Weir: A Night At The Chinese Opera

Weir: A Night At The Chinese Opera

Weir: A Night At The Chinese Opera
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Music CD Cover

Performer: Karl Daymond
Composer: Judith Weir
Conductor: Andrew Parrott
Performer: Michael Chance
Performer: Frances McCafferty
Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Performer: Timothy Robinson
Performer: Adrian Thompson
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2001-01-23
Music Label: Nmc Records
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Act One
  2. Act Two
  3. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 2: Sextet
  4. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 2: Mrs. Chin's Peroration
  5. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 3: Kite, in moto perpetuo
  6. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 4: Aria, with rising floodwaters
  7. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 5: Chansonette
  8. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 5: Seven-part Motet
  9. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act I, Scene 6: Finale
  10. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, The Chao Family Orphan: The Wedge (or Prelude)
  11. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, The Chao Family Orphan: First Act of The Orphan
  12. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, The Chao Family Orphan: Second Act of The Orphan
  13. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, The Chao Family Orphan: Third Act of The Orphan
  14. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, The Chao Family Orphan: Fourth Act of The Orphan
  15. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act II, Coda: Earthquake
Music CD 2
  1. Act Three
  2. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 1: Prisoners' Chorus
  3. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 2: Misterioso
  4. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 3: The Ascent
  5. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 4: Scena
  6. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 5: Nocturne
  7. A Night At The Chinese Opera, opera: Act III, Scene 6: Finale

Free Music Notes for Weir: A Night At The Chinese Opera

Free Music Review: a late twentieth century operatic jewel
Hit: 5 Stars

This opera had a brilliantly successful initial run of performances in the UK in 1987, and came to Santa Fe shortly after, where its detached irony, musical economy and theatrical sleight of hand did not seem to go down so well. This CD from a single live concert performance in 2000 will hopefully win more admirers for this singular work. A complex scenario based on the 14th century Chinese play 'The Chao Family Orphan'(the first Chinese play to reach the West, and was later adapted by Voltaire). It tells the story of Chao-Lin who grows up under the Mongolian regime of Khubilai Khan, and finds out that his protector is the slaughterer of his family - what is fascinating is that Judith Weir (fashioning her own libretto) makes the centrepiece of the opera a performance of the original play (banned under the Mongolian regime)- complete with affectionate parodies of westernized Chinese music and a stand up comedy aspect (hence the Marx Brothers allusion in the title) which enlightens the lead character to the mystery of his upbringing.

The music has been described as minimalist or post-modern, but its great strength is its clarity and simplicity, that enables the multi-layered events to register clearly. The vocal writing is very assured and individual, with some very catchy folk-like melodic lines, and the word-setting is exemplary - almost every word is audible. The orchestral writing for small orchestra is very striking, lots of memorable primary colours, fabulous woodwind riffs and a very original use of tonality - occasional shades of Messiaen, Britten, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sondheim and Ligeti flit through, but the brew is incredibly original and distinctive. The outer acts contain the musical meat, the 2nd being mainly a play with instrumental accompaniment, with fun parodies of Chinese Opera. Much of the opera is light-hearted and witty, but the subjects it raises, progress versus ecology, the nature of tyranny, the power of theatre under absolutist regimes are essential to any age, and the mixture is at once entertaining and disturbing. Certainly its theatrical assurance runs rings around most other perhaps more prominently lauded recent contemporary operas, and it occupies a middle ground between the inaccessible post avant-garde music theatre cocktail favoured perhaps in Europe, and the podgier sort of secondhand neo-romantic brew that seems to be in vogue in the US at the moment.

The performance is fine, the mixture of singers and singer-actors cope well with the whirlwind demands, and the characterization is acute. Orchestrally all goes well too, the odd slip notwithstanding. Recording is very clear with some evidence of audience noise (yes, peals of laughter in a contemporary opera - imagine that!!).

Check this out, it deserves to be heard.

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