Stephe of LiveJournal lists Nixon in China as one of her his five favorite operas; the others:
2) Leoš Janáček, The Makropulos Case; 3) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute; 4) Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier; 5) Richard Wagner, Das Rheingold.
How John Adams snuck into that list would be an interesting story. In my case, the list is maybe Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, Britten's Death in Venice, and, I don't know, Don Giovanni. Not particularly liking the form, I will admit viewing opera through a filter of Peter Sellars. Although, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, yet another Sellars/Adams collaboration, was a mess, to say the least. When I saw it several years ago, mostly, I was looking at the stage wondering what is all this. Although, it made more sense to me than Wagner has.
I will admit to being surprised and flattered at finding my journal mentioned on this website. I just have two comments:
1) I'm actually a he, not a she.
2) There really isn't any major story behind my love for "Nixon in China." I was exposed to modern music frequently as a child, and I developed a taste for a good bit of it as the years went by. "Nixon in China" also happens to be one of my father's favorite operas, and I learned about it from him. That's about it as far as a story is concerned.
Posted by: Stephe | February 12, 2004 at 08:35 PM
Sorry for my confusion and thanks for commenting...
Posted by: rgable | February 13, 2004 at 07:54 PM
My husband and I LOVE "ceiling sky". Not sure how someone could dispatch it the way you did. Its totally alive and fresh!!
Posted by: susan dunn | March 20, 2005 at 05:15 PM
"Ceiling/Sky" was done in Freiburg (Germany) in 2004 by an "off" Opera Company. The director did it totally different than Sellars, the songs were much more connected and suddenly it did make sense. And the music ist just fantastic!
Posted by: Cornelius Bauer | October 23, 2006 at 03:00 PM
How about this 5 favorite modern operas(w/o composer repetition):
Peter Grimes, Nixon in China, Erwartung, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, and The Consul
Posted by: brd | June 21, 2007 at 08:23 AM