Shanghai takes classic opera into new space
In a new production of the opera Magic Flute, prince Tamino is a young Westerner in Shanghai on a quest to rescue princess Pamina.
In the show, he and his friend Papageno then check out women’s selfies on a dating app, take a ride on the subway train, and strike kung fu poses when engaged in a fight.
The opera, jointly produced by Staatsoper Hamburg and Shanghai Grand Theatre, had two shows over Aug 25-26 in a giant tent in front of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, to mark the opening of SGT’s new season of performances.
“This opening is special for us,” says Zhang Xiaoding, the general manager of SGT.
And by presenting the opera in an outdoor space, SGT hopes to “enable the public to have an artistic and aesthetic experience which challenges preconceived ideas”.
The stage was a crossshaped platform in the middle of the tent, which divided the audience seating area into four sections. And the chorus Young Class X consisting of students from the primary and secondary schools in Hamburg rose from the audience to join the show.
Large screens on two sides of the stage flashed the background scenes, among which were landmarks in Shanghai, such as the Bund, Tianzifang and M50.
Yu Yang, a bass singer from the Shanghai Opera House, was the narrator. And it was his narration in Chinese, with occasional jokes in English or the Shanghai dialect, that connected the singing of Sascha Emanuel Kramer as Tamino, Narea Son as Pamina and Renate Spingler as Queen of the Night.
The Magic Flute, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791, is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world, says Zhang. And 200 years later, the play about young people’s pursuit of love and the meaning of life still finds resonance in the contemporary world.
This version of the opera aims to introduce the art form to new audiences in Shanghai, says Zhang.
“This is the first time we have taken the show outdoors,” she says. “We hope to keep up the efforts to present performances in different and alternative spaces. Maybe an opera, concert, or an educational project. We hope to take art into different contexts and dimensions, and hope to keep the attention of the public.”
The Staatsoper Hamburg production was created as a modern version of the opera, with video projection featuring Hamburg landscapes such as the Elbphilharmonie.
“When SGT spoke to the Staatsoper Hamburg about bringing the work to Shanghai, we suggested doing the production outdoors and using the SGT building as part of the background. The idea won the support of our colleagues from Hamburg,” she says.
Nathan Brock conducted the Shanghai Opera House orchestra for the production. And during the preparation and the rehearsals, Brock says he often saw people stopping to listen.
“For an artist, there is nothing more touching than having people just passing by attracted by the music,” he says.
It rained most of the day in Shanghai on Aug 25, but cleared up in the evening.
The show took place in cool breeze over two consecutive nights.
Beside the audience each night, and hundreds of thousands watching the live stream on TV, the performances attracted lots of passers-by, who watched the show from People’s Avenue.