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Nixon in China: Sellar’s powerful revival of Nixon in China by James Flanagan When John Adams’ opera Nixon in China first premiered in 1987 there were, among the rave reviews, a handful of discerning critics who questioned the kindness with which history would treat it. The lounge room historicism of the work, along with a musical tradition, American Minimalism, seen by many as nearing extinction, raised serious doubts about its potential. It is astonishing just how wrong those critics were.
The results are politically forceful but at times the production is let down by some surprisingly cluttered staging. Most striking is the unexpected resonance Sellars finds in the current climate of Sino-American relations. Taken within the context of the late 1980s, when the work first premiered, Alice Goodman's libretto now seems dramatically lightweight. When applied to the current relationship between In this production, Maddalena's Nixon, often a caricature in previous productions, assumes far greater status. Plagued by incertitude, this Nixon fully realises both the magnitude of his task and the obstacles his own personal shortcomings present in achieving them. The ENO programme is also helpful in explaining that the crucial subtext of Nixon’s visit was to press Mao to intervene in ending the war in Sellars harnesses this crucial historical detail to portray a prophetic vision of The dramatic power of the propaganda performance as witnessed by the Nixons on their second day has been greatly enhanced, as has the visceral presence of the Chinese government. Mao's iconography and the mythological images of modern Modern The performances are all excellent. Janis Kelly's Pat Nixon is particularly impressive. Newcomer, Adrian Thompson also deserves special mention for the humour he brings to the rather unsympathetic portrayal of Kissinger. But while the original production sought to harness the political relevance while highlighting the dramatic spectacle, this production aims for a more sparse, no-nonsense approach. The spectacular aircraft arrival of Nixon is still there but with it is brought a surprising amount of shabbiness and there is a great deal of clutter on stage during the second and third acts. Although the score does occasionally wander into the more banal Philip Glass end of minimalism, for the most part it provides an evocative and absorbing evening of music. Despite its faults, Nixon remains an engaging night at the theatre. Most importantly, 'Nixon' possesses that rare commodity in what is too often the most conservative of the performing arts - dynamism and contemporary relevance.
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Reuniting much of the original cast and crew - with James Maddalena reprising the Nixon role, and conducted by ENO's former artistic director Paul Daniel - Sellar's ENO revival of the much acclaimed 2000 production subtly enhances the opera's contemporary relevance. 
