London gets Peking Opera with a twist

A production fusing traditional Chinese opera with Western classical music took place in London on Oct 17, with a performance inspired by the life of Cai Lun, the man credited with the invention of paper, at the Jerwood Hall.

The performance, called Ein Heldenleben: Cai Lun, which translates as A Hero's Life: Cai Lun, was conceived, written and directed by acclaimed Chinese theatrical figure Chen Xinyi, best known for having devised the performance style known as "symphony poetry drama".

The soundtrack, performed by the Fidelio Orchestra conducted by Raffaello Morales, was composed by Richard Strauss in the 19th century, in a style called a tone poem, a single continuous movement made up of sequences similar to chapters or verses, rather than stand-alone movements, as in a symphony.

Although Cai Lun's greatest contribution to civilization was his invention of paper, it was his life as an imperial court eunuch during the time of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), and the court intrigues in which he found himself involved, that caught Chen's imagination.

"He's a giant of China, whose invention changed civilization and advanced cultural progress. But he also experienced misfortune that evoked my sympathy — he is a super dramatic character," she adds.

With biographical details hard to come by, Chen says that the piece is "inspired by his life, not a portrait of it — it's theater, not a history story".

Combining a story with music written hundreds of years ago and thousands of kilometers apart may seem unlikely, but Chen says that as soon as she heard Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) and understood what it was about, the pairing came together.

The performance is divided into six segments that illustrate the hero's journey through life and the triumphs and adversities he encountered along the way, which Chen says matched Cai's story.

"In 2019, I was rehearsing an opera at the National Theatre of China and at the end of the day, I was exhausted," she says.

"The orchestra manager came and said, 'there's a performance tonight of something called The Hero's Life, you have to hear it'. I said no but he ended up pushing me there in a wheelchair.

"When I got to the venue, I felt like sleeping but as soon as the music started, I began to get visions of Cai Lun, and then I read the program and saw the titles of the different sequences following the hero's journey, and I could see how they fitted together."

Combining Chinese theater and Western music is a practice Chen has been exploring for the last 20 years, with eight of her symphony poetry dramas having been performed previously, but this was her first time performing in the United Kingdom — something she had long wanted to do.

"This country is the home of William Shakespeare, who I admire greatly, and there is the connection between him and the great playwright Tang Xianzu, who emerged in China at the same time," she explains. "Then, about 200 years ago, Europe saw the rise of symphonic music at the same time as China saw the rise of Peking Opera, which is a special art form that uses characters to express emotions in the same way that symphonic music does, so these are two great performance styles that I love to bring together, and London is a city where I particularly wanted to do it."