China's internationally acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou will work with Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun on an opera to be staged at the New York Metropolitan Opera House on December 21.

 

The opera, The First Emperor, is a historical pageant that depicts the life of China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang who unified the country in 221 B.C. but whose tyrannical rule subsequently lost him the land and people that he fought for.

 

This is the first time that the 150-year-old opera house will be collaborating with a Chinese director.

 

Zhang and Tan have worked together twice previously. 

 

Zhang, known for his movies Hero and House of Flying Daggers, made his operatic debut directing Puccini's Turandot at the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1998.

 

"This cooperation represents not only Sino-American cultural exchange, but also an opportunity to demonstrate Chinese artistic talent on the best western stage," Zhang said.

 

Internationally reknowned tenor, Placido Domingo, will sing the title role of China's great leader., rumored to be his swan song. The role of Princess Yue-yang, the emperor's daughter, will be performed by Elizabeth Futral and Sarah Coburn.

 

The emperor's close friend and composer, Gao Jian-li, will be played by Paul Groves. History has it that Gao was forced by the emperor to compose a piece of music for the unveiling of the Great Wall, one of Qin Shi Huang's greatest and most infamous achievements.

 

"My directing and Tan's music will be developed in tandem. I intend to use dichotomy to demonstrate his (the emperor's) historic achievements and faults while probing into the loneliness of a king caught in his own mind," Zhang said.

 

Zhang is reported to have assembled a strong creative Chinese team for the opera including his old partners Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue, who cooperated with Zhang on his first ever foray into musicals, Impression Liu Sanjie.

 

In true Zhang Yimou style, the opera will include diverse methods of expression, like the addition of a real Peking Opera performance, or strategically placed Chinese case and musical instruments on stage.

 

Zhang hopes that the opera will suit both refined and popular tastes and draw more young westerners to the opera house for a basic introduction to Chinese history.

 

But it is no easy task producing a Chinese opera for a Western audience. Zhang says he himself knows little about music composition or English, "chewing on" an English libretto translated into Chinese over and again is his daily work.

 

But Zhang remains optimistic. "My understanding of Western opera is like how foreigners look at Beijing (Peking) opera. They like it but they don't understand it. We need creative stage elements, and not just good music, if we are attract a younger audience."

 

Zhang dismissed worries that Western actors would not be able to perform a Chinese story. "Opera has the charm of music that transcends everything."

 

The opera is scheduled for five or six performances at the Met before it tours the US.

 

Tickets for the Met performances have already sold out. 

 

The opera is expected to dazzle Chinese audiences in 2008, at none other than the Great Wall.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2006)