The NCPA Opera Festival 2023 will continue for 109 days from April 27th to August 13th. Seven excellent Chinese and foreign productions and 28 wonderful performances will take the stage with both new and classical masterpieces.
NCPA opera commission
The Song of Youth
Themed “Aria for Youth”, NCPA Opera Festival 2023 will unfold with heartwarming, profound masterworks to sing up for the magnificence of the new era. The Festival will kick off with the NCPA’s opera commission The Song of Youth, which is the 100th production of the NCPA. It is a modern, free-style and open red classic produced by outstanding Chinese creatives, including the director WANG Xiaoying, the librettist ZHAO Daming and the composer ZHANG Qianyi, artistically exploring the relationship between youth, the nation and society.
Still of opera
The White-haired Girl
Still of NCPA opera
The Daughter of the Party
The first Chinese national opera The White-haired Girl, and the NCPA opera The Daughter of the Party, will be presented again on the stage. Meanwhile, the opera masterpiece For the Honour of My Country, will make its debut in Beijing after its premiere at the Qinghai Grand Theatre. The opera uncovers the secrets of Plant 221, China’s first nuclear R&D base, which used to be a forbidden area, telling the story of the heroes who dedicated their youth and passion to those eventful years.
Still of opera
For the Honour of My Country
This year marks the 210th anniversary of the birth of the Italian opera master Verdi. Two of his masterpieces, Rigoletto and La Traviata, will be staged at the festival to pay tribute to the master. After a lapse of 29 years, the China National Opera House revived Rigoletto, which it produced in order to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding. The special design of the ancient Roman arena on the stage, just like the humane colosseum featuring Rigoletto, Duke Mantua, Gilda, etc., is sinking while struggling in the whirlpool of love, kinship, machination and vanity.
Still of opera
Rigoletto
Still of NCPA Opera
Traviata
In 2010, the well-known German director Henning Brockhaus was invited to direct the NPCA production of La Traviata. This time, the opera will open for a ninth round, with the poignant love story staged in Verdi’s sincere melody by ZHANG Liping, SHI Yijie and LIAO Changyong as lead singers under YU Long’s baton.
Still of opera
Tosca
The Italian composer Puccini, 45 years younger than Verdi, took over the mantle of Verdi, arguably becoming the spokesman for the Italian operatic tradition at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2022, the NCPA explored a new model of opera rehearsals, and joined hands with the Shanghai Opera House and Shaanxi Opera House, to produce a new version of Tosca, making this world classic ablaze with Chinese characteristics. The opera had its grand premiere online at the Live Week for celebrating the 15th anniversary of the founding of the NCPA.
From June 13th to 18th, XU Zhong, a renowned conductor and President of the Shanghai Opera House, will lead the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra to present the classic to the audience. Chinese and foreign artists, including Monica Zanetti, SUN Xiuwei, HAN Peng, WANG Chong, Ambrogio Maestri, and ZHANG Yang, will appear together to sing up for the art and for love.