Nixon in China is one of several titles that when I tell people that it’s on my Top Ten Favorite list of operas, I get strange looks. Those of you who know the opera only from the Met’s 2011 HD transmission don’t really know the opera. This performance is superior in every aspect, especially vocally, but John Adams is in better form on the podium as well. 

John Adams: Nixon in China

BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Singers
John Adams, conductor
Royal Albert Hall, London
05 September 2012

Richard Nixon – Robert Orth
Pat Nixon – Jessica Rivera
Chou En-lai – Gerald Finley
Mao Tse-tung– Alan Oke
Chiang Ch’ing – Kathleen Kim
Henry Kissinger – James Rutherford
Nancy T’ang, First Secretary to Mao – Stephanie Marshall
Second Secretary to Mao – Louise Poole
Third Secretary to Mao – Susan Platts