John Adams’ first opera, Nixon in China, is a thoroughly modern, musically and visually irresistible masterpiece. Based on the historic 1972 visit to China by Richard and Pat Nixon and Henry Kissinger, the opera’s brilliant deployment of Adams’ nervously energetic score and Alice Goodman’s thoroughly vernacular, sometimes raunchy language paints hilariously appalling portraits of world leaders, modern diplomacy, and cultural norms on both sides of the Pacific. In addition to the beautiful voice of Brian Mulligan, the run is filled with exciting performers in their first SFO appearances.