The National Theater Taichung (NTT) opened its “The Fall for Great Souls” series last night with the first of three performances of Barcelona-based La Fura dels Baus’ terrific, sci-fi centric production of Richard Wagner’s Siegfried, backed by the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO, 國家交響樂團) under conductor Lu Shao-chia (呂紹嘉).
Siegfried is the first of 10 programs that include Austrian-based Taiwanese choreographer Lin Mei-hong’s (林美虹) The Little Mermaid for the Landestheater Linz Ballet, where she is artistic director, on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, Etat de siege by the Theatre de la Ville, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s (雲門舞集) 45th anniversary show and Hsu Yafen Taiwanese Opera Troupe’s (許亞芬歌子戲劇坊) production of The Soul Switch and Justice Bao (謎魂奇案).
Siegfried, the third of the four operas that constitute Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung is a brave choice to start the series, given that the three-act production lasts for five hours, with two intermissions.
Photo courtesy of Tato Baeza
The 39-year-old La Fura dels Baus and Carlus Padrissa, one of the troupe’s six directors, are renowned for their futuristic 3D stage designs and blurring the boundaries between actors and audience, and this production of Siegfried is no exception.
Padrissa’s multimedia vision of the opera, which premiered in 2008 in the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain, with Zubin Mehta conducting, features video projections in three dimensions, an 11m dragon, acrobats, glass floors that reflect the duality of the character.
The sets were designed by Roland Olbeter, the costumes by Chu Uroz and the lighting by Peter Van Praet.
Photo courtesy of Tato Baeza
Padrissa sees Siegfried, a man who does not know who he is or who is parents were, as a man in a permanent state of combustion in his pursuit of the idea of justice for all.
A super-condensed summary of the opera goes like this: a dwarf, Mime, raises a boy, Siegfried, as his own, hoping that he will be able to one day slay the dragon Fafner, which stole a huge treasure from Mime’s brother, Alberich, including a ring that gives is wearer power over the entire planet.
After Siegfried grows up, with the help of a mysterious wanderer (actually the god Wotan), he is finally able to reforge his father’s sword, which he uses to kill the dragon. He also eventually kills Mime, claims the ring of power and rescues a beautiful woman, Brunnhilde, who is meant to be his wife.
Photo courtesy of Tato Baeza
It is a story of treachery, the pursuit of justice and the desire for love: lots of drama, lots of high notes.
The cast includes Vincent Wolfsteiner as Siegfried, Rodell Rosel as Mime, Jukka Rasilainen as The Wanderer and Susan Bullock as Brunnhilde.
The opera will be sung in German, with English and Chinese surtitles.
If the high prices of the tickets are not enough to scare away Wagner or La Fura dels Baus fans, the idea of a marathon performance that starts before most people have had their dinners (5pm) might be, so the NTT is offering a meal service during the intermissions, with advance reservations via its Web site or the NTCH ticketing system.
What: Siegfried
When: Tomorrow at 5pm and Sunday at 3pm
Where: National Taichung Theater (台中國家歌劇院) 101, Huilai Rd Sec 2, Taichung City (台中市惠來路二段101號)
Admission: Admission: NT$1,200 to NT$8,000; available at NTT box offices, online at www.artsticket.com.tw and convenience store kiosks
A post titled “I want to get COVID-19 to pay off my debts” caused a stir on popular Internet forum Dcard last month, as the anonymous user asked for the blood or saliva of the infected so she could claim her pandemic insurance payout of NT$75,000. She had paid just NT$809 for the policy. Although the user later clarified that the post was made in jest to criticize the government’s handling of the ongoing insurance crisis, it’s entirely plausible that some would get infected on purpose to receive their payout — especially given that over 99 percent of the reported Omicron
In one of the most remote parts of Chiayi County, a hamlet shares the exact same name as a well-known center of tea production in New Taipei City. Pinglin (坪林) in Dapu Township (大埔) is around 550m above sea level. The road to it is good enough for any car or motorcycle, and so few people live there that it’s an ideal place for the virus-afraid to go sightseeing. I rode in from Yujing District (玉井) in Tainan, taking Provincial Highway 3 through Nansi (楠西) and above Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫). At the entrance to Chiayi Farm (嘉義農場), I halted briefly, curious if
May 23 to May 29 After holding out for seven years, more than 250 Yunlin-based resistance fighters were finally persuaded to surrender in six separate ceremonies on May 25, 1902. The Japanese had subdued most of the Han Taiwanese within six months of their arrival in 1895, but intermittent unrest continued — in Yunlin, the Tieguoshan (鐵國山) guerillas caused the new regime much headache through at least 1901. These surrender ceremonies were common and usually conducted peacefully, but the Japanese had different plans for these troublemakers. Once the event concluded, they gunned down every single attendee with machine guns. Only Chien Shui-shou
You’ll need good eyesight to fully browse the Her stories on the postage stamps (真善美:方寸之間的女性形象特展) exhibition. Although some are shown with zoomed in replicas or feature blown up elements, most of the stamps are presented in their original 3cm-by-4cm size. What makes this fully-bilingual exhibition fascinating, however, are the original artifacts and artwork that many of the stamps are based on, as it’s a collaboration between the Postal Museum, National History Museum and women’s rights groups. For history buffs, it’s a unique way to browse through Chunghwa Post’s ideas of female representation since it took over the nation’s mail service
RSS