Ruth Leon recommends… Dream of the Red Chamber – San Francisco Opera
Ruth Leon recommendsDream of the Red Chamber – San Francisco Opera
Click here to watch : Livestream is on June 19 at 2 pm PT and then available on demand until June 22
Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber, the musical retelling of the 18th-century novel by Cao Xueqin, one of China’s literary masterworks, played to sold-out audiences during its world premiere run at San Francisco Opera in 2016. It now returns to San Francisco Opera with a new cast in the original production by director Stan Lai, with sets and costumes by Academy Award-winning production designer Tim Yip and lighting design by Gary Marder.
The opera, sung in English, was rapturously received at its premiere. Playwright David Henry Hwang worked closely with Sheng on the work’s libretto, creating a three-hour opera from a vast literary epic.
The opera centers on the couple Bao Yu and Dai Yu, performed by South Korean tenor Konu Kim and Chinese soprano Meigui Zhang, debuting Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu is Bao Chai, the heiress who is to marry Bao Yu, creating a love triangle that threatens the illustrious Jia family. Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang joins the Company for the first time to conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
Princess Turandot has to sing in Italian, Prinz Sou-Chon has to sing in German, but that Bao Yu and Dai Yu have to sing in (translated) English, when the original text is (already) in Chinese, and when both composer and librettist are of Chinese origin and at least one of them is a native Chinese speaker, is a failure in collective vision.
Exquisite scenery and costumes.