Only a portion of what Hwang had described as “a giant picture window into a long-lost world: imperial China at its final moments of wealth and glory, just before the fall” remains. In the opera, the novel’s encyclopedic history of the Jia family is reduced to the tragic love affair between Bao Yu (Korean tenor Konu Kim, with spectacular high notes) and his cousin Dai Yu (Chinese soprano Meigui Zhang in an affecting performance). Sheng and Hwang insisted on, and got a guarantee of, an all-Asian and Asian American cast. They made drastic changes as needed, including the wholesale reduction of singing characters to seven and adding a non-singing monk (actor Francis Jue in the revival) and ensemble participants, such as maids and eunuchs. Konu Kim as Bao Yu and Meigui Zhang as Dai Yu in Dream of the Red Chamber | Credit: Cory Weaver/San Francisco OperaĬomposer-librettist Sheng and co-librettist Hwang admitted struggling with the novel’s humongous size: twice the length of War and Peace and incorporating hundreds of named characters.
It is characterized as “the fullest immersion one could hope for into late imperial China, the best access to the minds, hearts, and habits of that period, complete in everything from cosmology to cosmetics.” The novel is a classic, wildly popular to this day. And yet, perhaps out of the critical mainstream, I am not looking forward to a fourth viewing but rather to the opportunity to go back to the Red Chamber history and substance. Usually, what you know about an opera and experience of the work itself align closely, but for this writer, on third hearing, that was not the case, even after years of fascination with the piece.Įverything about Cao Xueqin’s enormous 18th-century novel that’s the basis of the opera is overwhelming everything about San Francisco Opera ’s production and the performances by the singers and the orchestra was outstanding. History, gumption, production, and performances carry the revival of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber, which arrived in the War Memorial Opera House Tuesday night, for a run through July 3. The counterweight assist winches can be quickly decoupled from the arbor, allowing the battens to be moved manually as required.Įvery rigged element in the Opera House is now automated.Karen Chia-ling Ho as Princess Jia in Dream of the Red Chamber | Credit: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera In Phase Four, TAIT Stage Technologies installed 63 counterweight assist winches and a permanent rack for point hoists and the installation of an additional 10 point hoists for a total of 24 on the rack.
#War memorial opera house full
Phase Three saw the installation of 17 winches to move the Cyclorama and sweep battens onto the automated system, plus a full cleanup of the grid that allowed more comprehensive coverage of the stage by the existing point hoists. TAIT Stage Technologies installed seven BT290 winches to control the curtain as well as 14 demountable point hoists, drives and control, and point hoists. Phase Two focused on the house curtain and existing lighting bridges.
This was a feasibility study to consider and plan the full automation of the House. Phase one consisted of a structural engineering review of existing system and building infrastructure. The control infrastructure was designed at the outset to allow for the easy integration of subsequent phases of work. No performances were affected by the work being carried out during installation and system commissioning.
#War memorial opera house install
TAIT answered this challenge by sequencing the whole install over four phases and several years, fitting it in between the Opera and Ballet’s seasons.
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