A Night at the Chinese Opera

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A Night at the Chinese Opera is an opera by Judith Weir. Aside from an earlier opera for children, this was Weir's first full-scale opera, written on commission from the BBC for performance by Kent Opera. The work received its premiere on 8 July 1987 at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, England. The original cast included:[1]

  • Gwion Thomas
  • Michael Chance
  • Meryl Drower
  • Frances Lynch
  • Alan Oke
  • Stuart Buchanan
  • Jonathan Best
  • Stephen Richardson
  • Tomos Ellis
  • Enid Hartle

Kent Opera subsequently took the opera on tour that autumn.[2] Santa Fe Opera gave the US premiere of the opera in July 1989.[3] [4] The second British performance was at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 26th February 1999 as a semi-staged concert. A third British production was by the Royal Academy of Music in March 2006.[5] [6] The first production in Scotland, at Scottish Opera, was in April 2008.[7].

Weir incorporated an early Chinese play of the Yuan dynasty, The Chao Family Orphan, as the centrepiece of Act II of her own opera.[8] [9]

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The setting is 13th-century China.

Chao Sun is an explorer and mapmaker who is exiled from the city of Loyan. His son Chao Lin becomes the supervisor of the building of a canal. His workers include a group of actors.

One evening, the actors/workers perform the old Chinese opera The Chao Family Orphan. The older drama tell of the evil General Tuan-Ku, who causes his servant Chao and his wife to commit suicide by forging a seemingly official letter from the Emperor instructing Chao to take his own life. Their young son is left behind as an orphan. Unwittingly, the General later adopts and raises the child as his own son. Twenty years later, there is a conspiracy to overthrow the emperor. The orphan gradually learns his true birth identity and the fate of his parents, and joins the plot for revenge. An earthquake, however, interrupts the conspiracy and the actors are arrested.

Chao Lin’s work on the canal is praised. At one point, when he is surveying the canal, Chao meets an old woman who tells him of what happened to his father. In parallel to the Chao Family Orphan story, Chao Lin plans vengeance on his father's enemies. However, Chao Lin is captured and executed for his conspiracy. The actors who were performing The Chao Family Orphan then return to complete the play, where the son does succeed in avenging his father against General Tuan-Ku.

[edit] Recording

[edit] References

  1. ^ Loveland, Kenneth, "Reports: Cheltenham" (September 1987). The Musical Times, 128 (1735): pp. 507-509.
  2. ^ John Rockwell, "A 'Chinese' Work, in England". New York Times, 15 October 1987.
  3. ^ Donal Henehan, "Old China's Simple Intricacies". New York Times, 5 August 1989.
  4. ^ Judith Weir, Contemporary Music Review, 11(1), 297-299 (1994) (the composer writes about several of her own works).
  5. ^ Andrew Clements, "A Night at the Chinese Opera (RAM, London)". The Guardian, 23 March 2006.
  6. ^ George Hall, "What a civil civil servant". The Observer, 26 March 2006.
  7. ^ Andrew Clements. "A Night at the Chinese Opera (Theatre Royal, Glasgow)", The Guardian, 14 April 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. 
  8. ^ Judith Weir, "A Note on a Chinese Opera". The Musical Times, 128(1733), 373-375 (1987).
  9. ^ David Wright , "Weir to Now?". The Musical Times, 134(1806), 432-437 (1993).
  10. ^ Rickards, Guy, "Record Reviews - Weir: A Night at the Chinese Opera (July 2001). Tempo (New Ser.), 217: pp. 62-63.

[edit] External links

[edit] Source

  • Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)