The opera Nixon in China by John Adams (pictured), with a libretto by Alice Goodman, premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The composer augmented the usual orchestral instruments with a large saxophone section, additional percussion, and an electronic synthesizer. Displaying a variety of musical styles, the score embraces minimalism alongside passages echoing 19th-century composers, and mixes Stravinskian 20th-century neoclassicism, jazz references, and big band sounds reminiscent of Nixon's youth in the 1930s. The opera has been presented on many occasions, in both Europe and North America, and has been recorded twice. In 2011, the opera was staged at the Metropolitan Opera, based on the original sets. Recent critical opinion recognizes the work as a significant and lasting contribution to American opera.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_in_China_(opera)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1730:
Construction of the Ladoga Canal linking the Neva and the Svir River, one of the first major canals constructed in Russia, was completed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladoga_Canal
1844:
Millerites, including future members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, were greatly disappointed that Jesus did not return as predicted by American preacher William Miller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment
1895:
A Granville–Paris Express train overran the buffer stop at Paris' Gare Montparnasse station, careening across the concourse before crashing out of the station and plummeting onto the Place de Rennes below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_Montparnasse
1962:
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet nuclear weapons had been discovered in Cuba and that he had ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
2008:
India launched Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned lunar mission. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-1
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
subduct: 1. (transitive) To draw or push under or below. 2. (intransitive) To move downwards underneath something. 3. (rare) To remove; to deduct; to take away; to disregard. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/subduct
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
To describe externals, you become a scientist. To describe experience, you become an artist. The old distinction between artists and scientists must vanish. Every time we teach a child correct usage of an external symbol, we must spend as much time teaching him how to fission and reassemble external grammar to communicate the internal. --Timothy Leary https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary
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