Monday 30 November 2009, 5:30pm
Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU

Moderator: Professor Daniel Chua,
Head of School of Humanities, HKU

The programme will be in English

FREE ADMISSION
Seats are limited – first come, first served.

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The genesis and the making of the opera Poet Li Bai had been an artistic journey that took its creators from New York to China, and finally culminated in the world premiere in 2007 at the Central City Opera House in the United States. The title role was created for the acclaimed bass Tian Hao Jiang from the Metropolitan Opera.

Well known to many as one of the authors of the poems in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Li Bai (701–762) was a beloved poet of the Tang Dynasty in ancient China whose sparkling poetry and flamboyant lifestyle earned him the title of Poet Immortal.

Guo Wenjing is a composer steeped in Chinese culture and trained in the best of the Western musical disciplines. He is keen to bring out the mundane traits in Li Bai, the man. His music recreates the desolate landscape of Li Bai’s exile, the child/genius and man/poet in Li Bai, the earthy devotion to Wine, the stark attraction of the Moon, and the relentless echoes of the chorus. Together they help us meet Li Bai, the exiled poet, caught between his past and future. The opera Poet Li Bai offers us a taste of his poetry and a glimpse into the inner world of a man who lived 1300 years ago, but still helps to illuminate the peaks and valleys of life in the 21st century.

This forum provides an intellection and scholarly discussion not only on this particular opera, but also for investigating the intercultural possibilities of the genre by exploring how opera stages the relationship between China and the West. It will consist of eminent and highly-acclaimed artists, all of whom have been involved in Poet Li Bai: the composer Guo Wenjing, librettist Diana Liao, basso Tian Haojiang, and critic Professor Leo Lee. The forum will be moderated by Professor Daniel Chua, Head of School of Humanities at HKU.