Turandot ‘a Chinese story we need to grab hold of’, Hong Kong production’s director says
Director Jia Ding explains why his Opera Hong Kong production of rare Western work ‘that talks about China’ has to be historically accurate
To mark the centenary of composer Giacomo Puccini’s death, Opera Hong Kong is making one of his most beloved operas, Turandot, genuinely Chinese.
The Italian opera known for the soaring aria Nessun dorma, is set in China even though its story, of a cold-hearted princess who asks all male suitors to answer three riddles or die, may be of ancient Persian origin.
The semblance of Chinese-ness in the opera is largely down to Puccini’s borrowing of several Chinese folk songs, most notably Mo Li Hua, or “Jasmine Flower”.
Other “Chinese” elements include the offensively named Ping, Pang and Pong, Turandot’s Fu Manchu-style mandarins, and typically, a lavish set that is a hotchpotch of kitsch motifs of the exotic East.
