By Michelle Qiao (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-26 10:54

Anniversaries are occasions to enjoy memorable music. After plenty of Mozart concerts in 2005 and Debussy concerts last year for the composers' anniversaries, here comes the 400th birthday of opera.

Next Monday, the Shanghai Opera House will stage a splendid concert featuring Chinese opera stars from around the world.

The origins of opera as we know it today date back to 1607 with Monteverdi's opera "Orfeo" generally considered to be the first operatic theatrical.

Twenty top opera singers have been invited to Shanghai and each of them will sing an aria, including Bizet's "Votre Toast, Je Peux Vous le Rendre" from "Carmen" and Puccini's "Un Bel Di, Vedremo" from "Madam Butterfly," according to conductor Zhang Guoyong, director of the Shanghai Opera House.

"Many singers have given up their concert plans overseas to join the Shanghai concert, such as Dilber, who had only a few days' availability between two operas in Finland," says Zhang.

Coloratura Dilber from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been active on European stages for more than 20 years and now sings with the National Opera House of Finland and the Malmo Opera House of Sweden.

Best singers and arias

Zhang says the Chinese singers include soprano Sun Xiuwei from the Italian Opera House; this year's Cardiff Competition main prize winner bass-baritone Shen Yang; Tchaikovsky Competition golden prize winner Yuan Chenye; Pavarotti's first student in Asia, Dai Yuqiang; and tenor Zhang Jianyi, who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the national opera houses of Paris, Berlin and Madrid over the past 20 years.

"It will be a wonderful concert, a showcase of the best Chinese opera singers and the best opera arias in history," says music critic Li Yanhua. "Each aria is representative, which is the essence from big operas. In addition, the repertoire has covered opera genres of all kinds, ranging from spinto and bel canto to coloratura."

The repertoire includes Mozart's "Der Hold Pache" from "Die Zauberflote," Rossini's "La Calunnia" from "Barbiere di Siviglia," Verdi's "Pace Pace" from "La Forza di Destino" and Puccini's "Vissi d'Arte, Vissi d'Amore" from "Tosca."

Director Zhang says the repertoire reflects audience's taste.

"We've picked the most familiar and popular opera arias for the concert," he says. "We've also designed special stage setting and a program arranged to give the audience a different feeling."

The concert will conclude with Puccini's "Nesson Dorma" from "Turandot" and Verdi's "Libiamo" from "La Traviata," performed by all the 20 opera stars and the Shanghai Opera House Chorus.

Date: November 26, 7:15pm
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater, 300 People's Ave
Tickets: 100-380 yuan
Tel: 021-6372-8701