Stan Lai and "The Dream of the Red Chamber" Symposia at UCB . Cindy Cox, Shelia Melvin
Cindy Cox, a composer at UCB who is interested in post tonal language and new technologies spoke. She is composing a piece about a Mayan myth. She commented on the "hybridity" of the opera, and asserted that this production is a Western opera, which it is. She sees Bright Sheng having a vivid musical language, with colorful instrumentation. He has a Eurocentric approach and is engaged in text and material; he has to demonstrate metaphysics or "purity" of music, but in the last act the music is fast and dissonant, indicating that love and fate are meant to be corrupted. All that is true from observation this evening...one might expect something more exotic like Puccini's Turnadot, but this is something different...
Shelia Melvin gave a great history of opera in China, just what we needed. In 1852 there were 2 performances per day for five months and then the troupe would move to NYC. In the 1870's , in California, 80 percent of the opera was Guandong or Cantonese. It was noisy and loud and a gathering place for the Chinese. There was lots of cigarette smoke and betelnuts and sugar cane being sold, from 7:00 pm - 4:00 AM> Ordinances were created in SF with 11:00 curfews.
Whereas in Shanghai Western Opera which was Italian, French and Russian appears after 1874.
In 1876, a Weber opera sung in German appears and the first firecrackers are used on stage, which probably accounts for why the opera house burned. German residents played the chorus. There were no baritones, so the parts fell to women.
In 1880, Gilbert and Sullivan entered the scene. Sailors from a British ship in port participated.
In 1885, the Mikado was produced.
In 1896 The Magistrate of Shanghai attended a production of Gilbert and Sullivan in "Gondeliers".
In 1898 The directors of the symphony, of the conservancy went to operas.
In 1870 Chinese people started singing in opera. Refugees including Russians. A Russian composer, Alex Tretanum had planned to do "Dream of the Red Chamber", and no less than Lu Xun was going to do the libretto, but he died the next year (1936) Tretanum succeeded in incorporating pentonic scale into the Western melodic. .
Shelia Melvin gave a great history of opera in China, just what we needed. In 1852 there were 2 performances per day for five months and then the troupe would move to NYC. In the 1870's , in California, 80 percent of the opera was Guandong or Cantonese. It was noisy and loud and a gathering place for the Chinese. There was lots of cigarette smoke and betelnuts and sugar cane being sold, from 7:00 pm - 4:00 AM> Ordinances were created in SF with 11:00 curfews.
Whereas in Shanghai Western Opera which was Italian, French and Russian appears after 1874.
In 1876, a Weber opera sung in German appears and the first firecrackers are used on stage, which probably accounts for why the opera house burned. German residents played the chorus. There were no baritones, so the parts fell to women.
In 1880, Gilbert and Sullivan entered the scene. Sailors from a British ship in port participated.
In 1885, the Mikado was produced.
In 1896 The Magistrate of Shanghai attended a production of Gilbert and Sullivan in "Gondeliers".
In 1898 The directors of the symphony, of the conservancy went to operas.
In 1870 Chinese people started singing in opera. Refugees including Russians. A Russian composer, Alex Tretanum had planned to do "Dream of the Red Chamber", and no less than Lu Xun was going to do the libretto, but he died the next year (1936) Tretanum succeeded in incorporating pentonic scale into the Western melodic. .
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