We left at the interval...

ONP Bastille, Paris, Friday March 20 2026 Conductor: Kent Nagano. Production: Valentina Carrasco. Sets: Carles Berga, Peter Van Praet. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. Costumes: Silvia Aymonino. Richard Nixon: Thomas Hampson. Pat Nixon: Renée Fleming. Zhou Enlai: Xiaomeng Zhang. Mao Zedong: John Matthew Myers. Henry Kissinger: Joshua Bloom. Chiang Ch'ing: Caroline Wettergreen. Nancy Tang: Aebh Kelly. Second Secretary: Ning Liang. Third Secretary: Emanuela Pascu. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: © Vincent Pontet – OnP I saw, enjoyed, and described in some detail this production of Nixon in China during its first run, in 2023. Now it’s back, with very nearly the same cast as before, the only exceptions being that Norwegian soprano Caroline Wettergreen has taken over as Chiang Ch'ing, and Irish mezzo Aebh Kelly as Nancy Tang. More importantly, this time Kent Nagano is conducting, rather than our short-lived former music director Dudamel. This is like night ...

ONP Bastille, Tuesday April 4 2023 Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel. Production: Valentina Carrasco. Sets: Carles Berga, Peter Van Praet. Lighting: Peter Van Praet. Costumes: Silvia Aymonino. Richard Nixon: Thomas Hampson. Pat Nixon: Renée Fleming. Zhou Enlai: Xiaomeng Zhang. Mao Zedong: John Matthew Myers. Henry Kissinger: Joshua Bloom. Chiang Ch'ing: Kathleen Kim. Nancy Tang: Yajie Zhang. Second Secretary: Ning Liang. Third Secretary: Emanuela Pascu. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Photos: Elisa Haberer, ONP Any Adams is a rarity in Paris, but I did see a memorable Nixon eleven years ago at the Châtelet , all the more memorable for now being freely available, in full, on YouTube, and in particular for Sumi Jo's vigorous portrayal of the Chairman's wife. So I might have liked a chance to see another of his operas, but I suppose for his entry into the Paris Opera's repertory, Nixon in China it had to be. And the company certainly pulled off a remarkable...

Glad to see this back on YT: Maestro Wenarto also sings " I am the wife of Mao Tse Tung ".

Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Monday April 16 2012 Conductor: Alexander Briger. Production and choreography: Chen Shi-Zheng. Sets: Shilpa Gupta. Costumes: Petra Reinhardt. Lighting: Alexander Koppelmann. Video: Olivier Roset. Richard Nixon: Franco Pomponi. Pat Nixon: June Anderson. Henry Kissinger: Peter Sidhom. Mao Zedong: Alfred Kim. Madame Mao (Jiang Qing): Sumi Jo. Chou En-Lai: Kyung Chun Kim. First secretary: Sophie Leleu. Second secretary: Alexandra Sherman. Third secretary: Rebecca de Pont Davies. Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Chorus of the Châtelet. In the old days, when pubs were still pubs and not yet a cross between a steak house and a disco with only incidental beer, you’d often see a nicotine-stained sign over the counter or dangling from an optic saying “You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps”. Several times, recently, it has occurred to me that a similar message might be printed on the cover page of certain opera scores: “You don’t have to be mad to s...