An international affair

Since its launch in 2007, the National Centre for the Performing Arts, an iconic art institution in Beijing, has produced 100 original and classic operas.

Its upcoming production will be an operatic rarity in China — Lakme, by French composer Leo Delibes, will premiere at the NCPA on Sept 12 and will be staged from Sept 14 to 16.

As a coproduction of the NCPA, the Royal Opera House Muscat, Fondazione Arena di Verona and the Los Angeles Opera, it will be the first Delibes opera that the NCPA has produced.

With a libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, Lakme made its debut in Paris in 1883.This latest coproduction was premiered by the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman on March 28,2019.

The opera, set during the period of British rule in India during the 19th century, tell a tragic tale of love between an Indian girl named Lakme and a British soldier, named Gerald. Gerald and Lakme fall for one another, but the girl's father, a priest who is thirsty for revenge against the occupying British, doesn't approve of their relationship. After the father stabs Gerald, Lakme tries to get water from a sacred spring that will heal her lover. Meanwhile, one of Gerald's friends pays a visit to remind him of his military duty, starting the couple down a path that leads to tragedy.

"This is the 101st opera that the NCPA has produced, and gathers a global cast from countries such as France, Italy, and Austria," says Zhang Yao, vice-president of the NCPA. "Compared to other French operas that the NCPA has produced, such as operas by Georges Bizet, Jacques Offenbach and Charles Francois Gounod, Delibes' Lakme doesn't share the same recognition and popularity in China. However, arias from the opera, such as the Flower Duet and Bell Song, are not only popular in concert halls, but also have proved to be hits in commercials and films."

Zhang adds that the production also celebrates the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Oman.

"The premiere of this version of Lakme enjoyed incredible public and critical acclaim. Theater builds bridges between different cultures and traditions, and offers opportunities for interaction and dialogue among people. … Our common goal is to be open to the world, believing that music is a universal language that allows different countries with different cultures to understand and enrich each other," says Umberto Fanni, director general and artistic director of the Royal Opera House Muscat.

In a video address, he adds that the next collaborative opera production between the NCPA and the Omani institution will be Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, directed by Hugo de Ana, which will premiere in October 2024.

David Livermore will be director of the opera, as well as choreographer.

"It's a very important moment for me, because this production was created to be able to have many coproducers. It's a practically global cooperation. Lakme is an extraordinary work in the French opera repertoire. I am sure that the audience will be enthralled with the beautiful music. It speaks of an impossible love, but it speaks also of the beauty of the encounter between such distant and different cultures as those of India and Britain, and how love can be greater than cultural differences," says the director, adding that the stage set will have moving LED walls that will try to represent both exotic scenes of Indian culture, and the emotion of the music. Giant screens will show beautiful flowers, which symbolize pure love.

International cast members will join in the performances of the opera along with the China NCPA Chorus and China NCPA Orchestra, under the baton of French conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud. Sopranos Hasmik Torosyan and Beate Ritter will play the role of Lakme, and tenors Marco Ciaponi and Zhang Long will play the role of Gerald.

"The Flower Duet can also be heard in TV shows, video games and films. But to me, the opera is more than just that one song. The young woman falls in love, which makes her life colorful. She has no idea what's going to happen and her love is pure. She feels happy, even in her most tragic moment," says soprano Torosyan, who was born in Yerevan, Armenia. It will be her debut performance at the NCPA.