Operatic high for classic love poems

Of life's pleasures, To love alone does music defer;

Yet love too is a melody.

Pushkin's poem in his work Stone Guest is a perfect interpretation of the chamber opera Farewell Again, Cambridge, which is running at the Capital Theater till Friday.

Named after the famous Chinese poet Xu Zhimo's (1897-1931) trademark poem Farewell Again, Cambridge, the four-act chamber opera tells of the love triangle between Xu and his lover and soul-mate Lin Huiyin and Lin's husband, architect Liang Sicheng.

Composer Zhou Xueshi writes a melodic score for the love stories, which are romantic, sentimental and sometimes sad.

"Throughout the show, you enjoy Xu and Lin's beautiful poems set to soulful tunes It's a pleasant theater experience. It draws you into those times and into the inner world of those pioneering scholars of the 1920s to 30s," says veteran theater critic Tong Daoming.

"Accompanied by a small orchestra of 10 persons, with simple settings, Farewell Again, Cambridge explores a new version of opera, rarely seen in China," adds Tong.

"In the minds of many people, opera conjures up images of something old, Westernized and difficult to enjoy if you are not a fan. I didn't want to feed into this view. Here is a story familiar to many Chinese people and the leading roles are well-known historical figures. I have tried to create pleasant and melodic music that will remind the audience of the stories," says composer Zhou who created the piece in 2001.

A pioneer of modern Chinese poetry, Xu is known to have pursued love, freedom and beauty all his life. When he studied at King's College, Cambridge in England in the early 1920s, he fell in love with English romantic poetry like that of John Keats, William Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge and was also influenced by the French romantic poets.

After returning to China in 1922, he tried to free Chinese poetry from its traditional form and reshape it with elements of Western poetry and the vernacular Chinese language. He made a great contribution to modern Chinese literature.

Love played an extremely important role in Xu's life. Without love, Xu confessed, he could not have written so many beautiful poems.

An opera fan, the producer Jiang Li says he has been planning a Chinese opera for a long time.

"When we find language inadequate to express the emotions we want to convey, it is time to turn to music," says Jiang.

"I wanted to find a touching story. Xu, Lin and Liang were all leading scholars in the first half of the last century in China. Their personalities, works and stories have always fascinated me. And their poems feature impressive rhythms which are easy to adapt to songs," he says.

The show is directed by Chen Wei and features soprano You Hongfei as Lin, tenor Jin Zhengjian as Xu, baritone Zhang Haiqing as Liang.

(China Daily 06/04/2008 page18)