Nixon in China

Nixon in China

About the work Two of the world’s most powerful men shake hands – as the world looks on. With their opera about the state visit by US President Nixon to China in 1972 composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman rendered a recent historical event in operatic form. They envisioned a »heroic opera« telling of modern myths and the power of images. This rapprochement between the two great powers gave rise to one of the most prodigious media spectacles of the 20th century. Nixon himself put the event on a par with the moon landing. The opera, whose composition was pushed for by Peter Sellars, the director of the eventual premiere, is a depiction of both the details of the visit and the coverage by the media. Alice Goodman’s libretto reflects the tradition of 19th-century opera, with larger-than-life characters interacting and the protagonists dealing with both affairs of state and their private lives. Staged in the style of an excessively satirical documentary, the minimal-music opera sticks close to protocols from the state visit, depicting the larger-than-life protagonists swerving between exhibitionism, helplessness and the desire to reach a mutual understanding. 36 years after the world premiere this will be the first new production of NIXON IN CHINA to be mounted by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. With his works featuring prominently on opera house programmes, John Adams is, alongside Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Terry Riley, one of the key exponents of minimal music, an art form that sprang up in the 1960s as a response to the European avant-garde. Yet the opera, arguably Adams’s best known, eludes this kind of narrow categorisation due to its hybrid character, even if it is emblematic of the minimal-music style. With its rich tonal orchestrations and trancelike repetitions, the work shows sound wizard John Adams including flurries of big-band swing and allusions to European classical music. About the production Hauen und Stechen, the musical-theatre collective centring ...

Nixon in China

About the work Two of the world’s most powerful men shake hands – as the world looks on. With their opera about the state visit by US President Nixon to China in 1972 composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman rendered a recent historical event in operatic form. They envisioned a »heroic opera« telling of modern myths and the power of images. This rapprochement between the two great powers gave rise to one of the most prodigious media spectacles of the 20th century. Nixon himself put the event on a par with the moon landing. The opera, whose composition was pushed for by Peter Sellars, the director of the eventual premiere, is a depiction of both the details of the visit and the coverage by the media. Alice Goodman’s libretto reflects the tradition of 19th-century opera, with larger-than-life characters interacting and the protagonists dealing with both affairs of state and their private lives. Staged in the style of an excessively satirical documentary, the minimal-music opera sticks close to protocols from the state visit, depicting the larger-than-life protagonists swerving between exhibitionism, helplessness and the desire to reach a mutual understanding. 36 years after the world premiere this will be the first new production of NIXON IN CHINA to be mounted by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. With his works featuring prominently on opera house programmes, John Adams is, alongside Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Terry Riley, one of the key exponents of minimal music, an art form that sprang up in the 1960s as a response to the European avant-garde. Yet the opera, arguably Adams’s best known, eludes this kind of narrow categorisation due to its hybrid character, even if it is emblematic of the minimal-music style. With its rich tonal orchestrations and trancelike repetitions, the work shows sound wizard John Adams including flurries of big-band swing and allusions to European classical music. About the production Hauen und Stechen, the musical-theatre collective centring ...

CHINA MOSES

China – Deutschland: 30 Jahre Städtepartnerschaft Berlin – Beijing (China, Deutschland)

For the first time, percussionist HU Shengnan and jazz pianist Clara Haberkamp are developing a joint program. They transcend genre boundaries and explore new, unheard instrumental combinations with their ensemble! In this German-Chinese program with grand piano and percussion, they meet xiao, sheng and erhu and cello, bass and horn. Chinese traditional music meets Debussy, meets improvisation, meets jazz, meets new music. You can experience this exciting premiere in the Small Hall!

Karneval in Rom

„Touch the Sound“ (China)

HU Shengnan masters the art of percussion with incredible virtuosity and places her skills at the heart of her program „Touch the Sound“ at „re:play - Freiheit der Töne“. Together with her musical guests, the percussionist embarks on a search for new worlds of sound, which she is able to create through energetic improvisations with her multitude of percussion instruments.

The Carnival in Rome

in bloom

In Feierlaune

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 44, known as "Trauer" (Mourning), is surprisingly lively and festive. Isata Kanneh-Mason performs Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, and Shiyeon Sung, a prominent South Korean conductor, leads Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The concert introduction begins 30 minutes prior in the Glocke's "Kleinen Saal".

In Feierlaune

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 44, known as "Trauer" (Mourning), is surprisingly lively and festive. Isata Kanneh-Mason performs Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, and Shiyeon Sung, a prominent South Korean conductor, leads Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The concert introduction begins 30 minutes prior in the Glocke's "Kleinen Saal".