John Adams in Rome

In 1972, during the famous meeting between Richard Nixon and Mao Tse-tung, the work Nixon in China by John Adams was born and premiered in 1987. This historic encounter inspired an opera that explores the tension between two opposing political visions. For its first performance at Santa Cecilia, John Adams will conduct the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, after an absence of almost seven years, together with sopranos Mary Bevan and Jung Lee and baritone John Moore. The program includes the suite from Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid and Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine.
The opera takes place in three acts and recounts the arrival of Nixon and his wife in China, their meeting with Mao, and the developments that lead to a conflict between the two ideologies. The finale leaves the audience wondering whether that meeting was worthwhile. The collaboration between Adams and director Peter Sellars has resulted in a series of successful operas with a compositional style that mixes minimalism, influences from Wagner, Johann Strauss, jazz, and 1930s big band sounds.
John Adams is a central figure in contemporary music, with works ranging from the lyrical to the dramatic. His compositions, such as Doctor Atomic and El Niño, have redefined modern musical theatre.

Programme:

John Adams: Short Ride in a fast Machine
Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid
John Adams: Nixon in China (selezione)
Act I Overture e Soldiers of Heaven, Arrival of Air Force 1 e News Aria (Coro e Presidente Nixon)
Act II (Coro e Pat)
Act I Scene 3 (Nixon, Pat e coro)