China Daily Global Edition (USA)
MONK AND THE ROSE
Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts will present the French opera Thais as its first production of the year. Chen Nan reports.
... watching the opera is also like experiencing a journey (both) about the salvation of the soul and earthly lust.” Hugo de Ana, Argentine director of Thais
The National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing will stage Thais as its first opera of the year.
The three-act opera to be performed over Feb 2-6 was composed by Jules Massenet, with the libretto by fellow Frenchman Louis Gallet.
The opera was inspired by an old French novel by Anatole France, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1921.
Premiered in 1894 in Paris, the opera’s story follows that of the book — the journey of a monk named Athanael who lives in 4th-century Alexandria, Egypt, and tries to convert a courtesan called Thais to Christianity, only to find himself succumbing to her charm.
“For a long time, Thais was one of the most popular operas. But from the middle of the 20th century, it slowly sank into oblivion,” says NCPA opera consultant Giuseppe Cuccia.
But in recent years, the work has seen a revival with many major opera houses including it in their repertoire once again.
“It is hard to imagine an opera that is more in line with the times, with its hunger for luxury, striving for beauty and longing for eternal youth on the one hand, and its religious asceticism and fanaticism on the other hand,” Cuccia says.
The creative force behind the NCPA’s version of Thais is Argentine director Hugo de Ana, who is also the set and costume designer.
Known for his spectacular sets and a regular guest at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, De Ana has previously directed NCPA’s other productions such as Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Macbeth and Antonin Dvorak’s opera Rusalka.
He uses symbolic elements such as the statue of the Roman goddess Venus with a broken face, a crown hanging in the air and a sloping section of stage made up of broken pieces of wood.
“The opera follows the monk’s journey. So we use multimedia to show the moving scenery,” says the director. “For the audience, watching the opera is also like experiencing a journey (both) about the salvation of the soul and earthly lust.”
De Ana says the music of the opera is “extraordinarily beautiful, whether depicting religious austerity or the inner struggles of the characters”. Among the scores, Meditation for solo violin and orchestra is the most famous piece, which is also often performed by individual musicians at concerts.
Placido Domingo, a veteran artist from Spain, will play the lead role of Athanael.
He has performed in NCPA productions since 2010, including Verdi’s operas Nabucco and Macbeth. In 2012, Operalia, an annual international voice competition, which was founded by Domingo in 1993 as a platform to help launch the careers of many of today’s opera stars, held its 20th edition at the NCPA in Beijing. Among its winners were Chinese soprano Sun Xiuwei and mezzo-soprano Yang Guang.
“Over 70 years old, Domingo is still pursuing new challenges and we are excited to have him in Thais,” says Zhu He, head of program production at the NCPA.
Besides Domingo, the main cast members include Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho and soprano Davinia Rodriguez who was born in Las Palmas, Spain. Chinese singers Li Yi, Zhang Wenwei and Dong Fang will also perform in the opera. French conductor Patrick Fournillier will take the baton, collaborating with the NCPA’s in-house orchestra and chorus.
Since it was established a decade ago, the NCPA has produced 58 operas, including original works.
Thais is the fourth French opera production by the NCPA after Carmen by Georges Bizet, The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach
and Samson and Delila by Camille Saint-Saens.
This year, the NCPA will produce another French opera — Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet.