly after touchdown, during which the librettist attempts to recreate actual dialogue

1976 Chou and Mao both die; Chiang Ch’ing is arrested with the rest of her “Gang of Four,” for atrocities committed during the Cultural Revolution.

1979 Formal relations between the United States and China are established.

1982 An opera based on Nixon’s China trip is conceived by director Peter Sellars.

1987 John Adams’s Nixon in China is premiered in Houston.

1991 Chiang Ch’ing commits suicide in prison.

1994 Richard Nixon dies.

from the meeting in scene two. Scene three nicely captures the essence of Chou and Nixon’s friendship toasts at the first banquet, and in Act ii, Goodman neatly bowdlerizes Pat Nixon’s various outings, also managing to incorporate a few of her historic diplomatic quips (in particular her comment at the Gate of Longevity and Goodwill, which becomes her aria “This is prophetic”). Counterpoised to moments of real history are those of fantasy – Kissinger and the Nixons are drawn into the performance of Madame Mao’s Red Detachment of Continues on page 24

21 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

1969 In his inaugural address, President Nixon hints at changes in United States foreign policy: “After a period of confrontation, we are entering an era of negotiation;” Nixon’s Secretary of State William Rogers asks Pakistani chief of state Yahya Khan to feel out the Chinese on expanded talks with the United States.

team to China; previously only 12 Americans had been permitted inside its borders since 1950; the Chinese team visits America later that year; in July, Henry Kissinger makes a secret visit to China to meet with Chou En-lai.

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 22

The Minnesota Opera Chorus Karen Bushby Michael Cain Jonathan Carle Theodore Chletsos Julie Conzemius Steve Dahlberg Tracey Gorman Katherine Haugen Michelle Hayes Robin Heggen Sandra Henderson Ben Johnson Mark Josephsen Seth Keeton Dale Kruse Paula Lammers Elizabeth Longhurst Mary Monson Bill Murray

Matthew Neil Steve Sandberg Joy Scheib Bob Schmidt Bryan Shih Sandy Schoenecker Anne Storlie Eric Vollen Karin Wolverton

Dancers Nicholas Duran, dance captain Penelope Freeh Kimberly Jewart Matthew Keefe Sun Ho Kim Megan McClellan

Supernumeraries Jennifer Dawson Storrie Havlina-Madsen David Mehl Benjamin Westphal Artists covering principal roles Jonathan Carle — Richard Nixon Theodore Chletsos — Mao Tse-tung Seth Keeton — Henry Kissinger Karin Wolverton — Pat Nixon

The Minnesota Opera Orchestra Violin I

Bass

Kristen Christensen concertmaster Julia Persitz David Mickens Judy Thon-Jones Andrea Een Kari Giles

John Michael Smith Constance Brown

Violin II Laurie Petruconis Elizabeth Decker Stephan Orsak Melinda Marshall Carolin Kiesel Johnson Margaret Humphrey

Viola Annette Caruthers Laurel Browne Jenny Lind Nilsson Susan Janda

Cello

David Karr (tenor and alto) Bruce Thornton (baritone and tenor)

Flute Michele Frisch (double piccolo) Amy Morris (double piccolo)

Trumpet

Oboe

Trombone

Marilyn Ford Michael Dayton (double English horn)

Clarinet Sandra Powers (double E-flat clarinet) Nina Olsen (double bass clarinet) Karrin Me∂ert-Nelson (double bass clarinet)

Saxophone

David Milne Jim Jacobson (soprano and alto) Adriana LaRosa Ransom Jared Ziegler Thomas Austin (alto) Sally Dorer

John G. Koopmann Christopher Volpe Craig Hara Philip Ostrander Sue Roberts David Stevens

Percussion Matthew Barber

Keyboard Korey Barrett Christopher Zemliauskas Bruce Stasyna

Personnel Manager Steve Lund

photo by Barbara Willis

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23 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

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t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 24

Background Notes continued from page 21

Women, which is punctuated by an outburst by the Chairman’s prickly fourth wife (another opportunity for an aria), of whom Nixon described as “unpleasantly abrasive and aggressive.” An ideological extremist, she had not been in favor of Nixon coming to China.

Madame Mao returns for the opera’s final scene in another wonderful concoction, as she and her husband recall younger days and the summer of their romance. The exhausted Nixons are equally nostalgic, while the aging Chou ponders the outcome of revolution and the magnitude of what is left undone. There is an eerie sense of irresolution as Adams’s lyrically minimalist, artfully orchestrated score reaches its conclusion.

Nixon’s China trip similarly had a bittersweet ending.

The tactfully crafted 1,500 word communiqué, its initial drafts so diametrically opposed, yet eventually hammered out to the satisfaction of both sides, won the approval of China’s Politburo, but had to go through some eleventh hour editing after the State Department sta∂ finally had a look at it – Taiwan had been excluded from the section devoted to mutual defense treaties. As the message represented the ultimate success of the mission, Chou broke protocol, dropping in on Secretary Rogers unannounced in order to smooth over the rough spots. The final version included some cunningly tactful, vaguely opposed statements: There are essential differences between China and the United States in their social systems and foreign

policies. However, the two sides agreed that countries, regardless of their social systems, should conduct their relations on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, nonaggression against other states, noninterference in the internal affairs of other states, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence … The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a province of China. The United States does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves. With this prospect in mind, it affirms the ultimate objective of the withdrawal of all U.S. forces and military installations from Taiwan.

The resolution was greeted with some hostility, and opinion of the trip’s cumulative success was sharply divided – many felt the United States had conceded too much. Regardless, Nixon would only enjoy this personal triumph for a short while. In June, reports of a robbery in the o∑ces of the Democratic National Committee, situated in the Watergate hotel and o∑ce complex, would lead to the president’s political downfall. Diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China finally would be in place during the Carter administration, and with the passing of the government’s old guard, Taiwan has managed to maintain its tenuous existence to this day.

25 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

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WWW MNOPERA ORG

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 26

The Minnesota Opera Annual Fund Individual Giving It is with deep appreciation that The Minnesota Opera recognizes and thanks all of the individual donors whose annual support helps bring great opera to life. It is our pleasure to give special recognition to the following individuals whose leadership support provides the financial foundation which makes the Opera’s artistic excellence possible.

For information on making a contribution to The Minnesota Opera, please call Dawn Loven, Director of Individual Gifts, at 612-342-9567.

Bel Canto Circle $10,000 and above Anonymous (2) Karen Bachman Rebecca Rand and E. Thomas Binger Mary and Gus Blanchard Rod and Susan Boren Mrs. Thomas B. Carpenter Darlene J. and Richard P. Carroll Rusty and Burt Cohen Ellie and Tom Crosby, Jr.

Julia W. Dayton Cy and Paula Decosse Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation The Denny Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Sara and Jock Donaldson Brad and Diane England Dolly J. Fiterman John and Ruth Huss Heinz and Sisi Hutter Bryce and Paula Johnson Lucy Rosenberry Jones

The Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation Warren and Patricia Kelly Peter J. King Lynne Looney Patricia Lund Thomas and Barbara McBurney Harvey T. McLain Mrs. Walter Meyers Estate of Edith J. Mueller Bruce and Sandy Nelson Mrs. George T. Pennock

Jose Peris and Diana Gulden Elizabeth and Andrew Redleaf Connie and Lew Remele Stephanie Simon and Craig Bentdahl Robert and Barbara Struyk Mary W. Vaughan Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation C. Angus and Margaret Wurtele

Brian and Julia Palmer Mr. and Mrs. Steven Rothschild Kevin and Lynn Smith Virginia L. and Edward C. Stringer Gregory C. Swinehart Catie Tobin and Brian Naas Charles Allen Ward Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation Ellen and Fred Wells Anonymous (2) Chloe D. Ackman Martha and Bruce Atwater Dr. Ford and Amy Bell David Hanson and William Biermaier Alexandra O. Bjorklund Rachelle Dockman Chase Cleveland Foundation Dr. James E. and Gisela Corbett John and Arlene Dayton Mary Lee Dayton Thomas and Mary Lou Detwiler Kate Ellis and John Harrer Chip and Vicki Emery

Rondi Erickson and Sandy Lewis Tom and Lori Foley Leslie and Alain Frecon Mr. and Mrs. R. James Gesell Mr. Denver Gilliand Meg and Wayne Gisslen Bill and Eleanor Goodall The Hackensack Fund of the Saint Paul Foundation Dorothy J. Horns, M.D., and James P. Richardson Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Dale A. Johnson Jacqueline Nolte Jones Robert and Susan Josselson Stan and Jeanne Kagin Samuel L. Kaplan and Sylvia Chessen Kaplan Erwin and Miriam Kelen Michael F. and Gretchen G. Kelly and the Kelly Family Foundation Mrs. James S. Kochiras Sid and Diane L. Levin David MacMillan and Judy Krow Mary K. Mahley Family Foundation Roy and Dorothy Ann Mayeske

James and Judith Mellinger Richard and Nancy Nicholson – Nicholson Family Foundation Dwight D. Opperman William and Barbara Pearce Marge and Dwight Peterson James J. Phelps and Nancy McGlynn Phelps Mr. and Mrs. William Phillips Paul and Mary Reyelts Lois and John Rogers Ken and Nina Rothchild E. Elaine and Roger Sampson Kay Savik and Joe Tashjian Fred and Gloria Sewell Drs. Joseph and Kristina Sha∂er Frank and Lynda Sharbrough Mr. and Mrs. James Swartz Tanrydoon Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation William Voedisch and Laurie Carlson Bernt von Ohlen and Thomas Nichol Nancy and Ted Weyerhaeuser

Mr. and Mrs. Paul G. Boening Jan and Ellen Breyer Judith and Arnold Brier Conley Brooks Family Elwood F. and Florence A. Caldwell Bruce and Deanna Carlson Joan and George Carlson Joe and Judy Carlson Bruce Coppock and Lucia May Dr. Stephen and Beth Cragle Mrs. Thomas M. Crosby, Sr. Ruth and Bruce Dayton Amos and Sue Deinard Mona Bergman Dewane and Patrick Dewane Mrs. Sia Dimitriou Mr. and Mrs. Carl B. Drake, Jr.

Ekdahl Hutchinson Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Susan Engel and Arthur Eisenberg Ester and John Fesler Henry and Anice Flesh Salvatore S. Franco Patricia R. Freeburg Bradley A. Fuller and Elizabeth Lincoln David and Kathy Galligan Christine and W. Michael Garner Lois and Larry Gibson Howard and Heidi Gilbert Paul and Margot Grangaard Mrs. Myrtle Grette Rosalie He∂elfinger Hall Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation

Marthajane Hapke Don Helgeson John S. and Rosmarie Helling Nancy and Doug Heltne Cli∂ton K. Hill and Jody Rockwell Bill and Hella Mears Hueg Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hull Mr. and Mrs. Philip Isaacson Mr. and Mrs. James L. Jelinek Charlotte and Markle Karlen Jessie L. Kelly Lyndel and Blaine King E. Robert and Margaret V. Kinney Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Kenneth Kixmoeller and Kim Otness Mr. and Mrs. William Kling Lisa C. Kochiras

Camerata Circle Gold $5,000-$9,999 Anonymous (1) Eric and Tracy Aanenson Jane M. and Ogden W. Confer Susan and Richard Crockett David and Vanessa Dayton Sally J. Economon Rolf and Nancy Engh Mr. and Mrs. John Forsythe Connie Fladeland and Steve Fox N. Bud and Beverly Grossman Foundation Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison Sharon and Bill Hawkins Karen and John Himle Constance and Daniel Kunin Ilo and Margaret Leppik Ms. Becky Malkerson Ted and Roberta Mann Foundation Mary Bigelow McMillan Diana and Joe Murphy Elizabeth Musser Trust— Fir Tree Fund Albin and Susan Nelson Nelson Family Foundation Timothy and Gayle Ober

Silver $2,500-$4,999

Artist Circle $1,000-$2,499 Anonymous (4) Paula Anderson Kim A. Anderson Lowell Anderson and Kathy Welte Jamie Andrews and Jane Kolp-Andrews John Andrus, III Cheryl Appledorn and Thomas Schnettler Martha Goldberg Aronson and Daniel Aronson Mr. and Mrs. Edmund P. Babcock Dr. Thomas and Ann Bagnoli Patricia and Mark Bauer Sue A. Bennett John and Jennifer Bernstein

The Minnesota Opera Annual Fund Artist Circle (continued) Maria Kochiras Robert L. Kriel and Linda E. Krach Helen L. Kuehn Anita Kunin Mark and Elaine Landergan Barry Lazarus and Mary Dearing Robert L. Lee and Mary E. Scha∂ner Carl Lee and Linda Talcott Lee Clinton and Judith Lee Susan Lenthe Stefanie Lenway and Tom Murtha Michael and Diane Levy Jerry and Joyce Lillquist Mr. and Mrs. B. John Lindahl, Jr.

Benjamin Y. H. and Helen C. Liu Bill Long Dawn M. Loven Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lucker Margery Martin Samuel D. and Patricia McCullough Drs. Mary and Joseph Meland Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Mills The Honorable and Mrs. Walter Mondale Sandy and Bob Morris Mrs. John H. Myers Susan Okie Kelly and Michael Palmer Allegra Parker

Karen B. Paul William and Suzanne Payne Jodi and Todd Peterson Mary Ingebrand Pohlad James and Connie Pries Robert and Mary Price Tim and Elin Raymond Frances and George Reid Kit Reynolds and Mike Schwimmer John and Sandra Roe Mrs. John C. Rowland Leland T. Lynch and Terry Saario Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Patty and Barney Saunders

Dr. and Mrs. Richard J. Schindler Stanislaw and Krystyna Skrowaczewski Je∂ and Helene Slocum Julie Jackley Steiner Don and Leslie Stiles James and Susan Sullivan Henry and Virginia Sweatt Michael Symeonides Mr. and Mrs. George H. Tesar Lois and Lance Thorkelson Mr. and Mrs. Philip Von Blon Ms. Wendy Wenger

William T Fogarty Iris C Freeman and Warren Woessner Terence Fruth and Mary McEvoy Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Dr. Stanley M. and Luella G.Goldberg Deanne and John Greco Sarah Green Marjorie and Joseph Grinnell Bruce and Jean Grussing Ruth E. Hanold Drs. Greg and Angie Hatfield Mrs. Dorothy Hill Joe and Nancy Holmberg John and Jean McGough Holten Elizabeth A. Huey Diane and Paul Jacobson Andrzej and Urszula Jaworski Dr. and Mrs. Charles R. Jorgensen Jane and Jim Kaufman Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Michael W. Kienlen

Steve and Jolie Klapmeier Roy and Mary Letourneau Joan E. Madden C. S. McCrossan Sheila McNally L. David Mech Sheila and Paul Meginnis William Messerli James Meunier and Debra K. Brooks Charles and Victoria Mogilevsky Theresa A Murray and Jim Murray Paul C. Muzio Joan and Richard Newmark Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Luis Pagan-Carlo Paula Patineau Kern and Kathryn Peterson Lawrence M. Redmond Thomas D. Rohde and Nancy J. Rohde James and Andrea Rubenstein

Jim Scarpetta Mahlon and Karen Schneider Bill and Althea Sell The Harriet and Edson Spencer Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation John Spokes Keith and Catherine Stevenson Daniel Stolfa and Swenson Financial Advisory Group Warren Stortroen Dana and Stephen Strand Emily Anne and Gedney Tuttle Allan Valgemae and Robert Harding Will and Li Volk David M. and Mary Ann Barrows Wark James and Sharon Weinel Frank and Frances Wilkinson Lani Willis and Joel Spoonheim

Patron Circle $500-$999 Fred Amram and Sandra Brick Floyd Anderson Quentin and Mary Anderson Woodbury H. and Cynthia Andrews Genevive Antonello Ruth and Dale Bachman James and Gail Bakkom Mrs. Harvey O. Beek Thomas and Joyce Bruckner C.D.F. Foundation Daniel and Christine Buss Joann M. D. Cierniak Bill and Kate Cullen Joe Dowling and Siobahn Cleary Ruth D. Drake John G. Drozdal Andrew and Lucia Du∂ Joyce and Hugh Edmondson Herbert and Betty Fantle

Estate and Planned Gifts The Minnesota Opera thanks the following donors who, through their foresight and generosity, have included the Opera in their wills or estate plans. We invite you to join other opera-lovers by leaving a legacy gift to The Minnesota Opera. If you have already made such a provision, we encourage you to notify us that so we may appropriately recognize your generosity.

For more information on possible gift arrangements, please contact Dawn Loven, Director of Individual Gifts, at 612-342-9567. Your attorney or financial advisor can then help determine which methods are most appropriate for you.

Anonymous (2) Mary A. Andres Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Andreassen Karen Bachman Mark and Pat Bauer Barbara and Sandy Bemis (†) Dr. and Mrs. Richard Carroll Judy and Kenneth (†) Dayton Mrs. George Doty Rudolph Driscoll (†)

Sally Economon Paul Froeschl Robert and Ellen Green Ieva Grundmanis (†) Charles Hudgins Dale and Pat Johnson Robert and Susan Josselson Dr. and Mrs. Markle Karlen Steve Keller Blaine and Lyndel King

Gretchen Klein (†) Bill and Sally Kling Mr. and Mrs. James Krezowski Robert Kriel and Linda Krach Robert Lawser, Jr. Gerald and Joyce Lillquist Margaret L. and Walter S. (†) Meyers Edith Mueller (†) Scott Pakudiatis Sydney and William Phillips

Mary Savina Frank and Lynda Sharbrough Andrew H. Stewart, Jr. Barbara and Robert Struyk Stephanie Van D’Elden Mary Vaughan Dale and Sandra Wick

These lists are current as of March 1, 2005, and include donors who gave gifts of $500 or more to The Minnesota Opera Fund since January 1, 2004.

If your name is not listed appropriately, please accept our apologies, and call Megan Stevenson, Individual Gifts Associate at 612-342-9569.

27 • n i x o n i n c h i n a

Individual Giving

t h e m i n n e s o t a o p e r a • 28

The Minnesota Opera Annual Fund Institutional Giving Corporations and Foundations Bel Canto $10,000+ 3M Allianz Life Insurance of North America American Express Minnesota Philanthropic Program Andersen Foundation Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Anna M. Heilmaier Charitable Foundation The Bush Foundation Cargill Foundation Deloitte Deluxe Corporation Foundation Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Ecolab Foundation General Mills Foundation Lowry Hill Private Wealth Management The MAHADH Fund of HRK Foundation The McKnight Foundation The Medtronic Foundation OPERA America’s Opera Fund Pentair, Inc. Piper Ja∂ray Rider Bennett Rogers & Hollands Jewelers SpencerStuart St. Paul Travelers SUPERVALU Stores, Inc. Target Foundation Thrivent U.S. Bancorp Foundation U.S. Bank, Private Client Group Valspar Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota Wenger Foundation

Gold $5,000-$9,999 Alice M. O’Brien Foundation AT&T Foundation Bemis Company Foundation Briggs and Morgan Faegre & Benson German-American Heritage Foundation Jostens, Inc. Lindquist & Vennum Onan Corporation R. C. Lilly Foundation Rahr Foundation

RBC Dain Rauscher Foundation Twin Cities Opera Guild U. S. Trust Company Xcel Energy Foundation

Silver $2,500-$4,999 Arts & Custom Publishing Co., Inc. Beim Foundation Boss Foundation Buuck Family Foundation Dellwood Foundation Hutter Family Foundation Margaret Rivers Fund Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation Peregrine Capital Management Schwegman, Lundberg, Woessner & Kluth, PA Tennant Foundation Tozer Foundation West Group Alliance Capital Management Brock-White Co., LLC The Burdick-Craddick Family Foundation Charles B. Sweatt Foundation Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation Digital Excellence, Inc. GREC, LLC Gunkelmans Interior Design Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. Hogan & Hartson Horton, Inc. The C. A. Jackley Foundation Lawrence M. and Elizabeth Ann O’Shaughnessy Charitable Income Trust Le Jeune Investment, Inc. Leonard, Street & Deinard Maslon, Edelman, Borman & Brand Mayo Clinic McVay Foundation The Elizabeth C. Quinlan Foundation Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Securian Foundation The Southways Foundation St. Croix Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

Minnesota Opera Sponsors Season Sponsor

Camerata Dinners

U.S. Bank, Private Client Group

Rider Bennett

Production Sponsors

Conductor Appearances

Madame Butterfly, U.S. Bank, Private Client Group Maria Padilla, National Endowment for the Arts Carmen, American Express Minnesota Philanthropic Program Nixon in China, AT&T Foundation, OPERA America’s Opera Fund, City of St. Paul’s Cultural STAR Program

SpencerStuart

Production Innovation System

Official Jeweler of The Minnesota Opera

General Mills

Rogers & Hollands Jewelers

Opening Night Gala Sponsor

Opera Insights

U.S. Bank, Private Client Group

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

RAP Teaching Artists Wenger Foundation

$100,000 +

$50,000 – $99,000

Artist Circle $1,000-$2,499

Government City of Saint Paul’s Cultural STAR Program Minnesota State Arts Board

The Minnesota Opera gratefully acknowledges its major corporate supporters:

Evening Intermission Sponsor Lowry Hill Private Wealth Management

Promotional Support Minnesota Monthly

$25,000 – $49,000

$10,000 – $24,999

When you make your annual contribution, remember that your employer may match your charitable gift. Many corporations have gift programs that will even match contributions made by retirees, spouses and former directors. Matching your gift is easy. Contact your human resources department for the proper matching gift form and send it along with your contribution. For more information on matching gifts, p l e a s e c o n ta c t M e g a n Stevenson at 612-342-9569.

spencer stuart is proud to support The Minnesota Opera

we are pleased to present guest conductor maestro antony walker in the minnesota opera’s production of nixon in china.

www.spencerstuart.com

Good listening

{TAKES PRACTICE.}

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OnOrdway stage at Center Fri. May 6, 2005, 8pm Sat. May 7, 2005, 8pm The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra presents The Lark Ascending Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor Joe Lovano, saxophone Ruggero Allifranchini, violin May 14, 17, 19, 21, & 22, 2005 The Minnesota Opera presents Nixon in China by John Adams Highlighting the clash of Eastern and Western rituals, John Adams' Grammy-winning opera electrified audiences at its premiere and has been sparking debate every since. $30 - $95

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Fri. May 27, 2005, 10:30am & 8pm Sat. May 28, 2005, 8pm The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra presents Concertmaster's Collection Steven Copes, director, violin Stephen Prutsman, composer/piano Gary Bordner, trumpet Sat. & Sun. June 4 -5, 2005 Ordway Center Presents 2005 Flint Hills International Children's Festival The much anticipated annual Festival highlights the best performing artists for children from around the world.

Plus, the FREE World Party in Rice Park.

June 28 - July 10, 2005 Ordway Center presents Peter Pan (Performance times vary) Audience favorite Cathy Rigby's farewell performance!

Main Hall $38 - $60 Aug. 16 - Aug. 28, 2005 Ordway Center presents Dr. Dolittle: The Musical (Performance times vary) An American premiere of this fanciful tale that captivates children and adults alike!

Main Hall $38 - $60 ORDWAY CENTER 651-224-4222 ordway.org THE MINNESOTA OPERA 651-224-4222 mnopera.org THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA 651-291-1144 thespco.org MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA 612-371-5656 minnesotaorchestra.org THE SCHUBERT CLUB 651-224-4222 schubert.org

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