The Shanghai Opera House: Cultures merge on stage

The Shanghai Opera House, the first Chinese musical company dedicated to Western classical opera, is currently touring in northern Europe. As part of the biggest international tour in its history, the troupe is currently playing at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in eastern Finland.

Radio86 talked with three lead singers from the company after the dress rehearsal of The Wager, an opera featuring a modern musical score and a Chinese language libretto sung in Western opera style. The opera is the work of Swiss-based Chinese composer Wen Deqing.

The annual Savonlinna Opera Festival is staged in a venue to match the grandiosity of the performances. All the shows take place at St. Olof's castle, a 15th century military stronghold turned entertainment venue. The historical environment brings additional magnificence to the opera experience. The Finnish festival's main aim is to promote international opera productions to a broad European audience.

The Wager

The Shanghai Opera troupe is performing two operas in Savonlinna. The first one is the Italian classic Othello, a tragedy based on Shakespeare's short story, Othello, The Moor of Venice. It premiered to a sold-out audience at the festival and received critical acclaim in the local media.

St. Olaf's castle in Savonlinna, Finland. (Image: Radio86)The second opera, The Wager, is by European standards the festival's most exotic performance this year. Chinese lyrics and Western classical singing style combine seamlessly to create a unique fusion of classical opera and Chinese musical theatre.

In the story, a beggar makes a bet with a rich landowner, which involves him risking his life for the chance to share in the landowner's wealth. The basic moral of the story is that greed often makes people make unwise decisions and that riches don't necessarily bring happiness.

The plot is quite typically Chinese, with such themes as pride, greed and virtue. Its classification as a modern opera may limit its audience, as the genre is not easily graspable for most.

Tenor Chi Liming plays the beggar in The Wager. (Image: Radio86)Tenor Chi Liming, who plays the beggar in the opera says that the unconventional musical score is a challenge to the audience as well as the performers.

"I prefer to sing Italian opera, and some other Chinese operas. In this play, the music is very difficult. It has no key," Chi explains.

The Wager is particularly demanding opera because the lead singer has to also act and do taiji on stage.

"It is very hard for me because if I do taiji on stage, I also have to exercise a lot on a daily basis. The play also contains a lot of difficult notes -- many high notes -- but I can do it," Chi says.

The drafty conditions in the medieval castle are not a problem for the performer, who says that on stage, he invariably works up a sweat.

"This place is very special. I love this place! It makes me excited. In the opera, I play someone who is dying, but actually every time we perform I am very hot because of the taiji and singing. But to the audience I am someone who is very cold and dying," Chi says.

Chinese versus Western opera

Baritone Huang Ronghai is enjoying the tour to northern Europe. (Image: Radio86)The Wager's second male lead singer, baritone Huang Ronghai, was happy with the dress rehearsal and praises the size and acoustics of St. Olaf's castle. He also says that the audience at the Savonlinna Opera Festival has a deep appreciation for the art of opera.

"I am really enjoying being here. There is a big difference between the local and Chinese audiences. In China, the audience is less enthusiastic. Even after a good performance, they usually give a muted response. But here, the audience response is something really enjoyable for the singers on stage. In China, opera is still a relatively new art form, which is one reason for the subdued reception," Huang says.

The Shanghai Opera House, with its repertoire of classical Western operas, is quite an unconventional musical institution in China, where the emphasis remains on local traditional music genres, such as Peking opera and Kunqu opera.

"For the Chinese, traditional Chinese opera is easier to understand because of the language. For the singers, Italian and maybe French opera is okay, but most of them don't understand every word, so this is the biggest difference. But as for us, we like Italian and French opera because we do it more. We do not sing traditional Chinese operas, those are two entirely separate genres," Huang says.

The Shanghai Opera House has made many extensive international tours. This time, the journey will continue from Finland to the neighboring country on Sweden, where the troupe will perform Othello, Huang says.

The female lead singer at the Savonlinna staging of The Wager is mezzo-soprano Wang Weiqian. She says that the opera has a universal message, transcending language barriers.

"The Wager was performed for the first time at the Geneva Mozart Festival in 2003, because the composer lives in Switzerland. Even if you can't understand the words, you can still grasp its message through the music and our acting. I think it is a very typical Chinese story. Its meaning is very universal -- only the modern music score and language set it apart from Italian operas. I personally like the music very much," Wang says.

"In Othello the melody is very beautiful, so for me it is easier. In this opera, the music is quite hard. For our voice, you must change (the technique). For all the foreign operas, we have an art director from Italy or France to help us understand all the words. Earlier, we did not have this kind of training, so the situation is now better. The Chinese who don't understand the words do not necessarily like it so much."

In spite of its Chinese libretto, The Wager is not at the top of the list of favorite operas of Chinese operagoers. While many opera fans in China like to listen to Western style opera, The Wager is particularly challenging due to its atonality, Wang says.

Mezzo-soprano Wang Weiqian praises conductor Zhang Guoyong's skills. (Image: Radio86)The mezzo-soprano praises Shanghai Opera House's talented conductor Zhang Guoyong who she says masters the intricacies of both Chinese and Western style operas.

"With his left hand he can do Italian, French and German opera. With his right hand he does Chinese opera. I think it is wonderful," Wang says.

After the tour, the Shanghai Opera troupe will head home to an Olympic buzz. The Games present an unprecedented opportunity for China to build cultural exchange links with other countries.

"China has worked so hard to make the Games a success. I think that when the world sees that China has done all this work, the communication between the Chinese and foreign people will improve," Wang says.

The Shanghai Opera House performs at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland from July 27 to August 2. More information: www.operafestival.fi.