The American musicologist Richard Taruskin attacked Adams for “romanticising terrorists”, calling for the opera to be banned. The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) is set aboard the Achille Lauro cruise liner, on which a Jewish passenger was killed by Palestinian hijackers.Ĭonsidered antisemitic and pro-Palestinian in some quarters, it caused a row that still flares each time the work is performed. Doctor Atomic (2005), which will be semi-staged at the Barbican in April, conducted by the composer, is about J Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb”. Since Nixon in China, Adams has been unflinching in choice of operatic subject matter, always working with his long-term collaborator, the director Peter Sellars. Houston Grand Opera’s production of Nixon in China. When Obama suspected people hated him he controlled himself and kept his eyes on the prize … ” Trump, however, is not interesting because he’s a sociopath. Perversely, Nixon was destroyed by his own uncontrollable paranoia. “Unlike JF Kennedy, say, he came from modest circumstances, a Quaker upbringing, a moral universe. “The question I’m now being asked, and it’s almost corny,” Adams says, “is will I write a Trump opera? So far I’ve always said a categorical ‘no’.” What drew him to Nixon was his aspect of self-doubt. “We live in an unsettled time,” the aria continues, turning to introspection, “Who are our enemies? Who are our friends?”
It’s sung by the president soon after he and Mrs Nixon step out of Air Force One on to Chinese soil, full of hope and ignorance. The brilliant, prophetic, bragging “ News” aria – “It’s prime time in the USA, USA, USA” – leaves an indelible impression. It was the work that made his name worldwide with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams, whose 70th birthday this week will be celebrated with a concert at the Barbican, still has a special affection for Nixon in China.