French production to open Shanghai Opera House's new season
The French semi-stage opera "Roméo et Juliette" will open the new performance season at the Shanghai Opera House on Monday.
The Shanghai Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Xu Zhong, will perform Charles Gounod's five-act opera. The event will feature principal musicians from the Orchestra de Paris as guest performers.
Shot by Ma Yue. Edited by Ma Yue. Subtitles by Ma Yue.
"It is a beautiful opera about a story of impossible love," French tenor Thomas Bettinger told Shanghai Daily.
Bettinger said that the semi-stage kind of opera that Shanghai fans would experience is rarely performed, even globally.
"During opera performances, the orchestra normally hides in the pit to prevent distracting the audience from what is on stage," he explained. "So this is going to be really special."
A still from "Roméo et Juliette"
According to the opera house, semi-stage settings can save costs and the use of multimedia can compensate for stage effects. With the orchestra on stage, the audience can intuitively sense the beauty of music in this work.
The concert commemorates the 60th anniversary of Chinese-French diplomatic relations.
The opera house will offer a number of new works in the upcoming season, including Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" and an original Chinese opera called "A Dream of Splendor."
Shanghai Opera House will present Wagner's "Tristan Und Isolde" next July.
Performance info:
Dates: December 30, 7:30pm
Tickets: 180-980 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater 上海大剧院
Address: 300 People's Ave 人民大道300号
