Adams - Nixon in China, at the Opéra Bastille in Paris

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 and day. In 2023, I complained about Dudamel's ‘bashing away with no noticeable regard for the singers' needs.’ Nagano’s take was bliss in comparison, subtle and detailed, and you could see him conscientiously indicating cues throughout the evening.

Caroline Wettergreen is a new name to me. She’s singing such roles as the Queen of the Night, Lucia and Olympia, so we get the gist, and I imagine she makes a very good Zerbinetta too. She threw out some impressive notes as Chiang Ch'ing (Jiang Qing in the more modern Pinyin system; not sure why the Opéra continues to use the old one), and was loudly applauded for them; but to my ear she lacked the percussiveness needed to hammer out the repeated phrases - ‘the book’ etc. - and her voice was a bit on the small side for the Bastille, even if everyone was amplified. In any case, apart from the fact you wonder exactly what kind of voice Adams was hoping to find to meet his crazy demands, it’s hard for anyone to erase the memory of Sumi Jo in the same role at the Châtelet in 2012. 

Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming are obviously now in their twilight zone. He can only snatch at the top notes these days, but it isn’t a bel canto role, after all, and he relies on his experience and craft to carry it off gruffly with what’s left of his former voice.

Pat Nixon, as I’ve said many times since 2023, is to me one of Renée Fleming’s best parts. Her timbre is still instantly recognisable, though her voice is now but a slender thread at the top. Still, her charming second-act scene with, in this production, a long, red dragon remains one of the highlights of the evening, and it was quite sad to think this was probably the last time I’ll see her in an opera house.

Very glad, then, to have gone back for this. And as this was the last night, the director herself was present, brought out by Nagano, and - mirabile dictu - was cheered as loudly as anyone else. Comme quoi…

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