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Special offer. Adams, J: Nixon in China
Robert Orth, Maria Kanyova, Thomas Hammons, Marc Heller, Tracy Dahl, Chen-Ye Yuan, Melissa Malde, Julie Simson & Jennifer DeDominici
Colorado Symphony Orchestra & Opera Colorado Chorus, Marin Alsop
…Alsop balances rhythmic drive with careful pointers to Adams's later, more lyrical achievements… Robert Orth gives a remarkable sung impression of the president's speaking voice… Tracy Dahl...
Special offer. Adams, J: Nixon in China
Robert Orth, Maria Kanyova, Thomas Hammons, Marc Heller, Tracy Dahl, Chen-Ye Yuan, Melissa Malde, Julie Simson & Jennifer DeDominici
Colorado Symphony Orchestra & Opera Colorado Chorus, Marin Alsop
Purchase product
…Alsop balances rhythmic drive with careful pointers to Adams's later, more lyrical achievements… Robert Orth gives a remarkable sung impression of the president's speaking voice… Tracy Dahl...
About
A longtime collaborator of John Adams and champion of his music, Marin Alsop directs this live recording of Opera Colorado’s 25th Anniversary Celebration production of Nixon in China, presented at Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the 2008 National Performing Arts Convention, and featuring an internationally recognized cast.
Alice Goodman’s epic libretto and John Adams’s distinctive music weave together a colourful fabric of actual events from President Nixon’s historic visit to the People’s Republic of China with intimate examinations of the opera’s real life characters.
The spectacle, drama, humor and pathos of this masterpiece remain as compelling today as when the opera was premièred in 1987.
“[The] performance, brilliantly conducted by Marin Alsop and delivered by a strong cast led by baritone Robert Orth in the title role… Alsop, a proven master of Adams’ style both early and late, led a dynamic performance… Conducting the Colorado Symphony, she shepherded her forces nimbly.” San Francisco Chronicle concert review
Contents and tracklist
- Robert Orth (baritone), Chen-Ye Yuan (baritone), Thomas Hammons (bass-baritone)
- Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Opera Colorado Chorus
- Marin Alsop
- Recorded: 6-14 June 2008
- Recording Venue: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver, Colorado, US
- Marc Heller (tenor), Melissa Malde (mezzo-soprano), Julie Simson (mezzo-soprano), Jennifer DeDominici (mezzo-soprano)
- Recorded: 6-14 June 2008
- Recording Venue: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver, Colorado, US
- Maria Kanyova (soprano)
- Recorded: 6-14 June 2008
- Recording Venue: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver, Colorado, US
- Tracy Dahl (soprano)
Awards and reviews
December 2009
…Alsop balances rhythmic drive with careful pointers to Adams's later, more lyrical achievements… Robert Orth gives a remarkable sung impression of the president's speaking voice… Tracy Dahl (Madame Mao) and Maria Kanyova (Pat) comfortably outshine their boyish predecessors.
21st December 2009
Marin Alsop might not topple de Waart off his default top-spot, but she does provide a strikingly different performance that forms a worthy counterpoint to his...here you hear the machinery of Adams’s writing: bright, alert, lucid, occasionally thin, but brilliantly textured.
December 2009
…Marin Alsop is the persuasive conductor of this live recording from Opera Colorado's 2008 production. Robert Orth is powerful yet detailed in the title-role, and Maria Kanyova sings the neurotic Pat Nixon with great intensity. Tracy Dahl is strong in Madame Mao's coloratura, and there are good performances from Thomas Hammons (Kissinger) and Marc Heller (Mao Tse-tung)...
2011 edition
Alsop has this music in her very being, and her version is cast from strength. Robert Orth is a strong Nixon and his wife Pat is intensely and sympathetically characterized by Maria Kanyova. But Tracy Dahl steals the shows in her sympathetic portrayal of Madame Mao, particularly in the coloratura of the closing Act. An unforgettable set.
