Given this thread's humorous mixture of 20th century politics and music, I can't resist the temptation to point to the following "exchange" between Messiaen and Nixon, although not really relevant:


http://www.fredosphere.com/2008/12/nixon-and-messiaen.html

Wow. Amazing what bilge one finds on the internet. But considering that the US premiere of La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ (mentioned in the link) was in Washington DC, it's not outrageous to imagine Nixon having been in the audience, though hardly likely.

Doubtful he would have found much to engage with, and admittedly the oratorio is a bit of an endurance test. Prince Philip had things quite well worked out at the premiere of Britten's Gloriana: he read some trashy novel (a Penny Dreadful perhaps?) during the performance, the book concealed behind the programme booklet.