Nixon in China MAO PAT I … I … I Dream Yes, Dick

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CHIANG CH’ING NIXON ! Peking watches the stars, I was “Nick.” AMERICAN OPERA CLASSICS Nanking sleeps naked. Murderers I must have told you that. Stretch out in doorways in Shanghai. Christ, it was beautiful. I swapped MAO Spam for hamburger meat and roped As we ride eastwards to Peking In a few men to rig a stand. I shut my eyes and, listening CHIANG CH’ING (lontano) John Hard, hear the old harmonium We should go underground. We left behind. The revolution must not end. CHIANG CH’ING NIXON ADAMS Chungking’s old-fashioned armory They called it “Nick’s Snack Shack.” I found Lies undefended. Yenan rests The smell of burgers on the grill Like a wise virgin. Made strong men cry. Nixon in China MAO PAT I … I … I dream Yes, Dick. That schools of small transparent fish CHIANG CH’ING, MAO (lontano) Orth • Kanyova • Hammons • Heller • Dahl Race down a shallow river. The revolution must not end. CHIANG CH’ING NIXON Yuan • Malde • Simson • DeDominici All the coasts Now, Bougainville Are clear, and all the oceans still Was a refueling stop … Colorado Symphony Orchestra • Opera Colorado Chorus As we ride eastwards… PAT CHOU I know. Marin Alsop … to Peking Each fighter pilot that came through MAO Got a free burger and a beer. We recoil from victory and all its works. NIXON What do you think of that, Karl Marx? Done to a turn; [medium-rare,] Speak up! Rare, medium, well-done, anything [CHIANG CH’ING You say. The Customer is King. Hush.] Sorry, we’re low on relish. Drinks? PAT This is my way of saying thanks. @ You won at poker. CHOU NIXON # I am old and I cannot sleep I sure did. Forever, like the young, nor hope I had a system. Five card stud That death will be a novelty Taught me a lot about mankind. But endless wakefulness when I Speak softly and don’t show your hand Put down my work and go to bed. Became my motto. How much of what we did was good? PAT Everything seems to move beyond Tell me more. Our remedy. Come, heal this wound. NIXON At this hour nothing can be done. Well, the Pacific theater Just before dawn the birds begin, Was not much to write home about. The warblers who prefer the dark, PAT The cage-birds answering. To work! Yes, dear. I think you told me that. Outside this room the chill of grace I read it while I did my hair Lies heavy on the morning grass. And put it in my stocking drawer With all the others. 3 CDs 8.669022-24 32 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 2

John Saved from our decays PAT Admire that perfect skeleton, Did it dear? CHOU NIXON ADAMS No one I killed, but those I saw I began to take in all the sights. (b. 1947) Starved to death. PAT MAO You’ve always suffered terribly Those veins, that skin like cellophane. From nervous perspiration. Nixon in China Take them and press them in a book. NIXON Dare we behave as if the meek Picture a thousand coconuts Opera in Three Acts Will mark the places of the wise? Like mandrills’ heads or native masks, CHOU Milk oozing from their broken husks, Only they can tell The flooded rib of a palm frond Libretto by Alice Goodman (b. 1958) How the land lies, where the pitfall Where several centipedes had drowned, Was excavated, the mines laid … Unsanded wood that smelled like meat … Richard Nixon ...... Robert Orth CHIANG CH’ING Jesus, it grabbed you by the throat. The masses stride ahead of us. PAT Pat Nixon ...... Maria Kanyova We follow: Wonder what I was doing then? MAO Dressing up as if you’d walk in. Henry Kissinger ...... Thomas Hammons The instant before bombs explodes At any moment. Mao Tse-tung ...... Marc Heller Intricate struggles coexist CHIANG CH’ING Within an entity, embraced (When they took off their coats and hung Madame Mao (Chiang Ch’ing) . . Tracy Dahl Till they ignite. Them over branches, and the pick CHIANG CH’ING Scraped the eroded ground, I shook Chou En-lai ...... Chen-Ye Yuan 9 I can keep still, With pure excitement.) 1st Secretary (Nancy T’ang) . . Melissa Malde I can say nothing for a while, NIXON While the sparks die high in the air The war was dislocated. 2nd Secretary ...... Julie Simson The sun moves on. Nothing I fear PAT Has ever harmed me, why should you? Go on, dear. 3rd Secretary ...... Jennifer DeDominici Marshal your forces, I’ll lie low Don’t let me interrupt. The drought has made me thin and strong. NIXON When they took off their coats and hung Hold a shell Them over branches, and the pick Up to your ear. Guadalcanal Opera Colorado Chorus Scraped the eroded ground, I shook Sounds distant, roughly like the sea. With pure excitement. CHOU Douglas Kinney Frost, Chorus Master CHIANG CH’ING The east is red; 0 (I can keep still, As we ride eastwards to Peking Colorado Symphony Orchestra I can say nothing for a while, Preoccupied with our last long While the sparks die high in the air Triumphal march, the early light The sun moves on. Nothing I fear Embalms each soldier on the route. Marin Alsop Has ever harmed me, why should you?) MAO NIXON As they advance we melt away After that … Into the underbrush; we strike PAT While they’re asleep, a single spark A penny for your thoughts. Sets them alight. Cast the net wide NIXON And draw it in. The sweat had soaked my uniform, [MAO [My hair dripped down my forehead …] Well said!] 8.669022-24 2 31 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 30

In Yenan we were just boys. CHIANG CH’ING CD 1 66:22 Once we had roast chicken with peppers. MAO MAO Revolution is a boys’ game. And a light film of dust settled on each plate. Act I, Scene 1 CHOU Your few subjectivist mistakes I have grown old Only confirm Mythology’s eternal charm; And done no more work than a child. Roused from a state of seeming rest 1 Beginning (Orchestra) 2:46 NIXON Its landscape offers up the ghost... 2 “Soldiers of Heaven Hold the Sky” (Chorus) 2:45 There was so much I couldn’t tell. CHIANG CH’ING 3 “The People Are the Heroes Now” (Chorus) 2:51 PAT Small lizards basked among the rocks, Such as? Warm as your hand. 4 Landing of the Spirit of ’76 (Orchestra) 2:34 NIXON MAO 5 “Your Flight Was Smooth, I Hope?” (Chou, Nixon) 1:25 5 Sitting around the radio An ancient tactical retreat, 6 “News Has a Kind of Mystery” (Nixon, Chou, Kissinger, Chorus) 7:29 With the enlisted men, I knew Retrenched in the inanimate. My time had come. The signal cleared These things were men. Transmitting nothing like a word. NIXON Act I, Scene 2 There was a cross round one guy’s neck. 7 When I woke up I noticed that. I dimly realized the Jap PAT Bombers had given us a miss … 7 Beginning (Mao, Nixon, Chou, Kissinger, Secretaries) 4:19 You told me, Dick. [It was the weather I suppose.] 8 “You Know We’ll Meet with Your Confrère, The Democratic Candidate” (Mao, Nixon, Kissinger) 2:40 NIXON PAT 9 “You’ve Said That There’s a Certain Well-known Tree” (Chou, Nixon, Mao, Kissinger, Secretaries) 2:48 The corrugated metal roof Thank heaven for that. Shook in the rain. The men were safe. NIXON 0 “Founders Come First, then Profiteers” (Mao, Secretaries, Nixon, Chou, Kissinger) 7:25 I said goodbye to you then, Pat. Then I went out. ! “We No Longer Need Confucius” (Mao, Secretaries) 3:10 PAT Already it was getting hot, @ “Like the Ming Tombs” (Nixon, Secretaries, Mao, Chou) 5:34 Did you? A cloud of steam rose from the base NIXON Just like a Roman sacrifice. Then I began to wait. PAT Act I, Scene 3 The rain seeped in under the door. I never doubted you’d come back. The lights went out. I always knew. PAT NIXON # Beginning (Nixon, Pat, Chou, Kissinger, Chorus) 6:32 You told me, dear. I felt so weak $ “Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends” (Chou, Chorus, Pat, Kissinger) 7:00 NIXON With disappointment and relief % “Mr. Premier, Distinguished Guests” (Nixon, Chorus) 2:48 That was the time I should have died. Everything seemed larger than life. MAO CHOU ^ Cheers! (Chorus, Nixon, Chou, Pat, Kissinger) 4:16 6 Let us examine what you did. 8 I have no offspring. In my dreams We led a quiet life, we grew The peasants with their hundred names, CD 2 51:04 Stronger, we walked behind the plow, Unnamed children and nameless wives And as we worked year after year Deaden my footsteps like dead leaves; The yellow dust that filled the air MAO Act II, Scene 1 Softened the Buddha’s well-known face Your few subjectivist mistakes And made him seem like one of us. Only confirm Mythology’s eternal charm; CHIANG CH’ING Roused from a state of seeming rest 1 Beginning (Pat) 3:49 We ate wild apricots. Its landscape offers up the ghost 2 “Look Down at the Earth” (Chorus, Pat, Secretaries) 5:51 CHOU An ancient tactical retreat, 3 “This Is Prophetic!” (Pat) 7:58 The taste is still in my mouth. Retrenched in the inanimate. 4 “At Last the Weather’s Warming Up” (Pat, Chorus) 3:19 8.669022-24 30 3 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 4

Act II, Scene 2 KISSINGER PAT That’s how it goes. The trouble was, we moved too much. 5 Beginning (Secretaries) 3:02 MAO We should have stayed put, Dick.] 6 “Oh What a Day I Thought I’d Die!” (Kissinger, Chorus, Secretaries, Pat) 4:41 I am unknown. CHIANG CH’ING Give me a cigarette. 4 We’ll teach these motherfuckers how to dance! 7 “Whip Her to Death!” (Kissinger, Pat, Nixon) 2:58 CHIANG CH’ING [CHOU 8 Tropical Storm (Pat) 4:57 Come down. It makes me sick.] 9 “Flesh Rebels” (Chorus) 3:09 Give me your hand, old man. MAO 0 “I Have My Brief” (Kissinger, Nixon) 1:11 MAO We did this once before. ! “It Seems So Strange” (Chorus, Chiang Ch’ing, Pat, Nixon, Secretaries) 3:02 Why not? CHIANG CH’ING Oh? When? @ “I Am The Wife of Mao Tse-tung” (Chiang Ch’ing, Chorus) 7:05 She takes his hand and he climbs out of the portrait’s MAO background. It was the time CD 3 36:27 That tasty little starlet came CHOU To infiltrate my headquarters. And to what end? Tell me. CHIANG CH’ING Act III KISSINGER Go on! Premier, please, where’s the toilet? MAO 1 Beginning (Orchestra) 1:10 CHOU What did she call herself? Lan P’ing? 2 “Some Men You Cannot Satisfy” (Kissinger, Nixon, Pat, Chou, Chiang Ch’ing) 3:09 Through that door. CHIANG CH’ING 3 “I Am No One” (Mao, Chou, Kissinger, Chiang Ch’ing, Pat) 3:47 KISSINGER You named me. I was very young. Excuse me for one moment, please. PAT 4 The Maos Dance (Chiang Ch’ing, Mao, Pat, Nixon, Chou) 2:05 I thank my lucky stars 5 “Sitting Around The Radio” (Nixon, Pat) 1:17 Kissinger exits at the double. I kept those letters that you wrote 6 “Let Us Examine What You Did” (Mao, Chiang Ch’ing, Chou) 2:55 From the Pacific. Seems like that 7 “When I Woke Up I Dimly Realized The Jap Bombers Had Given Us A Miss...” (Nixon, Pat) 1:22 CHOU Was the best time of all; you had We saw our parents’ nakedness; My picture, and each night I read 8 “I Have No Offspring” (Chou, Mao, Chiang Ch’ing) 2:05 Rivers of blood will be required Your mind. 9 “I Can Keep Still” (Chiang Ch’ing) 3:14 To cover them. Rivers of blood. MAO 0 “After That The Sweat Had Soaked My Uniform” (Nixon, Pat, Chiang Ch’ing, Mao, Chou) 2:55 PAT You were a little fool. ! “Peking Watches The Stars” (Chiang Ch’ing, Mao) 3:30 I squeezed your paycheck till it screamed, CHIANG CH’ING @ “You Won at Poker” (Pat, Nixon, Chiang Ch’ing, Mao) 4:02 There was the rent, there were those damned And your best pupil. Slipcovers, and the groceries. MAO # “I Am Old and I Cannot Sleep” (Chou) 4:57 NIXON Revolution is a boys’ game. You made that place a home. NIXON PAT What an idealist. That place was heaven next to this. There was so much I couldn’t tell. CHOU Mao and Chiang Ch’ing begin to dance. A bankrupt people repossessed The ciphers of its history [NIXON And not one character could say You should Whether the war was over yet Think positive. Try not to brood. Or if they’d written off the debt. 8.669022-24 4 29 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 28

Your sacred heart fragile and heavily powdered. Madame Mao is smaller John Adams (b. 1947) Is rotten meat; than they had remembered her. And Chou En-lai seems Nixon in China Your little treasure old and quite worn out. Only Chairman Mao appears at Your precious flower his best, full of the joy of youth and the hope of revolution Few operas written in the last quarter of the twentieth newscasts and other media coverage surrounding the Your sweet revenge. in his picture on the wall. Dr. Kissinger is impatient. He century have withstood the test of time to remain as historic seven days (21st-27th February, 1972) that Nothing can change scratches the back of his neck, his nose and his ear. musically and dramatically vibrant today as they were at brought together President Richard M. Nixon and Without discipline their premières. Nixon in China is one of a handful of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. The result of these research Give me that gun. KISSINGER contemporary American operas to achieve celebrity sessions was the construction of a highly dramatic work CHIANG CH’ING 2 Some men you cannot satisfy. status, having multiple performances during its 1987 whose fabric is a colorful weave of actual events and an @ I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung NIXON première co-commissioned by the Houston Grand intimate look at the personalities of the individuals Who raised the weak above the strong That’s what I tell them. Opera, The Brooklyn Academy of Music and The John involved. When I appear the people hang KISSINGER F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Through John Adams is considered one of America’s most Upon my words, and for his sake They can’t say you didn’t tell them. subsequent decades it has been performed nationally admired and respected composers of works spanning the Whose wreaths are heavy round my neck NIXON and internationally in both concert and fully-staged operatic, symphonic, choral and chamber music genres. I speak according to the book. It’s no good. productions. Now, stage director James Robinson has Influenced by minimalist composers Steve Reich and When did the Chinese people last All that I say is misconstrued. created a new production of this timeless work Philip Glass, Adams has created a distinct style of Expose its daughters? At the breast Your lipstick’s crooked. presented by Opera Colorado in 2008, co-produced with composition that imaginatively uses the restricted Of history I sucked and pissed, PAT Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Portland Opera, harmonic vocabulary and steady pulse that became the Thoughtless and heartless, red and blind, Is it? Oh. Minnesota Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre and Houston hallmarks of the minimalist movement. Adams has an I cut my teeth upon the land There isn’t much that I can do, Grand Opera. uncanny talent for recognizing the dramatic possibilities And when I walked my feet were bound Is there? Who’s seen my handkerchief? Opera Colorado selected this monumental work to of continually repeating melodies, harmonies and On revolution. Let me be CHOU be part of its 25th Anniversary Celebration and rhythms, and knows exactly when to alter those A grain of sand in heaven’s eye Please accept mine. presented it at Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera compositional elements to reflect the dramatic action of And I shall taste eternal joy. CHIANG CH’ING House during the 2008 National Performing Arts each scene. These alterations can sometimes be jarring CHORUS I’ve heard enough. Convention. Opera Colorado worked closely with James and at other times be as subtle as to be almost Joy! Joy! Joy! Who chose these numbers? Robinson to assemble an internationally recognized cast imperceptible. CHIANG CH’ING KISSINGER including Thomas Hammons (Henry Kissinger) from Librettist Alice Goodman spent painstaking hours I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung All of us. the world première cast of 1987, Robert Orth (Richard collecting translations of Mao’s poems, magazine Who raised the weak above the strong Doesn’t she like the people’s choice? Nixon), Maria Kanyova (Pat Nixon), Marc Heller (Mao articles, newspaper clippings, photographs and literary When I appear the people hang NIXON Tse-tung), Tracy Dahl (Chiang Ch’ing), and Chen-Ye works such as Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China, Upon my words, and for his sake Now for a solo on the spoons. Yuan (Chou En-lai). Conducting superstar Marin Alsop Agnes Smedley’s biography of Chu Teh, and the Whose wreaths are heavy round my neck PAT led the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. This new live Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung, to name a few. Out of I speak according to the book. I like it when they play our tunes. recording was inspired by Marin Alsop’s dedication to this vast research came an epic libretto imbued with CHORUS CHIANG CH’ING performing and promoting major twentieth century eloquence of thought and feeling, giving voice to each I speak according to the book. This should be better. Hit it boys! works, and produced as a result of the co-operative character in a highly individualistic way. Through her PAT efforts of Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony beautifully crafted couplets, Goodman has brought a The people express their bitterness against Oh! California! Hold me close. Orchestra Association. depth of meaning to this historic event, allowing the counterrevolutionary elements. MAO At the heart of the success of Nixon in China is the audience to experience history in a new and more 3 I am no one. artistic genius of composer John Adams and librettist revealing way. CD 3: Act III CHOU Alice Goodman. Early in the creative process, John and Nixon in China is constructed within the framework We fight, we die, Alice held meetings in Washington, D.C. to pore over of conventional opera, beginning with a traditional 1 It is the last night in Peking. The President is very, very And if we do not fight, we die. back issues of news magazines, and tapes of television chorus which builds to the entrance of two of the tired: the lights do not flatter him. The First Lady looks 8.669022-24 28 5 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 6

principal characters, Richard and Pat Nixon, stepping James Robinson’s ground-breaking production He stands like a stone wall CHIANG CH’ING down the gangway from Air Force One. The first two views the historic events through the eyes of the media And stinks of success. That is your cue. acts of the opera advance through a series of dramatic and the millions of television viewers who were I’m here to liaise exchanges between characters represented in arias and mesmerized by the Nixons’ historic visit to the People’s With the backroom boys Ching-hua produces an automatic pistol and fires two ensembles re-enacting the official meeting between Republic of China. Collaborating with set designer Who know how to live. shots. But it was not her cue. The company is stunned. Richard Nixon and Mao Tse-tung, the interactions Allen Moyer and costume designer James Schuette, And me, I contrive between Nixon, Kissinger and Premier Chou En-lai, the Robinson brings a sense of shared experience to this To catch a few crumbs … PAT various speeches which took place at the first evening’s new production. The news media footage and historic The ringleaders’ names She’s started shooting, Dick. banquet, Pat Nixon’s tour of numerous points of cultural photos studied by Adams and Goodman become the set The gist of their schemes … NIXON interest, and the performance of The Red Detachment of as televisions continually loop news footage of the Loose change. I know. Women, the revolutionary ballet devised by Chairman actual events, while the characters simultaneously re- NIXON CHIANG CH’ING Mao’s wife Chiang Ch’ing. enact each event. The effect on the audience is one of Here friend, something for you. What are you gaping at? In the final act of Nixon in China, the six principal nostalgia and revelation. We not only relive this historic You’re talking like a real pro. CHORUS characters reflect upon the journey that has brought event which undeniably changed the course of world Oh no! them to this place and moment in time. Through a series politics, but we also have time to reflect and absorb new The President hands a few coins to Lao Szu, and Hung CHIANG CH’ING of inner monologues and short dialogues, each character insights into the significance of this life-changing event tosses a handful of small change to the guards, who Forward Red Troupe! Annihilate probes the past with humor and pathos to reveal a and the individuals whose vision made history. scramble on the ground and fight among themselves. This tyrant and his running dog! kinder, gentler, more vulnerable side of their nature. The Embarrassed, Lao Szu orders his men to fetch the NIXON opera concludes with Chou En-lai’s thought-provoking Gregory Carpenter entertainment. A number of serving girls enter, dressed Oh no! line “How much of what we did was good?” General Director, Opera Colorado mostly in flowers. They are members of the Red CHIANG CH’ING Women’s Militia. The guards compel them to dance. Throw off those stupid rags! Grimly the girls begin to execute a colorful Li Advance and fire! Fix bayonets! John Adams Nationality Dance. Only one of them allows her anger The worms are hungry! Must the fruits to break the surface. It is Ching-hua. Her eyes sweep Of victory rot on the vine? One of America’s most admired and respected composers, John the crowded courtyard, resting briefly on Lao Szu. [PAT Adams is a musician of enormous range and technical command. His Madame Mao has risen from her chair in the audience. Is Henry okay? many operatic works, including Nixon in China, The Death of She raises one hand and points to Ching-hua. NIXON Klinghoffer, and Doctor Atomic, stand out among contemporary Christ, he’s gone.] compositions for their depth of expression and the profoundly CHORUS (as Ching-hua) humanist nature of their themes. His work, On the Transmigration of ! It seems so strange The three contraltos, joined by Hung, severely rebuke Souls, written to mark the first anniversary of the World Trade To take revenge Ching-hua and disarm her. She is deeply distressed. Center attacks, received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 2003, a After so long For a moment Madame Mao, standing in their midst, film version of The Death of Klinghoffer was released in theaters, on To find the wrong seems almost left out. Then she shoulders them aside television, and on DVD. Adams has been awarded honorary degrees Can be undone. and begins to sing. and proclamations by Cambridge University, Harvard University, The silent gun Yale School of Music, Phi Beta Kappa, the governor of California, Warms in my hand THREE SECRETARIES the French Legion of Honor, and Northwestern University, where he Salving the wound Are you one of us? was awarded an honorary doctorate and the first Michael Ludwig Made by the men You are what you choose. Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. John Adams is active as a It will gun down Your paradise conductor, appearing with the world’s greatest orchestras. All in good time Begins and ends I shall kill them In open wounds Photo: Margaretta Mitchell Yes, every one And self-abuse Revenge is mine. Where your heart is. 8.669022-24 627 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 26

[NIXON Showed us the way. Robert Orth (Richard Nixon) There there, there there. From the scorched earth Jesus it’s wet. What would I do without you, Pat?] People step forth Robert Orth is a leading baritone with major opera companies and symphony Over dead wood orchestras throughout the United States. New York City Opera gave him the As quickly as it rose the wind dies down and with it the And over the dead: Christopher Keene Award for new and unusual repertoire. Among his many rain. Party Representative Hung Chang-ching enters on Follow their lead. contemporary and traditional opera performances, some notable rôles include John a scouting mission. Together he and Mrs. Nixon raise The hand grenade Buchanan, Jr., in Lee Hoiby’s Summer And Smoke, the Lodger in Dominic Argento’s Ching-hua to her feet. Beats in the chest The Aspern Papers, and the Lecturer in Argento’s one-man opera A Waterbird Talk. Let the heart burst, He has created leading rôles in many new operas including the title rôle in the world PAT Let the clenched fist première of Harvey Milk by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie, Frank Lloyd Wright Thank God you came. Just look at this! Strike the first blow in Shining Brow by Daron Aric Hagen, Owen Hart in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Poor thing! It’s simply barbarous! For Chairman Mao Walking, Garrison Keillor’s opera Mr. And Mrs. Olson, Mr. Parkis in Heggie’s The “Whip her to death!” he said. I’d like And overthrow End Of The Affair, Uncle John in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes Of Wrath, and To give his God-damned whip a crack! The tyrant, and Capt. Compson in Midnight Angel by David Carlson. His recordings include Oh Dick! You’re sopping! Share out the land. Menotti’s The Telephone, Weisgall’s Six Characters In Search Of An Author, Harvey Share out the land, Milk, Dead Man Walking, and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. Hung is filled with deep Proletarian feeling for this Unclench the fist, peasant’s daughter who has suffered so bitterly. He Let the heart burst offers her a glass of orange juice. It is the first act of And sow broadcast Maria Kanyova (Pat Nixon) kindness she has ever known. Trembling, she raises the The dragon’s teeth glass with both hands and drinks. Then the clouds part, Your kin and kith Maria Kanyova has been acclaimed as much for her lustrous singing as for her the sky is filled with a blaze of light and the full Seed of your seed viscerally enthralling stage performances. Career highlights include Cio-Cio-San detachment of the Red Women’s Militia enters in Your flesh and blood. in Madama Butterfly at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera; Violetta in formation and unfurls its banners. Entry March of the La traviata at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Portland Opera; Marie Antoinette in The Women’s Company. Hung points to the company and The scene changes to the courtyard of the tyrant’s Ghosts of Versailles at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Wexford Opera Festival; to the flags waving in the rain-washed air, inviting mansion. Sleek Kuomintang officers, political bosses Nedda in Pagliacci at Dallas Opera, New York City Opera; Donna Elvira in Don Ching-hua to join her fellow workers and peasants in and well-fed farmers celebrate their host’s birthday. Giovanni at Los Angeles Opera, Opera Colorado; Mimì in La bohème at Houston the People’s Army. Everyone cheers as Hung presents Waiters pour wine as the guards display their military Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, New York City Opera (PBS telecast); Adina in L’elisir her with a rifle, and she joins her new comrades in a training. Dance of the Mercenaries. Hung enters, d’amore and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at Boston Lyric Opera; Blanche in The spirited drill. Target Practice and Bayonet Dance. dressed as a foreign merchant. He is accompanied by Dialogues of the Carmelites and Jenu˚ fa in Jenu˚faat Glimmerglass Opera; Rita in the the President who presents the doorman with a red- world première of William Bolcom’s A Wedding at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She has CHORUS (as Militia) and-gilt card. Lao Szu rushes to greet the exotic guests. sung the rôle of Pat Nixon at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Ravinia Festival, 9 Flesh rebels Chicago Opera Theatre, and Opera Colorado. The body pulls KISSINGER (as Lao Szu) Photo: Ken Howard Those inflamed souls 0 I have my brief That mark its trials I flatter myself Into the war. I know my man Arm this soldier! The sine qua non Rise up in arms! The face on the coin Tropical storms You see what I mean Uproot the palms The empire builder Ending their sway. The man with his shoulder The Red Army Against the roulette wheel: 8.669022-24 26 7 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 8

Thomas Hammons (Henry Kissinger) A sacrifice through the clearing. Ching-hua enters, dancing. She is Running with juice quick and wary and eludes the dispersing troops. Thomas Hammons is acclaimed throughout the world in over forty rôles in the classic At my caress. basso buffo repertoire and in the world of modern music theater. He created the rôle of She was so hot CHORUS (as Ching-hua) Henry Kissinger in the world première of Nixon in China by John Adams for the Houston I was hard-put Can’t find the path … Grand Opera in 1987, and his iconic portrayal was subsequently seen in Amsterdam, Paris, To be polite Must find the path … Frankfurt, and Los Angeles, along with important revivals at the Cincinnati Opera, Opera When the first cut Colorado, Canadian Opera Company and Vancouver Opera. His association with John —Come on you slut!— She collides with Lao Szu. They stare. He torments her Adams continued in the inaugural production of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Opéra de la Scored her brown skin with his cane. The mercenaries reenter. Monnaie in Brussels, with later performances in Lyon, Vienna, San Francisco and at the I started in, Brooklyn Academy of Music. Thomas Hammons made his début at the Metropolitan Opera Man upon hen! KISSINGER (as Lao Szu) as the Sacristan in Tosca during the 1996-1997 season, and has returned to the Met every 7 Whip her to death! Photo: Lisa Kohler season thereafter in numerous performances. Ching-hua embraces the other women. They dance PAT while the women in the chorus sing: They can’t do that! Marc Heller (Mao Tse-tung) NIXON CHORUS (as Ching-hua) It’s just a play. Marc Heller has appeared at major opera houses across the United States and Europe, How thin you are! She’ll get up afterwards, you’ll see. including the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Macau If every scar Easy there, Hon. International Music Festival, Croatian National Opera, Zagreb, and many others in such On this poor back KISSINGER (as Lao Szu) rôles as Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Cavaradossi, Duca di Mantova, Alfredo, Riccardo, Don José, Could only speak Whip her to death! Romeo (Gounod), Faust (Gounod), Des Grieux (Massenet) and others. He originated the These walls would crack PAT pivotal rôle of Gao Jian-li in the Shanghai workshop of Tan Dun’s opera The First Emperor. This thick-walled heart It’s terrible! I hate you both! Heller went on to make his Metropolitan Opera début in the rôle opposite Placido Domingo. Cast in the dirt Make them stop, make them stop! He appeared as the Prince in the North American première of Tan Dun’s Tea, with the Would raise the cry “Hate Tyranny!” NIXON composer conducting. In 2008 he travelled to China to sing the rôle of Lukas in Haydn’s Die Sweetheart, Jahreszeiten in pre-Olympic ceremonies. Other recordings include Modinhas e Cançoes Suddenly she seizes the whip from Lao Szu’s hand, Leave them alone, you might get hurt. (songs of Heitor Villa-Lobos), Take Me To The World (songs of Stephen Sondheim) as well brandishes it and kicks him to the ground. Just as the as Great Poets in Song and Rome by Night (compositions by the late Steve Allen). guard lays hands on her, the two women fling themselves The First Lady rushes onstage. The President, who has on the guard and Lao Szu. Ching-hua escapes. reluctantly followed her, holds her by the shoulders as Chen-Ye Yuan (Chou En-lai) Ching-hua is beaten insensible. She has resisted to the THREE SECRETARIES (as Ching-hua) last. Chen-Ye Yuan has performed the rôle of Chou En-lai in numerous productions including The land outside Chicago Opera Theater, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado and Opera Theater of St. Louis, This cell is red, KISSINGER (as Lao Szu) Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera Company. His masterful Rigoletto has opened Running with blood, This is the fate the doors to some of the best venues in the United States and Europe including Welsh Hot in the sun Of all who set National Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Minnesota Opera, San Antonio Opera, Palm We have not seen Small against great. Beach Opera, Sacramento Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. Additional rôles include Not until now. Leave it to rot. Friedrich Bhaer in Little Women, Marcello in La bohème, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Now let me through! 8 The sky looks ominous. Tyrant, factotum and the Dragon King in the world première of Legend of Yao Ji, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, PAT mercenaries all retreat in the face of a tropical storm. Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Amonasro in Aida, and the Speaker in The Magic Flute. Doesn’t he look like you-know-who! Rain pelts down. The coconut palms bow like grass. His performance of Bhaer in Adamo’s Little Women with Houston Grand Opera was aired The President and the First Lady stand onstage with the Photo: Sandy Wilson on PBS’s Great Performances and released on CD. At once the scene changes to the coconut grove. body of Ching-hua, the recumbent dancer. He is Mercenaries in battle-dress run, crouching slightly, stunned, she is rapt, they are both soaked to the skin. 8.669022-24 825 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 24

CHORUS 1 and 2 Spit and polish, Tracy Dahl (Madame Mao) We should go back now. Polish and spit PAT Blacken the boot Tracy Dahl has appeared with opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, San What a shame! And they submit, Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Milan’s La Scala. She has Embrace the foot, performed the rôle of Madame Mao in Nixon in China with Houston Grand Opera, The First Lady takes the arm of her interpreter—a Cushion the kick: Vancouver Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Portland Opera and Opera Colorado. Her friendly gesture—as the group turns back towards the Rabbit and snake repertoire encompasses all the major coloratura rôles: Gilda in Rigoletto, Olympia in Les limousine whose engine has been running for some Dance cheek to cheek. contes d’Hoffmann, the title rôle in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf time. The sun is setting, the west is red and the moon is We are awake, Naxos, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Florestine in The Ghosts of Versailles, Cunégonde in clearly visible. We know these matters, Candide, Oskar in Un ballo in maschera and Amor and Eurydice in Orpheus in the How the poor debtors Underworld, Despina in Così fan tutte, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, and Servilia in La 5 Scene two – The curtain rises to reveal an audience. Still sell their daughters, clemenza di Tito. Her discography includes A Disney Spectacular with the Cincinnati Pops Madame Mao, in a dark Sun Yatsen suit and black- How in the drought Photo: Lisa Kohler (Telarc), Glitter and Be Gay with the Calgary Philharmonic (CBC), A Gilbert and Sullivan rimmed men’s glasses, sits between the President and Men still grow fat Gala with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (CBC), and Love Walked In, a Gershwin collection with the Mrs. Nixon, who has changed her scarlet costume for a On the profit Bramwell Tovey Trio (Red Phone Box Company). pastel colored one, and has been exchanging small talk Won grain by grain with the Premier, who sits on her other side. We have From other men only few seconds to grasp these details before another Caught in the famine Melissa Malde (Nancy T’ang) curtain rises onstage. Three beautiful young women are Who trade their oxen chained to posts. The First Lady sits forward a little, as, For a day’s ration; Melissa Malde has performed with numerous orchestras and opera companies throughout indeed, does the President. The young women wear Then the plow goes, the United States, including Kentucky Opera and the Bangor Symphony. She has sung rags—and defiantly new ballet shoes. This is the Then tools, then clothes, abroad with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, with the Prague Radio Symphony, and has opening of The Red Detachment of Women. The At last the land. also performed in Germany. She holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory, dancer in the center, the proudest one, the one most Where is he bound, Northwestern University, the University of Cincinnati, and the Hochschule für Musik in heavily laden with chains, is Wu Ching-hua, the Naked and stunned? Munich, where she studied under the auspices of a German Academic Exchange grant. heroine. We understand that they are in the lock-up of Hand over hand While in Munich, she won first prize in the Kulturforum Competition. Other honors include an estate on a tropical island. Two women step from He drags his skin. winning Cincinnati Conservatory’s Concerto Contest, first prize in Chicago’s Sudler their posts and begin a furious dance. Ching-hua stands Look at him grin Oratorio Competition, a Farwell Award, and the Brice-Gooter Award from the NATSAA stock-still. Three contraltos from the chorus sing: He can’t complain competition. She is certified as an Andover Educator to teach Body Mapping. Her book on Look at that thing Photo: Eric Weber that subject, What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body, was published in 2008 by THREE SECRETARIES That was his tongue Plural Publishing. She serves on the faculty of the University of Northern Colorado. Young as we are He won’t be long. We expect fear, Every year Lao Szu, the landlord’s factotum, enters, accompanied More of us bow by a guard. Singing to himself, he fumbles with his keys Beneath the shadow and Ching-hua’s shackles. Of the next blow. Down on all fours KISSINGER (as Lao Szu) Our grandfathers 6 Oh what a day Swallow abuse I thought I’d die! As if by choice That luscious thigh The humble flesh That swelling breast Kisses the lash, Scented and greased, 8.669022-24 24 9 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 10

Julie Simson (Second Secretary) In the bedroom communities PAT Let us be taken by surprise; 4 At last the weather’s warming up. Julie Simson has sung with opera companies throughout the United States including Yes! Let the band play on and on; Look! The sky’s clear now. Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Memphis, and Opera Let the stand-up comedian CHORUS Colorado. She has also performed as soloist in major oratorio works with the Denver, Finish his act, let Gypsy Rose Watch your step. Colorado Springs, Cedar Rapids, Omaha and Milwaukee Symphonies and in Boulder at the Kick off her high-heeled party shoes; PAT MahlerFest and Bach Festival. She won the prestigious Mozart Prize at the International Let interested businessmen I said it would, remember? Belvedere Competition in Vienna. After winning First Prize at the East and West Artists Speculate further, let routine CHORUS International Competition, she made her New York recital début in Weill Recital Hall at Dull the edge of mortality. Please, Carnegie Hall. Julie Simson was featured in two concerts at the International George Let days grow imperceptibly Mrs. Nixon, watch … Crumb Festival in Prague in the Czech Republic, and in recital and master-classes at the Longer, let the sun set in cloud; PAT Hochschule für Musik Hans Eisler in Berlin Germany. Her recordings include Mahler’s Let lonely drivers on the road Oh yes. Photo: Eric Weber Eighth Symphony with the Colorado MahlerFest and Horatio Parker’s Hora Novissima on Pull over for a bite to eat, And look! Another elephant! the Albany label, and an American Art Song CD on the songs of Richard Faith. She is currently a Professor of Voice Let the farmer switch on the light Why hello, Jumbo! I was meant at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Over the porch, let passersby To come here. What a lovely park! Look in at the large family Time for a picnic? Around the table, let them pass. CHORUS 1 Jennifer DeDominici (Third Secretary) Let the expression on the face They could work stone in those days. Of the Statue of Liberty CHORUS 2 Jennifer DeDominici has performed with Opera Colorado and Central City Opera, Change just a little, let her see Labor was cheap. and has been an Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera. She was declared a What lies inland: across the plain CHORUS 1 Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was One man is marching—the Unknown Men dug their own graves. also one of only eleven singers world-wide chosen to study at Italy’s famed Soldier has risen from his tomb; CHORUS 2 EPCASO in 2006, where she studied with renowned Italian musicians Claudia Let him be recognized at home. They rose up like statues covered in the dust Pinza and Enza Ferrari. She sang the rôles of Mrs. Jones in Street Scene, Hänsel in The Prodigal. Give him his share: Of their creation Hänsel und Gretel, and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha. She also sang the rôle of The eagle nailed to the barn door. CHORUS 1 Sharon Falconer in an excerpt from Elmer Gantry for the Opera America National Let him be quick. The sirens wail Communist elements! Photo: Kellie Coughlin Convention in 2008. As bride and groom kiss through the veil. CHORUS 2 Bless this union with all its might, Men like these behold Let it remain inviolate. Each revolution of the world. Opera Colorado CHORUS 1 There’s some clapping, then the First Lady is ushered Swimming through space as fish swim through Based in Denver, Opera Colorado has been committed to presenting the highest quality live performances of opera into the limousine for the ride to the Ming Tombs, The sea. in their original languages since 1983. Founded by famed stage director Nathaniel Merrill, the company originally where ancient Chinese emperors were laid to rest. It is CHORUS 2 performed in the round in Boettcher Concert Hall. The company is dedicated to enriching the quality of life in about four o’clock in the afternoon and the warm Resting in currents. Colorado through the presentation of opera performances that inspire audiences and serve the community through colored light which precedes sunset in the very early CHORUS 1 education and cultural programs. Over the years, Opera Colorado audiences have enjoyed performances by the best spring illuminates the limestone statues. Or are they Though they got two bowls of rice a day … and brightest of the opera world. The company presents both established stars and emerging talent as well as sandstone? The First Lady pats the pockmarked leg of CHORUS 2 engaging innovative directors and designers to create an annual season of traditional and pioneering opera an archaic elephant. She has put on her mink hat The salt was black. performances. Since its inception, Opera Colorado has performed in partnership with the Colorado Symphony during the drive. She revels in the quiet—no traffic, no CHORUS 1 Orchestra. In 2005, the company moved into the state-of-the-art Ellie Caulkins Opera House inside the historic airplanes, no loudspeakers, only the sound of the They drank white tea. Quigg Newton Municipal Auditorium at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Under the leadership of Gregory human voice and the sound of the footsteps on PAT flagstones and new snow. It sounds like you remember them. 8.669022-24 10 23 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 22

Like Christmas. Never have I cared PAT Carpenter, the company served as one of the hosts for the National Performing Arts Convention during the spring of For trivialities. Good Lord! Ouch! 2008. To celebrate this momentous event, Opera Colorado produced director James Robinson’s acclaimed new Trivial things are not for me, I think it’s sort of rude to watch. staging of Nixon in China at the opera house under the baton of Marin Alsop, Conductor Laureate of the Colorado I come from a poor family. THREE SECRETARIES Symphony Orchestra. The Opera Colorado Chorus is a group of dedicated volunteers who perform under the CHORUS “Do not distress yourself,” she begs. leadership of chorus master John Baril. For more information about Opera Colorado visit www.operacolorado.org. 2 Look down, look down, She will get well. Come see the pigs. Look down at the earth, down from the north PAT The snowstorm comes. Mile after mile I once raised a red-ribbon boar. Marin Alsop On each side of the ice-locked wall CHORUS (as the press photographers) Vanishes. Far as you can see Do you think you could scratch his ear? Music Director of the Baltimore You cannot see the land or sky. Thank you. Symphony Orchestra since 2007, a PAT PAT relationship now extended to 2015, Marin This little elephant in glass And how was that? Alsop is the first woman to head a major Brings back so many memories. CHORUS American orchestra. Currently Conductor The symbol of our party, Just fine. Emeritus of the Bournemouth Symphony Prize of our success, our sacred cow THREE SECRETARIES Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of Surrounded by blind Brahmins, slow Here are some children having fun. the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, she Muscle-bound, well-dressed, half-awake, PAT continues as Music Director of California’s With Liberty upon her back. The children in the U.S.A. prizewinning Cabrillo Festival of Tell me, is it one of a kind? All say hello. I used to be Contemporary Music, a post she has held THREE SECRETARIES A teacher many years ago since 1992. The first artist to win both The It has been carefully designed And now I’m here to learn from you. Gramophone’s Artist of the Year award By workers in our factory. and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s They can make hundreds every day. Smiling and waving, Mrs. Nixon and her entourage Conductor’s Award in the same season, PAT leave the commune and proceed to the next stop on her Alsop was named to a MacArthur Wonderful! tour: the Summer Palace where she is photographed Fellowship and won the Classical Brit CHORUS strolling through the Hall of Benevolence and Photo: Kym Thomson Award for Best Female Artist that year – Look down at the earth, Longevity, the Hall of Happiness in Longevity, the Hall the first conductor to receive this prestigious American honor. Marin Alsop is a regular guest conductor of the New A living current moves beneath of Dispelling the Clouds and the Pavilion of the York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She can be heard Rivers caught in the hand of death, Fragrance of Buddha. She pauses in the Gate of regularly as a commentator on NPR’s Weekend Edition segment “Marin on Music”, and on BBC’s Radio 3. Marin Serpentine mountains cross the plain Longevity and Good Will to sing: Alsop is a native of New York City; she attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from the To bask in an uncertain sun, Juilliard School. And elephantine hills rejoice PAT Advancing towards a sky of ice. 3 This is prophetic! I foresee This country is so beautiful; A time will come when luxury One fine day you will see it all. Dissolves into the atmosphere Like a perfume, and everywhere The tour moves away; it is time the First Lady saw the The simple virtues root and branch Evergreen People’s Commune and its model swine-rearing And leaf and flower. And on that bench facilities, People’s Clinic, recreation building and school. There we’ll relax and taste the fruit Of all our actions. Why regret THREE SECRETARIES Life which is so much like a dream? This is the People’s Clinic. Let the eternal plan resume: 8.669022-24 22 11 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 12

Nixon in China And heading for a single goal. NIXON An opera in three acts The world watches and listens. We Ideas we have entertained … Must seize the hour and seize the day. PAT Music by John Adams “America the Beautiful!” Libretto by Alice Goodman President Nixon and Premier Chou toast each other, CHORUS 1 © Copyright 1987 by Hendon Music Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company then Mrs. Nixon. Caught up in the spirit of friendship, We must broadcast seeds of goodwill. Reprinted by permission the banqueters go from table to table toasting one CHORUS 2 another. Comrades and friends … Setting: Peking; February 21 – 27, 1972 NIXON NIXON … in former years Synopsis ^ This is the hour! Grow in a night to touch the stars. CHOU CHORUS Act I Act II Your health! Look down and think what the Chinese PAT People have done to earn this praise. Scene one – The airport outside Peking Scene one – Mrs. Nixon views China And yours! KISSINGER It is a cold, clear, dry morning: Monday, February 21, Snow has fallen during the night. In the morning Mrs. CHOU You won’t believe how moved I am. 1972. Contingents of army, navy and air force circle the Nixon is ushered onstage by her party of guides and To Doctor Kissinger! CHORUS field and sing “The Three Main Rules of Discipline” journalists. She explains a little of what it feels like for a NIXON We marvel now. and “The Eight Points of Attention.” Premier Chou En- woman like her to be First Lady and accepts a glass Cheers! NIXON lai, accompanied by a small group of officials, strolls elephant from the workers at the Peking Glass Factory. KISSINGER It’s like a dream. onto the runway just as The Spirit of ‘76 taxis into view. She visits the Evergreen People’s Commune and the Cheers! President Nixon disembarks. They shake hands and the Summer Palace, where she pauses in the Gate of New friends and present company! CD 2: Act II President sings of his excitement and his fears. Longevity and Goodwill to sing, “This is prophetic!” NIXON Then, on to the Ming Tombs before sunset. To Chairman Mao! 1 Scene one – It is the morning of February 22, Scene two – Chairman Mao’s study CHOU another cold day. Although it is snowing, the First Lady An hour later he is meeting with Chairman Mao. Mao’s Scene two – An evening at the Peking Opera The U.S.A.! wears no protection for her blonde hair. She has gone conversational armory contains philosophical In the evening, the Nixons attend a performance of The PAT off on her own for a sight-seeing trip. Anti-American apothegms, unexpected political observations and Red Detachment of Women, a revolutionary ballet Have you forgotten Washington? posters have been torn off walls, market stalls are piled gnomic jokes, and everything he sings is amplified by devised by Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing. The ballet CHOU with goods, children in snowsuits wave the flag. Mrs. his secretaries and the Premier. It is not easy for a entwines ideological rectitude with Hollywood-style Washington’s birthday! Nixon is “loving every minute of it.” She has just Westerner to hold his own in such a dialogue. emotion. The Nixons respond to the latter; they are NIXON shaken hands with many of the one hundred and fifteen drawn to the downtrodden peasant girl – in fact, they are Everyone listen, just let me say one thing. kitchen workers at the Peking Hotel. Ahead on her Scene three – The Great Hall of the People drawn into the action on the side of simple virtue. This I opposed China. I was wrong. schedule are the Evergreen People’s Commune, the After the audience with Mao, everyone at the first was not precisely what Chiang Ch’ing had in mind. She KISSINGER Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs. In the evening evening’s banquet is euphoric. The President and Mrs. sings “I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung,” ending with full Bottoms up, Mr. President. there will be the opera. The citizens of Peking, Nixon manage to exchange a few words before Premier choral backing. PAT seconded from their factories to clear the streets, look Chou rises to make the first of the evening’s toasts, a What did you say, Sweetheart? I can’t up and smile as the knot of guides and reporters pauses tribute to patriotic fraternity. The President replies, Act III Catch every word in all this noise. in its progress. toasting the Chinese people and the hope of peace. The CHORUS 1 PAT toasts continue, with less formality, as the night goes on. The last evening in Peking. We have at times been enemies. I don’t daydream and don’t look back, CHORUS 2 In this world you can’t count on luck. The Chinese people are renowned. I think what is to be will be In spite of us. I treat each day 8.669022-24 12 21 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 20

“At the edge of the Rubicon Salute the sun. Our children race CD 1: Act I President reaches the middle of the ramp, Premier Men don’t go fishing.” I know one Downhill unflustered into peace. Chou begins to clap and the President stops short and Statesman who thinks a fishing trip We will not sow their fields with salt 1 Scene one – The airfield outside Peking. It is a very returns the gesture, according to the Chinese custom. Will help him land the Great White Hope. Or burn their standing crop. We built cold, clear morning; Monday, February 21, 1972; the He reaches the bottom step and extends right hand as CHOU These terraces for them alone. air is full of static electricity. No airplanes are arriving; he walks towards the Premier. They shake hands. Intelligence is no bad thing. The virtuous American there is odd note of birdsong. Finally, from behind NIXON And the Chinese make manifest some buildings come the sounds of troops marching. CHOU It’s Henry’s trump card. Their destinies in time. We toast Contingents of army, navy and air force—120 men of 5 Your flight was smooth, I hope? This stuff’s strong poison. That endless province whose frontier each service—circle the field and begin to sing The NIXON CHOU We occupy from hour to hour, Three Main Rules of Discipline and The Eight Points of Oh yes. A universal cure, Holding in perpetuity Attention. Smoother than usual I guess. Or so we call it over here. The ground our people won today Yes, it was very pleasant. We From vision to inheritance. CHORUS Stopped in Hawaii for a day After the third course is finished, Premier Chou rises to All patriots were brothers once: 2 Soldiers of heaven hold the sky And Guam, to catch up on the time. toast his American guests. Let us drink to the time when they The morning breaks and shadows fly It’s easier that way. The Prime Shall be brothers again. Gam bei! Follow the orders of the poor Minister knows about that. He CHOU, CHORUS, NIXON Your master is the laborer Is such a traveler. Gam bei! President Nixon rises to respond. Who rules the world with truth and grace CHOU CHORUS Deal with him justly, face to face No, not I; Shh, shh. NIXON Pay a fair price for all you buy But as a traveler come home CHOU % Mr. Premier, distinguished guests, Pay to replace what you destroy For good to China, one for whom $ Ladies and gentlemen, I have attended many feasts Divide the landlord’s property All travel is a penance now Comrades and friends, we have begun But never have I so enjoyed Take nothing from the tenantry I am most proud to welcome you. To celebrate the different ways A dinner, nor have I heard played Do not mistreat the captive foe That led us to this mountain pass, Better the music that I love Respect women, it is their due As the rest of the American party disembarks, the band This summit where we stand. Look down Outside America. I move Replace doors when you leave a house strikes up. The Premier introduces the President to the And think what we have undergone. A vote of thanks to one and all Roll up straw matting after use Chinese official entourage, and together they review the Future and past lie far below Whose efforts made this possible. 3 The people are the heroes now massed ranks of the honor guard. All heads turn as they Half-visible. We marvel now No one who heard could but admire Behemoth pulls the peasant’s plow pass. While the introductions are beginning, the That we survived those battles, took Your eloquent remarks, Premier, When we look up, the fields are white President begins to sing, and, as he sings, the joy of Those shifting paths, blasted that rock And millions more hear what we say With harvest in the morning light anticipated triumph becomes the terrible expectation of To lay those rails. Through the cold night Through satellite technology And mountain ranges one by one failure. The Chinese and American official parties in Uncompromising lines of thought Than ever heard a public speech Rise red beneath the harvest moon due course leave the stage. The brilliant sunshine Attempted to find common ground Before. No one is out of touch. dwindles to the light of incandescent lamps. A Where their militias might contend, Telecommunication has 4 A jet is heard approaching, touching down and telephone rings twice offstage and is picked up offstage. Confident that the day would come Broadcast your message into space. taxiing across the runway. As The Spirit of ’76 comes In a moment Henry Kissinger interrupts the President For shadow-boxers to strike home. Yet soon our words won’t be recalled into to view, slowing to a stop, Premier Chou En-lai to tell him that Chairman Mao wishes to meet with him. We saw by the first light of dawn While what we do can change the world. and a small group of officials stroll out to meet it, The outlined cities of the plain, We have at times been enemies, casting lone shadows in the pale yellow light. A ramp is NIXON And see them still, surrounded by We still have differences, God knows. drawn up to the hatchway. After a pause the door opens 6 News has a kind of mystery: The pastures of their tenantry. But let us, in these next five days and President Nixon stands in the opening for an When I shook hands with Chou En-lai On land we have not taken yet Start a long march on new highways, instant, then begins to descend the ramp, closely On this bare field outside Peking Innumerable blades of wheat In different lanes, but parallel followed by the First Lady in her scarlet coat. When the Just now, the whole world was listening. 8.669022-24 20 13 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 14

CHOU Yesterday night. They watch us now; MAO Snow over China! Think of that! May I … The three main networks’ colors glow Founders come first, then profiteers. It makes me shiver. NIXON Livid through drapes onto the lawn. SECRETARIES NIXON And though we spoke quietly Dishes are washed and homework done, Founders come first, then profiteers. Just you wait The eyes and ears of history The dog and grandma fall asleep, Until the toasting starts. Between Caught every gesture … A car roars past playing loud pop, They write it down. The booze and praise you’ll warm up then. CHOU Is gone. As I look down the road PAT … introduce … I know America is good # Scene three – It is the evening of the first day. The It may go to my head. NIXON At heart. An old cold warrior Americans are being fêted in the Great Hall of the NIXON And every word, transforming us Piloting towards an unknown shore People. Outside, the roof is outlined by strings of lights, And I might be a Russian spy. As we, transfixed … Through shoals. The rats begin to chew inside there are tables set for nine hundred. Against the PAT CHOU The sheets. There’s murmuring below. far wall a small dais supports a bank of microphones. Seriously … … the Deputy Now there’s ingratitude! My hand The American and Chinese flags are pinned against the NIXON Minister of Security. Is steady as a rock. A sound wall. The President and the First Lady sit on either side You saw the moon NIXON Like mourning doves reaches my ears, of the Premier, their backs to the flags, and gaze across In clouds and forecast snow. Go on. Made history. [Our shaking hands Nobody is a friend of ours. a snowy field of table linen. There is their party, there PAT Were shaping time. Each moment stands [Let’s face it. If we don’t succeed the newsmen, there the important Chinese. In the Be a peacemaker, Premier Chou. Out sharp and clear. On this summit, our name is mud. distance the vision begins to blur. The atmosphere is CHOU CHOU We’re not out of the woods, not yet.] convivial; in that huge hall the President feels strangely All Mrs. Nixon says is true enough. … Army.] The Minister … The nation’s heartland skips a beat joyful and lighthearted, as if this were the evening of The pressure’s falling fast. [bracketed lines not set by the composer] As our hands shield the spinning globe arrival in heaven. And so the conversation rises and I feel it in my bones. NIXON From the flame-throwers of the mob. falls throughout the courses of the banquet. NIXON, PAT On our flight over from Shanghai We must press on. We know we want … At least The countryside KISSINGER NIXON This Great Hall of the People stands Looked drab and grey. “Brueghel,” Pat said. Mr. President … The night is young. Like a fortress against the winds “We came in peace for all mankind” NIXON PAT Whatever their direction. Yet I said, and I was put in mind What?… Oh yes … A long, long trail The west wind heralds spring. Of our Apollo astronauts Unwinding towards my dreams, uphill CHOU Simply … 7 Scene two – The incandescent lamps are the lamps of Right to the very last frontier, I doubt that spring has come. [CHOU Chairman Mao’s study. They are old-fashioned standard And then we’re home. I love you dear. PAT … of the United States] lamps with tasseled shades. Books lie open everywhere, NIXON Take a deep breath NIXON face down or face up. The walls are filled with books, You must be worn out. And you can taste it. It’s the truth. Achieving a great human dream. most of them stuffed with long paper bookmarks. PAT Although there’s more snow still to fall We live in an unsettled time. Chairman Mao Tse-tung is seated on one of several No, I washed The spring’s as good as here. Who are our enemies? Who are overstuffed brown slipcovered armchairs arranged in a And rested, so I feel refreshed. KISSINGER Our friends? The Eastern Hemisphere semicircle. Several Chinese photographers slip into the But you … Meanwhile we sit together in the cold. Beckoned to us, and we have flown room, then President Nixon, Premier Chou En-lai and NIXON CHOU East of the sun, west of the moon Dr. Kissinger make their entrance. A girl secretary (one This air agrees with me. Huddled for warmth you mean? But could Across an ocean of distrust of three who will sit on straight chairs behind Mao and Wish we could send some to D.C. We not take some encouragement Filled with the bodies of our lost; sing back-up) takes the Chairman’s arm, and he hoists I’ve never felt so good. From this appearance of détente? The earth’s Sea of Tranquility. himself out of the chair and advances to shake hands. PAT NIXON It’s prime time in the U.S.A. I saw He can’t hear you. He’s miles away. A snow moon on our way here. Snow! A Frenchman once observed to me 8.669022-24 14 19 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 18

Of Pao An want to spend their lives [NIXON MAO MAO In the daylight, to hear the sound There’s no reason why I can’t talk very well. My throat … Those books of mine Of industry borne on the wind: You should trust us. I’ll never say NIXON Aren’t anything. Incorporate The plow breaking the furrow, cloth I’ll do something I cannot do, I’m nearly speechless with delight Their words within a people’s thought Pierced by the needle, giant earth- And I’ll do more than you can know. Just to be here. As poor men’s common sense and try Movers, and these men want to work, and But since you do not know me, please MAO Their strength on women’s nerves, then say Not turn back, dazzled, to the dark … Don’t trust me. Wait. These may be lies. We’re even then. They live. Echoes, shadows, and chains. Such men KISSINGER That is the right way to begin. NIXON Will drive away the Yellow Crane I can vouch for the President.] Our common old friend Chiang Kai-shek The Chairman’s books enthralled At last, to harness the Yangtze. With all his virtues would not look A nation, and have changed the world. Another generation may The Premier has been discreetly glancing at his watch Too kindly on all this. We seem MAO Turn up Confucius’ China Guard for some time. Now he stands up, and the President and To be beneath the likes of him. I could not change it. I’d be glad Waiting in bunkers for their lord. Dr. Kissinger follow his example. Chairman Mao is You’ve seen his latest speech? To think that in the neighborhood NIXON assisted by his secretaries as he hauls himself up. NIXON Of Peking something will remain. @ Like the Ming Tombs. I think this leap Walking slowly and talking, they take their leave. You bet. NIXON Forward to light is the first step It was a scorcher. Still, he’s spit Let us turn our talk towards Taiwan, Of all our youth, of all nations’ youth; MAO Into the wind before, and will Vietnam and the problems there, Japan … Our duty is to show them both I’m growing old and soft, and won’t Again. That puts it into scale. MAO Their future and our past, the fire Demand your overthrow. You shouldn’t despise Chiang. Save that for the Premier. And the noon glare. How they inspire NIXON MAO My business is philosophy. Our poor dry bones, put us in mind Your life No fear of that. Now Doctor Kissinger … Of our forgotten dreams! We send Is known to all. It’s a relief We’ve followed his career KISSINGER Children on our crusades, we bring To think I may be spared. For generations. There’s not much Who me? Children our countries, right or wrong. MAO Beneath our notice. MAO Then we retire. Fathers and sons, I thought CHOU … has made his reputation in Let us join hands, make peace for once. You might be overwhelmed! We will touch Foreign affairs. History is our mother, we NIXON On this in our communiqué. NIXON Best do her honor in this way. My feet are firmly planted on the ground, My right hand man. MAO Like yours, like you I take my stand They sit down, and the photographers who have You’d never know to look at him History is a dirty sow: Among poor people. We can talk. snapped the handshakes continue to photograph them. That he’s James Bond. If we by chance escape her maw MAO The Chairman and the President sit next to one another CHOU She overlies us. Six Crises isn’t a bad book. at the center of the semicircle while the Premier sits And all the time NIXON NIXON next to the Chairman and Dr. Kissinger sits next to the He’s doing undercover work. That’s true, sure, He reads too much. President, facing each other, at its ends. The KISSINGER And yet we still must seize the hour CHOU secretaries take their seats behind the Chairman. I had a cover. And seize the day. Ah, who can say? MAO CHOU NIXON MAO In the dark You overlook Has study given Chairman Mao Ah, the philosopher! I see All diplomats are gray. The fact that hands are raised to strike, An iron constitution? Paris can spare you then. CHOU Hands are stretched out to seize their kill. MAO KISSINGER Or gris Here where we stand, beyond the pale, No. The Chairman may be gratified to hear When their work takes them to Paris. Your outstretched hand, the Russian’s wave, The Chairman sees his visitors offstage and shuffles He’s read at Harvard. I assign KISSINGER Appear ambiguous. Forgive my bluntness. back to his books. All four volumes. I pull the wool over their … 8.669022-24 18 15 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 16

NIXON NIXON Survives in that, and not in time. Promise to change our rice to bread, Stop! De Gaulle. While it is young in us it lives; And wash us in our brothers’ blood, MAO MAO We can save it, it never saves. [And give us beads,] and crucify He pulls the wool over their lap. No, not De Gaulle. I’m loath KISSINGER Us on a cross of usury. NIXON To file him in that pigeonhole. And yours will last a thousand years. After them come the Green Berets, He’s a consummate diplomat. KISSINGER MAO Insuring their securities. Girls think he’s lukewarm when he’s hot. But Germany’s another tale. 0 Founders come first, then profiteers. NIXON MAO MAO NIXON Where is the Chinese people’s faith? You also dally with your girls? We’ve more than once led the right wing Capitalists? MAO NIXON Forward while textbook cadres swung MAO The people’s faith? Another myth His girls, not mine. Back into goosestep, home at last. Fishers of men. To sell bonds. It’s worked well for you. KISSINGER How your most rigid theorist An organized oblivion. The people are determined to He never tells. Revises as he goes along! NIXON Divide the land to make it whole. CHOU NIXON The crane … Piecing the broken Golden Bowl And this is an election year. Now you’re referring to Wang Ming, MAO The world to come has come, is theirs. Chiang, Chang Kuo-tao and Li Li-san. Let us not be misled. We cried “Long live the Ancestors!” The photographers have finished, and Chou ushers MAO NIXON Once, it’s “Long live the Living!” now. them out into the hall. When he returns he sits a little I spoke generally. The line The Yellow Crane has flown abroad. NIXON straighter as do the President and Dr. Kissinger. Only We take now is a paradox. Think of what we have lost and gained History holds her breath. Chairman Mao continues to lean back, his arms over Among the followers of Marx Since forty-nine. MAO the chair’s arms, as the conversation moves on. The extreme left, the doctrinaire, CHOU We know Tend to be fascist. The current trend The great silent majority MAO NIXON Suggests that China’s future might … Will bide its time. 8 You know we’ll meet with your confrère And the far right? NIXON KISSINGER The Democratic candidate MAO Might break the Futures Market. There you’ve got me. If he should win. True Marxism is called that by MAO I’m lost. NIXON The extreme left. Occasionally That would be a break. No doubt our plunge CHOU That is a fate The true left calls a spade a spade Into the New York Stock Exchange The Chairman means the dead. We hope you won’t have to endure. And tells the left it’s right. Will line some pockets here and there. NIXON I’d like to make another tour CHOU Will these investments be secure? Confucius … As President. 9 You’ve said No. Not precisely. MAO, SECRETARIES MAO That there’s a certain well-known tree NIXON ! We no longer need Confucius. You’ve got my vote. That grows from nothing in a day, There’s the catch. Let him rot … no curse … I back the man who’s on the right. Lives only as a sapling, dies You don’t want China to be rich. Words decompose to feed their source … KISSINGER Just at its prime, when good men raise MAO Old leaves absorbed into the tree Who’s in the right you mean. It as their idol. You want to bring your boys back home. To grow again as branches. They MAO NIXON NIXON Sprang from the land, they are alike No, no. Not the cross? What if we do? Is that a crime? Its food and dung. Upon a rock NIXON MAO MAO You may well build your tomb, but give What they put forward we put through. The Liberty Tree. Let it pass. Our armies do not go abroad. Us the earth, and we’ll dig a grave. MAO It was a riddle, not a test. Why should they? We have all we need: A hundred years, and ears may press I like right-wingers: Nixon, Heath … The revolution does not last. New missionaries, businesslike, Hard to the ground to hear his voice. It is duration … the regime Survey the field and then attack, Platonic men freed from the caves 8.669022-24 16 17 8.669022-24 669022-24 bk Adams 7/8/09 10:34 Page 16

ൿ China, presented at Denver’s new Ellie

& Chou En-lai ...... Chen-Ye Yuan Caulkins Opera House during the 2008 Ꭿ 1st Secretary (Nancy T’ang) . . Melissa Malde 2009 Naxos Rights International Ltd. 2nd Secretary ...... Julie Simson National Performing Arts Convention, 3rd Secretary ...... Jennifer DeDominici and featuring an internationally recognized cast. Alice Goodman’s epic Opera Colorado Chorus libretto and John Adams’s distinctive Douglas Kinney Frost, Chorus Master music weave together a colorful fabric Colorado Symphony Orchestra of actual events from President Nixon’s Marin Alsop historic visit to the People’s Republic of China with intimate examinations of CD 1 66:22 CD 2 51:04 CD 3 36:27 the opera’s real life characters. The 1-^ Act I 1-@ Act II 1-# Act III spectacle, drama, humor and pathos of A full track and cast list can be found on pages 2 to 4 this masterpiece remain as compelling DDD of the booklet. The libretto is also included. today as when the opera was Recorded live at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, premièred in 1987.

Denver, Colorado, from 6th to 14th June, 2008 8.669022-24

Soloists • Colorado Symphony Orchestra • Opera Colorado Chorus • Alsop • Opera Colorado Chorus Soloists • Colorado Symphony Orchestra Producer and Sound Engineer: Tim Handley Mixing Engineer: John Newton www.naxos.com 8.669022-24 Booklet notes: Gregory Carpenter Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers, Inc. Cover photograph by Steve Kagan

NAXOS American flag, folk artist, 1880s.