NCPA marks Verdi's bicentennial by staging the extravagant masquerade of Un Ballo in Maschera. Photo: Courtesy of NCPA

The year 2013 is like one long festival for opera lovers. It marks the 200th anniversaries of two great composers of the 19th century: Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi.

While the world is commemorating and celebrating both these musical geniuses, the summer holiday season in China leaves a bit more space for the romantic Italian Verdi.

After the fabulous evenings of August 22 and 23, when the Viva Verdi: Giuseppe Verdi Bicentennial Celebration Gala staged performances of 24 excerpts selected from 10 Verdi classics, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) delivered another round of Verdi nights, offering their production of Un Ballo in Maschera from Thursday to Sunday.

Along with the upcoming Verdi exhibition at the National Museum of China and the ongoing NCPA exhibition Verdi - Born for Opera, which introduces the composer's life and music with the support of the local government of Busseto, Verdi's hometown in Italy, various Verdi-related events in Beijing will continue to provide opera fans with a chance to learn about the influential composer and enjoy his masterpieces.

The choice composer of China

For many Chinese audiences, their knowledge about opera almost equals how much they know about Verdi since a large portion of the operas performed in China during the past few years, such as Macbeth, La Traviata and Aida, were all composed by him.

An operagoer surnamed Gao told the Global Times that Verdi's famous operas are more suitable for audiences here than Wagner's.

He finds that the length of Verdi's operas (generally about two hours long) is acceptable for audiences that don't have much opera-viewing experience. The dramatic conflicts and tension in each scene also make the whole show easy to watch.

"His style is very classical, inheriting all the traditions of Italian opera and containing a lot of beautiful singing portions," Gao said. "Just a joy to watch."

Included in the August gala were excerpts from Macbeth, Aida and other operas commonly performed in China.

All the pieces were performed by A-list names in opera including Italian bass singer Roberto Scandiuzzi and the "Three Chinese Tenors" Wei Song, Dai Yuqiang and Warren Mok, as well as famous female singers like Yang Guang, Yao Hong and soprano Sun Xiuwei.

This weekend, Un Ballo in Maschera, directed by Hugo de Ana, is another visual and aural feast with elegant stage design and deft use of multimedia elements to create luxurious backdrops of a crimson sky and an Italian palace.

Shanghai is also brimming with Verdi shows. Shanghai Grand Theatre has a long relationship with the works of Verdi. Its first opera performance in 1998 was Aida with a cast from Florence, Italy.

A series of upcoming performances at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in November will start off with Italian singer Giacomo Prestia performing Attila. Israeli conductor Daniel Oren will hold the baton for Attila this time.

Mind versus heart



From September 16 to October 6, the China National Symphony Orchestra will be commemorating the 200th anniversary of German composer Wagner's birth every night at the NCPA.

In the past few months there was also Wagner's opera Der Fliegende Holländer during the NCPA Opera Festival 2013 and the more than 16-hour-long performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen in Shanghai.

Thus, it is hard to avoid comparisons between Wagner and Verdi in the year when music by both composers is filling opera houses around the world.  

"Singing for Wagner's opera requires singing from the mind, while for Verdi, the music is from the heart," Zhang Qiulin, a contralto singer who is famous for performing Wagner's operas but plays Ulrica in the NCPA production of Un Ballo in Maschera, told the Global Times. 

Wagner is an intellectual scriptwriter and philosopher who transfers his thoughts into melody, creating tasks for both performers and audience, Zhang said. A beautiful voice is never enough for Wagner since vocals are only a part of his musical constructs.

Verdi's operas, on the other hand, provide singers with a bigger stage, and the orchestra and chorus play supporting roles.

More to learn

Giving Verdi a year in the spotlight allows the Chinese audience to experience some works outside of his most popular operas. For example, Attila, which will be performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, is not very familiar to Chinese audiences.

Music critic Wang Jiyan said in an interview with the Beijing Times that bringing a variety of shows and excerpts from different Verdi operas can lead to new understanding of his music.

He finds that since Verdi has so many interesting compositions, it is impossible for the audience to fully grasp his style through one show alone. Therefore a collection of his works in the form of a gala - complete with full stage design, props and costumes that are similar to those used in full-fledged opera productions - is a great way to present Verdi's life achievements.

The NCPA production of Un Ballo in Maschera is also slightly different from how it was produced last year because performers are separated into two teams: the national team includes Liao Changyong, Dai Yuqiang and Zhang Qiulin, whereas the international team consists of sopranos He Hui and Guo Sen, tenor Roberto Aronica and baritone Roberto Frontali.

The two versions provide Verdi fans the chance to make nuanced comparisons.

Overall, this autumn may prove the right time to change the single-faced impressions of Verdi for many Chinese audiences.