Tue., January 10, 2012 / 6:30 PM
(le) poisson rouge | 158 Bleecker Street
In collaboration with librettist Candace Chong, Huang Ruo’s opera Dr. Sun Yat-Sen recently received the world premiere of its Chinese orchestra version at the Hong Kong Culture Centre Theatre in four performances. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen is a grand opera in three acts about Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father of modern China, in the tumultuous time of the Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the last of the Chinese imperial dynasty. More than just a work on the revolutionary movement itself, the opera also deals with the personal journeys and sacrifices that Dr. Sun and his compatriots had to make in their efforts to reach their goals for nationhood.
Opera Magazine, UK wrote: ”In his first opera, Huang Ruo has sought to develop the synthesis of Chinese and Western elements already found in his previous works; his aim is not so much to mix them as to achieve an organic unity, and—to the extent that here he has composed for Western-style operatic voices singing Mandarin words—he succeeds. His vocal lines are apparently influenced not by traditional Chinese opera but by (local to Hong Kong) Cantonese narrative singing, with one syllable to one note, departing from standard Western vocalism. This colourful soundworld did not distract from the substance of the work.”
Along with several aria excerpts from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, this show also features two of Huang Ruo‘s most recent chamber works.