Poetic journey reaches out of this world
Poet Li Bai is the psychological journey of someone who wants to live by his dreams but knows he often has been distracted by the exigencies of everyday life.
It offers an imaginary re-enactment of a poet's final hours, as he ponders how his exalted achievements have ended in solitude and exile with his two muses, who take on bodily form - Moon, which symbolizes his hopes and dreams; and Wine, a metaphor for earthly desires and concerns.
In the climactic scene, Li Bai Goes to Heaven, the poet, disillusioned by his jailing and exile, finally gives in to Moon's entreaties to abandon Earth's banalities and travel with her to heaven. And following Moon's reflection in the water, he jumps overboard.
The entire opera takes place on an unadorned, pitched platform meant to be the deck of a boat, with a textured backdrop that suggests rippling water. A floating disc evokes the moon, and two transparent curtains, seen at the beginning and end, conjure mist. Designed by Yi Liming, the minimalist scenery and accompanying costumes, elegant reinterpretations of 8th century robes, are daringly simple, aptly suiting the unembellished nature of this opera.
Guo's stirring and expressive score achieves a meaningful and natural fusion of Western orchestration and Eastern tonality and skillfully evokes Li Bai's mental and physical states. He combines the soulful sound of the Chinese bamboo flute with a traditional Western pit orchestra, using it in all kinds of unexpected ways, with clipped, abrupt endings to phrases and sudden slides up and down in pitch. Chinese leading flutist Tang Junqiao plays on the corner of the stage, dressed as a semi-character.
China Daily
(China Daily 10/09/2007 page20)
