Opera on A Dream of Red Mansions

In March 2007, when David Gockley, the artistic director of San Francisco Opera, visited Beijing, he went to the National Center for the Performing Arts, which was still under construction. He was simply curious to see the site.

Earlier this month, Gockley visited the NCPA again, this time to attend the World Opera Forum. He watched the premiere of Sunrise, an original Chinese opera commissioned by the NCPA.

The venue's grand architecture impressed him, he says, but so did the performers - soloists, chorus and orchestra.