Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne.  18 May 2013.

 

The grand curtain rises ever so slowly on a stark stage, defined by an enormous arc of red fabric screen stretching from floor to ceiling. Monotonous but strangely hypnotic scale passages endlessly ascend and mutate out of the orchestra pit.

 

The members of the ensemble emerge onto the stage and they are dressed as one – clones all garbed in unimaginative and mind dulling military uniforms that are genderless.  They sing in muted unison and proclaim with deep but restrained conviction that “the people are the heroes”.  

 

The music becomes portentous and the enormous Boeing named ‘Spirit of ‘76’ solidifies into view.  President Nixon appears and comes down the giant stairs that have been wheeled in.  He is greeted by Premier Chou, they exchange nervous pleasantries, and Nixon launches into his vibrant and exciting aria ‘News has a kind of mystery’.  

 

So begins John Adams’ modern operatic masterpiece Nixon in China and the next two and a half hours are gripping.

 

The opera depicts Richard Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972, which heralded the renewal of diplomatic relations between the USA and China after no formal contact for decades.  It must have been an electrifying time with the two sides both anxious and exhilarated at the possibilities that might unfold.  

 

Barry Ryan makes a superlative Nixon.  His deeply resonant baritone voice, imposing stage presence and finely tuned acting skills brought Nixon to life with all his swagger and seemingly contradictory tentativeness.

 

Christopher Tonkin imbued Chou En-Lai with the bearing and art of the consummate diplomat.  It was difficult not to look at him on stage even when the focus was not directly on him.  His after dinner speech/aria “We have begun to celebrate the different ways that led us to this mountain pass” was quite arresting.

 

Like Ryan, Tiffany Speight is not only a fine singer but she also knows how to inhabit a character and bring it to life–she gave Pat Nixon an uncommon humanity.  We saw Pat rejoicing in life as she mixed and greeted citizens during her tour of Peking, and her profound support for her husband as she comforted him during their private and introspective moments.

 

Bradley Daley made an imposing Mao Tse-Tung, and he controlled his fine tenor voice so as not to give the frail Mao too much strength and to give every appearance of a spirited but physically limited individual who still commands respect and awe.

 

The role of Henry Kissinger is the most curious in the opera, and it is not entirely clear (at least to me!) what librettist Alice Goodman had in mind. In Act II there is a performance of a ballet that has been devised by Madame Mao for the entertainment of the Nixons.  But it has a sting in its tail.  It tells the story of the overthrow of an aristocratic and lecherous tyrant but Madame Mao has the tyrant performed by someone who looks like Kissinger, perhaps as a metaphor for the USA’s ill treatment of China in earlier times.  The look-alike is actually the same performer who plays Kissinger, and that was Andrew Collis who gave the role an excellent mix of seriousness, arrogance and out-and-out opera buffa.  

 

As good as Daley, Ryan, Speight, Tonkin and Collis were, the diminutive Eva Jinhee Kong almost eclipsed them.  She sang and played Madame Mao Tse-Tung with such fire and passion that one felt as if one had been swept up by a formidable human vortex and then tossed aside when it was done with you.  The aria “I am the wife of Mao Tse Tung” is John Adam’s equivalent of Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria from The Magic Flute, and fittingly Kong’s execution was a show stopper.

 

Richard Roberts’ set design was minimalist and dominated in shades of red and stark greys.  The ‘Spirit of ‘76’ was superbly realized and absolutely nothing was lost by not having a ‘near real’ nose of a Boeing arrive on stage as has been done in more lavish productions.  The use of trucked furniture add to the seamlessness of the transition from one scene to another, but the setting for Pat Nixon’s tour of Peking was perhaps a little sparse and too much of the theatre’s wing space was evident.  Matt Scott’s lighting was empathetic and evocative.

 

Conductor Fabian Russell and Orchestra Victoria were excellent.  The relentless metre and difficult rhythms were mastered and the saxophone section was superb.  Sound engineering was faultless and a fine dynamic balance was maintained between solo voices and the orchestra.

Roger Hodgman’s direction is first-class.  Quality of this order is precisely what we have come to expect from him.  The man is a living Australian treasure.  

 

Victorian Opera is to be congratulated on such a powerful production.  It is also to be lauded for having the courage to essay an opera such as Nixon.  It is contemporary, and it would probably not be appreciated by many traditionalists.  However the capacity audience, which boasted ages ranging from nine to ninety, erupted with enthusiastic and almost delirious praise as Chou intoned the final phrase of the opera and the cast took its final bows.

 

Sublime.

 

Kym Clayton