Word: opera
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...principal guest conductor at New York's Metropolitan Opera House for the past decade, maestro Valery Gergiev of the Kirov Opera, part of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, has developed a group of admirers worldwide for the epic Russian operas he has resurrected. Gergiev was scheduled to take the stage at the Met this past Christmas, but then Beijing called. The Chinese wanted him to conduct the opening opera in their country's highest palace of performance, the $40 million National Center for the Performing Arts, which is often referred to by its former name, the National Grand Theater...
...principal guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera House for the past decade, Maestro Valery Gergiev of the Kirov Opera has developed a global group of admirers for the epic Russian operas he has resurrected. Indeed, Gergiev was scheduled to take the stage at the Met this Christmas, but then Beijing called. They wanted him to open the first performance season of China's highest palace of performance, the $40 million National Grand Theater, better known in Beijing by its shape, as the "egg." The building, designed by the French architect Paul Andreu, is a gleaming dome with a subtle ying...
...artist could decline the invitation. Gergiev and hundreds of singers and musicians (and two horses) were flown in from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. And on Christmas night, they presented Alexander Borodin's classic opera Prince Igor on a world-class stage - alas, to an audience that paid little attention...
...perfect sound system. "I could hear every word from the stage as well as from my fellow audience members ten seats away from me," says Liu. "Chattering, eating, children crying, camera flashes going off here and there... It was the worst audience I have ever seen!" The four-hour opera had already been shortened to slightly over three hours for the Chinese. But a collective sigh of relief from the audience was audible when intermission came. By the end of the play, only 60% of the full house remained...
...time, apart from those set aside for government officials. "I think only 10% of the audience are true music lovers," said a man surnamed Song, who hovered around the theatre in freezing temperatures hoping to find a cheap ticket from the scalpers. "People think going to western operas and classical music concerts is a sign of a certain social status, and the National Grand Theatre is also a novelty to them. I doubt many of them really understand opera...