TUNING INTO CHINESE OPERA

On Oct 8, the original Chinese opera, Summer Rainbow, also named A Village Teacher, made its debut on Chicago's WFMT Radio Network, as part of the platform's Opera Series.

It was the first time that the production has been heard on a radio station in the United States. According to the National Centre for the Performing Arts, which produced the opera, as well as the WFMT Radio Network, the opera will be shared on 65 US radio platforms, and will be heard in 333 cities, including New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

A Village Teacher was premiered by the NCPA in 2009, two years after the venue was launched in Beijing.

Gathering creative team members, including veteran scriptwriter Liu Heng, composer Hao Weiya and director Chen Xinyi, the opera tells the story of Yang Caihong, a teacher who dedicated her life to helping and motivating young students living in a remote, mountainous village. The opera appeals to audiences with its touching story, and melodic songs, featuring distinctive Chinese folk music elements.

Last year, the opera, renamed Summer Rainbow, was restaged by the NCPA with a new version. Gathering the same creative team members, the opera stars soprano Zhou Xiaoling as Yang, the lead role, and was performed by the China NCPA Orchestra under the baton of conductor Zhang Yi.

As well as A Village Teacher, seven operas produced by the NCPA will also be shared on 65 American radio platforms, including French composer Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Rusalka and Hungarian composer Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow.

"The WFMT Radio Network is delighted to be sharing eight operas from the NCPA to stations around the country in our well-established Opera Series," says George Preston, vice-president of WFMT Radio Network. "The NCPA has become a significant presenter of full-scale operas in a relatively short time — just 15 years — and has become known in the opera world for its high musical standards and production values. It has combined some of the best-known international interpreters of opera with China's most talented artists to create something truly fresh and vibrant. It's thrilling to think of Chinese audiences embracing many of these works for the first time."

Preston mentions that Chinese composer Hao "studied in Europe and uses traditional compositional techniques, but he adapts those techniques for the Chinese language, creating a sound that is at once both familiar and entirely new".

"I hope that the NCPA's practice of commissioning Chinese composers to write operas continues and expands the general operatic repertoire," says Preston, adding that the opera performances from the NCPA are on par with those of any other major international opera company that WFMT Radio Network features in its series.

"I think listeners in our Network will be impressed that the musical values of this 15-year-old enterprise rival those of companies who have been in the opera business for, in some cases, hundreds of years! We are so proud to be partnering with the NCPA to share its work with a wider American audience," Preston adds.

The Chinese opera has won over many listeners overseas by being broadcast on various international platforms.

A listener from New Jersey, named "Michele from NJ suburbia" comments online: "So refreshing to hear new material, from such an unusual source. Enjoying this very much and hope this will be a new range of offerings — more variety, less traditional classical. I had assumed this would be more of a Chinese composition rather than a Western one but very happy to listen to something not from the usual opera circuit."

"I am enjoying the opera by Hao Weiya immensely," says another listener, named Norma Marguiles, who listened to the opera via WETA, a leading public broadcasting station in Washington. "It's a beautiful and relaxing piece of music. Thank you very much for introducing it to us. I am big fan of opera and Mandarin language. This is a special treat."

With a history of more than 20 years, the WFMT Radio Network's Opera Series is designed to offer productions from a variety of opera companies around the world. This year, 25 opera productions are shared in the Opera Series, from 12 world-renowned cultural organizations, such as Opera de Paris, the Royal Opera House and Wiener Staatsoper. The NCPA is the only cultural organization in Asia that's joining the Opera Series on the platform this year.

"It was a significant moment when Summer Rainbow was heard on WFMT Radio Network. The NCPA has been producing both imported and domestic operas. We hope to share these operas from China with listeners around the world," says Wei Lanfen, head of the NCPA's production department.

Wei also notes that the collaboration between the NCPA and WFMT Radio Network started in January with a 13-episode program series, titled This Week from China's National Centre for the Performing Arts. With each episode lasting for about two hours, the series brought music works by both Chinese and Western musicians, as well as having Chinese musicians sharing their stories, such as pianist Lang Lang, violinist Lyu Siqing and soprano Song Yuanming.