I would not say that Nixon's visit to China was heroic in any sense. It was world-historical, however, whatever one may think of its outcome which we are still dealing with. As I noted, elements of it are treated satirically in the opera.
I would dispute that the subject of great opera is necessarily heroic. Many great operas are actually just bedroom farces, even if one can read various meanings into the various farcical elements, as for example with Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," discussed on this list as a quasi-revolutionary opera and viewed as such in its own time by some observers. Barkley Rosser On Tue, 15 Dec 1998 20:12:52 -0800 Daniel <drdq at m5.sprynet.com> wrote:
> Barkley,
>
> I haven't read the text of the opera (Nixon in China). But, as subject
> matter for opera, it pretty much implies the heroic quality of the event it
> narrates. I've just never seen Nixon's overture to China as heroic in ANY
> way - for any of the participants. Every now and then, it becomes necessary
> for heads of state to publicly acknowledge an inescapable reality (usually
> something that has been known anyway for a very long time). There is rarely
> anything of the heroic in these acts of "statesmanship."
>
> Since I was drawn into one last comment on this musical thread, let me just
> say that I am sorry to have created confusion: by saying, in my post,
> "loudness" instead of "the characteristic use of loudness." The classical
> composers NEVER EVER get as loud as the typical pop concert, and they use
> loudness (such as it is with acoustic instruments even in great ensembles)
> in a completely different way. Of course, they also use loudness in
> characteristically personal ways, and so their individual styles might lead
> some people to feel that there is a greater flavor of the fascistic in one
> composer than another. On the whole, however, as other's comments have made
> abundantly clear, this is always a question of personal taste or perception.
>
> Daniel
>
-- Rosser Jr, John Barkley rosserjb at jmu.edu