Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Bright Sheng
Dream of the Red Chamber (2016)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Commissioned by San Francisco Opera
- 2(2pic).2(ca).2(bcl).2(cbn)/4331/timp.3perc/hp/Qin/str
- Female Chorus, Dancers, extras
- 2S, 3Mz, A, T, male actor
- 2 hr 30 min
- David Henry Hwang and Bright Sheng
- English
- 23rd November 2024, Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
- 24th November 2024, Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
Programme Note
Cast
BAO YU/DIVINE STONE: Lyric Tenor
DAI YU/CRIMSON PEARL FLOWER: Lyric Coloratura Soprano
BAO CHAI: Light Mezzo-soprano
MME. WANG: Full Lyric Mezzo-soprano
GRANNY JIA : Alto
PRINCESS JIA: Full Lyric Soprano
AUNT XUE: Mezzo-soprano
THE MONK: Male Actor
MAIDS, PRINCESS JIA’S ENTOURAGE: Female Chorus, Dancers, Extras
IMPERIAL SOLDIERS, EUNUCHS: Male Chorus, Dancers, Extras
Synopsis
The Dream of the Red Chamber, a masterpiece of Chinese fiction, is a detailed, episodic record of the lives of the members of the Jia Clan, whose good fortune is assured when one of its daughters becomes an imperial concubine, and then declines after her death. The story centers on a love triangle consisting of the main character, Bao Yu, his beautiful cousin Dai Yu, and his future wife, another beautiful cousin named Bao Chai. Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang have adapted Cao Xue Qin’s epic 18th-century Qing Dynasty novel with a focus on eight central characters to tell the tale of the illustrious Jia Clan and traces the Jias' fall from the height of their prestige. Often considered a semi-autobiographical novel, Sheng and Hwang frame the tale with a Prologue and Epilogue led by The Monk, who may be the author himself.
