River of Music: Nixon in China

John Adams's very first opera took for its subject a major political event: US president Richard Nixon meeting Chairman Mao on Chinese soil in 1972, 15 years before the opera's premiere in 1987. This opening section features a military chorus singing the Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention.

Nixon in China: Opening. Orchestra & Chorus of St Luke's, Edo de Waart (conductor), 1988.

Stream or download all 12 hours of River of Music via the Radio 3 website throughout November 2016.