Dubai Opera House, completed in 2016 and officially put into operation in 2017, is a famous cultural resort in Dubai and the first truly world-class cultural facility in Dubai. Like a dhow standing in the wind, this opera house has a transparent panoramic hall, which can accommodate 2,000 spectators, and the world’s top operas, ballets, plays and classical music are staged here every day.
Exterior of Dubai Opera House
From September 5th to 12th, a group of 235 people from Shanghai Opera House will sail to Dubai, the Pearl of the Desert, and take the opera Turandot and the dance drama Early Spring February to the Dubai Opera House. This is the opening ceremony of Dubai Opera House’s 2019-2020 performance season, and it is also the first time that Shanghai Opera House made its debut in the Middle East.
Soprano and Wisdom Help the First Show in the Middle East
Puccini’s Turandot is based on Arabian Folk Tales One Thousand and One Days. As an oriental legend imagined by westerners, this opera is extremely oriental in terms of lyrics and dance beauty, and a China folk song Jasmine has been spread all over the world. The Shanghai Opera House version of Turandot premiered in 2018. With the participation of Robertot Amdo, a director from Puccini’s hometown, and more than 200 artists, the play set a record of selling out tickets within 19 days of invoicing.
Interior of Dubai Opera House
The dance drama "Early Spring in February" is based on the novel "February" by China writer Rou Shi. The choreographer Wang Yuanyuan and his cooperative team manipulated it, and described the young intellectuals represented by Xiao Jianqiu in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces of China in the 1920s in the form of modern dance, which showed the character and temperament of China literati everywhere.
The joining of the Italian soprano and Hui is one of the biggest highlights of the Shanghai Opera House’s trip to Dubai, which is also the first time that she has cooperated with domestic opera houses and starred in the Chinese princess Turandot.
"Turandot is a role that I have been deliberately avoiding in my 20-year opera career. I don’t want this to fascinate the world ‘ Chinese princess ’ It became my art label prematurely, and it was not until this year that I tried this role for the first time. "
Before going to Dubai, Hehui specially flew from Europe to Shanghai to complete the rehearsal of music and drama with Shanghai Opera House. Because both sides were well prepared, during the whole rehearsal process, the cooperation between Hehui and conductor Xu Zhong was very tacit, and the cooperation with tenor Han Peng was also very smooth. The strength of the chorus and symphony orchestra of Shanghai Opera House also reassured her.
Xu Zhong and He Hui rehearse.
Han Peng, who is about to play against He Hui, is a tenor who has soared in recent years in China. As early as 10 years ago, he won the first prize in the international opera competition of "Turandot" in Verona, and cooperated with Verona Opera House to perform Calaf in Turandot, the prince Tatar who finally conquered Turandot by strategy and wisdom. In the past 10 years, Han Peng has become more mature and sophisticated in singing this role.
In another group of Turandot, soprano Tiziana caruso and tenor Yu Haolei will play the roles of princess and prince respectively. Xu Xiaoying, the soprano, will perform three performances in one breath. As fans who are familiar with Turandot know, this role is very important. Both her two arias and her stage performance, which pushed the drama conflict to a high point, put forward extremely high requirements for the actors’ skill and physical strength.
Preheating for Dubai World Expo 2020
For the trip to Dubai, the Shanghai Opera House invited the opera director Xin Rui Shen Liang to be the director of Turandot, combing and polishing the whole play and optimizing the details as early as April.
In August, Xu Zhong, the director and conductor of Shanghai Opera House, personally went into battle, together with Richard barker, the special vocal director, and pablo Asante, the chorus conductor, led the whole crew to elaborate, and almost polished it again according to the process of a new opera.
Rehearsal of Shanghai Opera House
In April, "Early Spring and February" also invited Wang Yuanyuan to come to Shanghai to restore and revise the repertoire, and conducted intensive training for the brand-new starring lineup, so as to make every movement and even eyes of the actors stand up to taste and scrutiny.
In addition to the actors, the stage scenery, costumes and props of the two plays have also been carefully checked, checked and moderately adjusted. On July 16th, eight containers full of costumes and props departed from Shanghai and were shipped to Dubai. From August 30th, a group of 235 people from Shanghai Opera House will arrive in Dubai in batches.
"Dubai Opera House not only has the world’s most advanced stage equipment, but also has an international management team and operation concept. In the past three years, many top artists and art teams have appeared here. Shanghai Opera House was invited to unveil the new performance season. On the one hand, it reflected Dubai’s trust in our artistic quality, attention and expectation for this cooperation, and on the other hand, it also reflected the brand influence of Shanghai Opera House. " Xu Zhong said.
Fan Jianping, secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Opera House, said that since 2016, Shanghai Opera House has successfully cooperated with London Grand Theatre, London City Hall Conservatory of Music and Drama, Estonian Concert Planning Company, Monaco Monte Carlo Opera House and American Columbia Art Management Company. In this year’s Dubai project, "we tried to share the cost, risk and box office with world-class opera houses for the first time, which opened the precedent of equal cooperation between China’s stage art works and international mainstream theaters."
During the performance, Shanghai Opera House will hold a photo exhibition of "Shanghai Charm" in Dubai Opera House, and the World Expo 2020 will be held in Dubai. The trip of Shanghai Opera House to Dubai will undoubtedly pave the way for the large-scale arrival of China culture. (The Paper reporter Liao Yang)
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