NCPA celebrates its sweet 16

Around 100 performances will be staged in a month at Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts to mark the institution's 16th anniversary, which falls on Dec 22.

Celebrations kicked off with The Wild Rhododendron, the latest Chinese opera produced by the NCPA, which premiered on Nov 22 and ran until Sunday.

Set against the backdrop of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), it tells the story of a boy hero, Pan Dongzi. Pan's father joins the Red Army to go to war and leaves his son a red star, the symbol of the Communist Party of China. Pan's mother is martyred while protecting her comrades and, after her death, through his own wit and bravery, the young boy helps Red Army guerrillas to defeat the enemy, and finally achieves his dream of becoming a Red Army soldier.

Adapted from Li Xintian's novel, Sparkling Red Star, the opera was composed by Zhang Qianyi. In 1974, the novel was made into a movie by the August First Film Studio, and was very popular with Chinese audiences.

Fu Gengchen, the movie's composer, has been invited to join the opera as music director. Sopranos Lei Jia and Wang Zhe and tenors Wang Hongwei and Wang Kai are among the leading cast members. Conducted by Zhang Guoyong, the China NCPA Orchestra, the China NCPA Chorus and NCPA resident singers perform as part of the opera.

"The NCPA has produced over 100 operas in collaboration with artists from home and abroad. The productions have successfully created a large Chinese fan base," Gong Jicheng, vice-president of the NCPA, said in Beijing on Nov 21 during the unveiling of the monthlong program.

"The story of Sparkling Red Star is popular with Chinese audiences. When we decided to turn it into an opera, we wanted to give the well-known story a new interpretation to appeal to younger audiences," says Gong.

"The first opera production by the NCPA that I performed in was The Ballad of Canal in 2012. Since then, I have performed in more of the venue's opera productions, including this new one, The Wild Rhododendron," says soprano Wang Zhe. "Last year, I became a mother, which began a new chapter of my life. In The Wild Rhododendron, I play the role of Pan Dongzi's mother. I feel very connected to the character."

The NCPA was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. It has been a focus in China for the world's performing arts since it opened in December 2007, and has attracted top international artists and symphony orchestras.

Gong says that over the past 16 years, some 300,000 artists from over 800 performing arts troupes from around the world have performed at the NCPA.And the average number of spectators drawn to the iconic capital venue to enjoy performances during the time has been about 1 million a year.

So far, 103 theatrical productions have been produced by the NCPA, including Chinese operas, musicals, and dramas, Gong adds.

Tenor Wang Kai is a resident singer at the NCPA and will perform in The Wild Rhododendron. He says that after graduating from the China Conservatory of Music in 2008, when the NCPA had just opened, he applied as a singer.

"I have been performing in operas by the NCPA since 2010. It has allowed many young singers like me to grow and gain experience onstage," says Wang Kai, who developed a large fan base after appearing on the hit variety show Super Vocal, produced by Hunan Satellite TV in 2018.

On Dec 8 and 9, the China NCPA Orchestra — the NCPA's resident symphony orchestra — and violist Mei Diyang, the first Chinese musician to join the Berliner Philharmoniker as its principal viola player, will perform Anton Bruckner's Symphony No 6 in A Major and Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D 821 under the baton of Lyu Jia. Pianist Yuja Wang will give a recital on Dec 17.

From Nov 22 to Dec 22, 17 dance performances will be staged, including The Little Mermaid, choreographed by John Neumeier and performed by the National Ballet of China, and Send in a Cloud, choreographed by Cheng Tsunglung and performed by the Cloud Gate dance theater, founded by internationally renowned choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973.

An NCPA drama based on Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre, which first premiered in June 2009 under the direction of Wang Xiaoying, will be staged for the 18th time between Dec 15 and 23. Zhu Jie and Pu Cunxin will take up the leading roles. Other dramas to be staged include A Doll's House, which is based on Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece and which premiered in 2014 directed by Ren Ming (1960-2022), and Memories of Matsuko, which is adapted from a book by Japanese novelist Muneki Yamada and is directed by Zhao Miao.

On Dec 22, the NCPA will open to the public for free, a tradition since 2009. A variety of shows, from classical music and dance to Chinese folk and traditional Chinese operas, will be offered free of charge. Gong says that the NCPA holds about 1,000 public activities every year and to date some 5.2 million people have participated.

Between Dec 19 and 23, a wide variety of programs, including concerts, operas, musicals and dances, will also be streamed online for free.