The second production in San Francisco Opera's fall lineup is a world premiere. "Dream of the Red Chamber," the collaboration between Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng and Tony Award-winning American dramatist David Henry Hwang, opened last week at the War Memorial Opera House after months of intense anticipation. The lush and breathtakingly beautiful results have spurred big interest at the box office as well. The run is expected to sell to capacity before it ends on Sept. 29.
The opulent co-production with Hong Kong Arts Festival, based on the canonic 18th-century Chinese novel by Cao Xueqin and directed by highly regarded man of the Asian theatre Stan Lai, will also be performed at that 45th annual festival in March 2017.
Much has been riding on the opera's success, and it is amazing the assembled dream team has been able to come up with anything like a finished product on time. Critical response has been respectful, if slightly mixed, but audiences are obviously pleased. "Dream of the Red Chamber" may be too big to fail. Some re-working of the current libretto should help create an equally extraordinary Hong Kong debut.
Distilling the vast work into an evening's entertainment has necessitated cutting hundreds of characters and story lines. The focus is on the simpler central love story, emphasizing mystical insights into the troubled world of earthly existence amidst the strife of dynastic intrigue. Hwang employs some clever framing devices, ghostly beggars and a narrator monk, which make certain sense of the complicated politics and symbolism, but only go so far.
Sheng's numinous music supports director Ian Robertson's spooky chorus, but Japanese-American Bay Area actor Randall Nakano (SFO debut) is left on his own in the speaking part of the Monk/Dreamer. His presence can sometimes be intrusive as he underlines points already made clear, but Nakano's dry voice and eloquent delivery supply some of the few moments of humor, and he is essential to the plot's denouement.
The composer fills the pageant with music that attempts a fusion of East and West to uneven effect. Lyrical duets and arias are haunting, but tailored to Western operatic tradition. When Sheng turns to Eastern influences, especially when he uses the qin, an ancient zither meant to symbolize the union of heaven and earth, the score blooms with exquisite subtlety. Action scenes (surprisingly few in the long first act) and the exciting rush to the end of Act II sound like accomplished film music.
No snobbism implied; the composer actually comes closest to a convincing synthesis in the instrumental writing. Conducted by George Manahan (no stranger to new operas) with awesome suavity, the glowing orchestration, with pulse-pounding percussion, is strikingly effective and manages to propel the sometimes repetitive episodes to a satisfying conclusion.
The long cast list, mainly comprised of notable Asian singers, with many making their SFO debuts, includes Chinese tenor Yijie Shi in the leading role of the impetuous and poetic Bao Yu, and South Korean soprano Pureum Jo as his star-crossed love Dai Yu. They are both well-cast, and easily meet the strong demands placed upon them. They are helped by some of the work's most characterful writing.
Japanese-American mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts, last summer's unforgettable "Carmen" at SFO, completes the love triangle as the tragic Bao Chai. Her physical beauty is matched by the clear purity of her voice and the impressive range of her acting skills.
South Korean mezzo-soprano Hyona Kim is a powerful presence as Lady Wang, itching to assume matriarchal supremacy, and Chinese contralto Qiulin Zhang is a touching Granny Jia, trying her best to make things right for the embattled clan.
Taiwanese soprano and Merola Opera Program alumna Karen Chia-ling Ho makes the most of her appearance as Princess Jia. Though pivotal to the family's fate, her character is still forced to tell her story in hurried exposition.
American mezzo-soprano and former SFO Adler Fellow Yanyu Guo is also fine in the similarly underwritten role of Aunt Xue.
In the already ponderous first act, a sensuous erotic dream ballet went over big with the audience, but could easily have been cut - or at least where the awakening Bao Yu sings, "I am aroused." We know he is torn between two lovers, and unfortunately it reminded me of a similarly corny sequence in "Flower Drum Song." It was David Henry Hwang who wrote the radically revised book for that show's Broadway revival, but I doubt if he kept the dance sequence in.
Another reminiscence of Broadway is conjured by the narrating Monk. Remember the Reciter in "Pacific Overtures?" In LA that very effective part was reenacted at the David Henry Hwang Theater in 1998. Just saying.
A playwright as original and daring as Hwang will likely do some judicious editing with Bright Sheng and director Stan Lai before the Hong Kong Festival, but one element of the production should definitely remain frozen. The jaw-dropping scenery and costumes by Academy Award-winning art director and designer Tim Yip ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") are impeccably lit by Gary Marder and a very good reason to see this production. Known for high-quality scenic design and execution, the SFO has lavished the new opera with exceptional style. Sheng's engrossing music fits the ravishing visuals to a point where we wish we could join the dreamers onstage.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" is sung in English, with English and Chinese supertitles. Performed in repertory through Sept. 29