Nights at the Chinese Opera

The NCPA opening show will be Puccini's Tosca, produced by the NCPA, and will be followed by another Puccini masterpiece, La Boheme. Since its formal opening in December 2007, the ambitious NCPA has come up with quite a few spectacular productions such as Turandot and the Peking Opera version of Red Cliff, even as most theaters in the West are cutting budgets or going for smaller new productions because of the world financial crisis.

Both NCPA productions, Tosca and La Boheme, have many noteworthy aspects such as an all-Chinese and a mixed Chinese-international cast, besides Olympic-standard set, lighting and costume designers.

In Tosca, rising Russian diva Natalia Ushakova plays the title role with Italian tenor Marcello Giordani playing her lover Cavaradossi; in the all-Chinese version, Chinese soprano Zhang Liping is paired with tenor Dai Yuqiang.

The title role of Puccini's opera Tosca, a pious yet fiery diva, is greatly suited to sopranos. In 1964, Maria Callas anchored the role at London's Royal Opera House. At 40, Callas hadn't sung on stage for over two years and it was assumed she would be tired. But she took 27 curtain calls that first night in an ovation that lasted 40 minutes. The following year, Callas returned to Tosca at Covent Garden, which was her last stage performance. Other celebrated singers who have followed in Callas' footsteps as Tosca include Sena Jurinac, Montserrat Caballe, Grace Bumbry, Gwyneth Jones and Maria Ewing.

The role demands a melodramatic soprano who excels in both singing and acting. Ushakova fits the bill perfectly. Her theatrical presence and flawless singing have captivated audiences around the world.

The young Russian began to learn singing in St. Petersburg and later earned her Master's at the University of Munich. In 1998, she won a scholarship to study at la Scala in Milan and made her debut at Scala the next year. Ever since, she has been climbing steadily in the opera world.

Chinese soprano Zhang Liping is the first Chinese soprano to be signed by the Royal Opera and the first Chinese soprano to play the lead role in the Metropolitan Opera. Zhang admits her debut in Tosca is a great challenge.

"Many opera houses invited me to play Tosca, but I denied them all because I didn't think I could do this role. It demands a very powerful and intense voice and the very first note she sings sets the tragic tone of the whole opera as well as captures the audience," says Zhang. "I finally signed up for the role at the Royal Opera in 2011. So when I was invited by the NCPA early this year, I felt honored and excited about making my Tosca debut on home soil," says Zhang.

For the NCPA production, both Italian tenor Marcello Giordani and Chinese Dai Yuqiang deserve praise.

Giordani's name should be familiar to Beijing audiences, as he was one of the "three new tenors" who performed during the Olympic Games last August. After the death of Pavarotti, Carreras announced there would be no more "Three Tenors". Innumerable would-be successors appeared until Marcello Giordani, Salvatore Licitra and Ramon Vargas finally stood out.

Chinese tenor Dai shared the stage with the "Three Tenors" when they sang at the Forbidden City in 2001 and later learned with Pavarotti. In 1989, when the Song and Dance Ensemble of PLA produced the opera, Dai, who was then an amateur singer and worked in a small construction company, passed the audition for the role of Cavaradossi.

In 2004, Dai debuted in the role at the Royal Opera House. "When I tried the boots, I found the name of Placido Domingo on it. At that moment, I felt so confident and proud," Dai told China Daily.

The popular Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo and soprano Adriana Damato will play the leading roles of Rodolfo and Mimi in La Boheme. The Chinese cast also features soprano Yao Hong as Mimi and Warren Mok as the poet Rodolfo. The other must-see productions of the Opera Festival include Verdi's Rigoletto produced by Teatro Regio di Parma and Puccini's Madam Butterfly by Teatro La Fenice.

Besides the evening performances, the NCPA will also organize other activities during the day such as open rehearsals of the productions, lectures by the singers, directors and conductors, exhibitions, free operatic concerts by students, and an opera saloon.