Mayes "perfect" in "Nixon in China" with Staatsoper Stuttgart

“Michael Mayes, Baritone (Nixon) and Matthias Klink (Mao Tse-tung) were the perfect political couple and received well-deserved applause.” - Oper Magazin (Translated from German)

"Nixon is the great, powerful baritone Michael Mayes..." -Stuttgarter Zeitung (Translated from German)

"While Katherine Manley as Pat Nixon always focuses on the outward appearances and sings to the last as a proud opera diva, Michael Mayes soon breaks as Nixon altogether, finally hiding under a bank. The jovial demeanor, the booming voice, the California carefree attitude of this man all show the cliché of an American. This Nixon is a man driven by his fear of failure, who would most like to be a protected child." -Sueddeutsche Zeitung (translated from German)

“In terms of singers, this opera is a stroke of luck, because each of the six main roles is congenial. Shigeo Ishino managed to make the advisory role of Henry Kissinger restrained and yet obvious; Pat Nixon was lyrically And sensitively created by Katherine Manley; and Michael Mayes managed the feat to introduce his Richard Nixon as a statesman, but at the same time as a man able to decode the words and the music. Rarely is a soloist sextet so perfect.” -Bachtrack (Translated from German)

“An excellent ensemble. One hears Michael Mayes as a happy, resonant Nixon - who then climbs over the rows of seats in the hall; it’s unbelievable what singers today can do.” -Frankfurter Rundschau (Translated from German)