Songs of solace

"This is the most significant production I've ever undertaken. It's my responsibility to ensure it not only goes well, but goes extraordinarily well, to show people the significance of this event in history," says Australian director Elijah Moshinsky about the opera.

Born in Shanghai in 1946 and moved to Melbourne with his parents in 1952, Moshinsky, who graduated from St Anthony's College, Oxford with a doctorate degree in history and philosophy, has enjoyed prolific career spanning over 40 years as a director of both opera and theater.

The director says he has read Rabe's diaries at least five times, which document the Japanese atrocities committed during the assault and occupation of Nanjing. He also visited the former residence of Rabe in Nanjing and Ginling Women's College, which both served as a shelter for refugees at that time, to learn more about the history.

"At first, I found the diaries boring. Then I read them again. I realized that Rabe was a man who knew the right thing to do. He was from a totally different culture but what motivated him to stay was only a desire to help the Chinese people," the director says. The creative team behind the opera also sees the director's longtime friend and lighting designer Nigel Levings, who won a Tony Award in 2003.