The complex story of a dowager empress – hailed as both moderniser and tyrant – Nara is a brand new chamber opera exploring power and ambiguity. Composed by renowned Norwegian-Finnish composer Tze Yeung Ho, the opera dives deep into a fascinating moment of Chinese history, as centuries of Imperial rule was coming to an end. Drawing inspiration from his own heritage in Hong Kong, Tze Yeung creates an operatic world that blends Chinese and Western classical elements, featuring musicians from Hong Kong alongside a cast of Nordic singers, including acclaimed soprano Hege Høisæter and the multifaceted drag performer and composer Josh Spear.
Empress Dowager Cixi's life is steeped in contradictions. Often depicted as a cruel tyrant, she also moved China moderately towards reform. The opera circles around a moment at the very end of the 19th Century and her life, when Cixi attempted to ban the centuries old practice of foot binding – a brutal, crippling custom that altered the shape of women's feet to symbolise status and beauty. Today, historians are divided on both Cixi’s reputation and her motivations for reform, and the opera explores this space of contradiction in the legends of the Qing dynasty’s last influential ruler.
Alongside musicians from the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and traditional music performers The Gong Strikes One, Tze Yeung is joined by Norwegian writer Linda Gabrielsen, stage director Ellen Seligman, choreographer Emmi Pennanen, scenographer Magnus Pind and costume designer Sofia Pantouvaki in creating an immersive operatic experience that transcends cultural and historical boundaries.
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Tze Yeung Ho – composer
Linda Gabrielsen – librettist
Ellen Seligman – stage director
Magnus Pind – scenographer
Emmi Pennanen – choreographer
Sofia Pantouvaki – costume designer
Gunvald Ottesen – conductor
Maren Sofie Nyland Johansen – accordion
Hong Kong New Music Ensemble -
Euna Kim - violin
William Lane - viola
Pun Chak-yin - cello
Juan Manuel García-Cano - oboe
Charles Ng - saxophone
Alfred Lee - French horn
Lee King Chi - Guzheng
Chan Chi Kong - Xiao
Roles:
Hege Høisæter – Cixi (mezzo)
Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen – On-Stage Narrator
Joshua Spear – Katharine Carl
Sean Bell – An Dehai (countertenor)
Sandrine Schau – Bao (soprano)
Magnus Dorholt Kjeldal – father (baritone)
The Vicentino Singers (Linnéa Sundfær Casserly, Iris Oja, David Hackston, Henry Tiisma) – various chorus and spoken roles
Picture: The Empress Dowager painted by Katharine Carl
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Supported by:
Cultural Exchange Grant (Hong Kong Arts Development Council)
Arts and Culture Norway
Nordic Culture Point
Nordic Culture Fund
The Audio and Visual Fund
The Writers Guild & The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute: Part of New Perspectives for Action – a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union
Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.