Their union is complicated by a scheme to marry Bao Yu to the wealthy Bao Chai of the Xue family.īorn in Shanghai shortly before China’s Cultural Revolution, Bright Sheng is one of today’s foremost living composers who, as the MacArthur Foundation proclaimed, “merges diverse musical customs in works that transcend conventional aesthetic boundaries.” Of his score for Dream of the Red Chamber, the Los Angeles Times observed, “He uses brass, winds and percussion (Western and Chinese) in original and highly imaginative ways. The plot of the opera centers around the predestined soulmates Bao Yu, scion of the illustrious Jia family, and the brilliant but frail Dai Yu.

The source novel for Dream of the Red Chamber is arguably comparable in Chinese culture to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the West it is widely known and continues to exert a powerful influence on romantic storytelling. The Sunday, June 19 matinee performance will be livestreamed and available on-demand for 48 hours, beginning the following Monday, to virtual ticket holders. Six years after its world premiere, the work returns to San Francisco Opera in the original production and with a new cast. The musical retelling of the 18th-century novel by Cao Xueqin, one of China’s literary masterworks, played to sold-out audiences during its initial run at San Francisco Opera in 2016 and has since garnered international acclaim through presentations at the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Festival and a tour of China.

San Francisco Opera presents Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber from June 14-July 3 at the War Memorial Opera House.

Bart to war memorial opera house