Soloists: Orth, Kanyova, Hammons, Heller, Dahl,Yuan. Colorado Symphony Orchestra Opera Colorado Chorus. Conductor: Marin AlsopNaxos: 8.669022-24 ****

US president Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the People’s Republic of China may seem a strange choice for an opera. But John Adams’s music illuminates the historic importance of the visit and the personalities of the protagonists. The music is minimalist but memorably lyrical and melodic, with an almost hypnotic quality that makes it relatively easy to absorb. At the same time it conveys the scale and significance of the meeting, with the choral music being particularly powerful. First performed in 1987, this was Adams’s first opera and probably still his best, and this fine recording is well worth investigating. See naxos.com

Download tracks: Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends, Flesh Rebels, I Am the Wife of Mao Tse-tung, I Am Old and I Cannot Sleep