It is hard indeed to know what to expect of the Bulgarian production of Puccini's opera Turandot, due to play in Taipei and Kaohsiung over the next two weeks.
First there is the question of Eastern European opera companies. Some of them are starved of cash and forced to offer 30-year old productions sung by soloists who themselves are also a little past their sell-by dates. But others, such as the State Opera Poland who visited Taipei in 2002, and inexplicably attracted such tiny audiences, were outstanding, certainly in their two leading soloists. You never, in other words, know quite what you're going to get.
Then there's the opera itself. It's both a great classic and potential landmine. After enormous success in his early years, Puccini lapsed into silence and near-failure in middle-age, suddenly coming up, however, with this extraordinary work as he lay dying. He never finished it, but it was completed by a colleague and many listeners believe it's his masterpiece.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KHAM
It tells a tale of a sexually frigid Chinese princess who decapitates all suitors who fail to answer her three riddles. But herein lies the problem. Bringing European Chinoiserie dating from 1926 to a real Chinese society 80 years on — the whole project bristles with difficulties and occasions for the acutest embarrassment.
Reading about the Sofia National Opera isn't an experience that decides you one way or the other. This production, for instance, has recently been seen in the Johnson County Community College, Kansas, at the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and courtesy of the Concert Association of Wilmington (population 60,000) in Delaware. That it's showing in Taipei at the less than state-of-the-art Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall theater isn't ultimately encouraging either.
But then you never know. A country that produced a soprano like Anna Tomowa-Sintow can't by any means be written off. Opera needs scenery, however drab, and costumes, however dowdy, if its curious magic is to stand a chance of coming off. With the NSO Ring set to be largely in a concert version (though with the supremely magnificent and not-to-be-missed Linda Watson in the leading female role), opera buffs eager for the whiff of peeling sets and threadbare wigs may just be in for a bonanza with this possibly Ruritanian, but equally possibly enthralling, Turandot.
It's four years since any agent brought a fully-staged foreign opera production to Taiwan. Previously the practice was rather common, but then with the economic down-turn they all got cold feet. This time there will be 150 people involved — instrumentalists, chorus-members, stage-hands and soloists — with the scenery arriving in separate consignments on two cargo ships. This, then, is hardly imported opera on the cheap. However much the show may lack celebrity international names, it will in some sense be the real thing. It's only coming to Taiwan, incidentally, and as a cultural exchange is likely to have a rather particular Taiwanese flavor.
The production is double-cast — two sets of soloists will alternate in the main roles. On Sept. 20, Sept. 22, Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at 7.30pm in Taipei, and on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 at 7.30pm in Kaohsiung it will be as follows: Turandot — Bayasgalan Dashnyam; Timur — Svetozar Rangelov; Calaf — Kostadin Andreev; Liu — Sofia Ivanova. On Sept. 21 at 7.30pm and on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at 2.30pm in Taipei, and on Sept. 28 at 7.30pm and Sept. 30 at 2.30pm in Kaohsiung it will be as follows: Turandot — Elena Baramova; Timur — Dimitar Stantchev; Calaf — Kamen Chanev; Liu — Tsvetana Bandalovska.
Being Puccini, and being Turandot in particular, tickets, even at these rather high prices, are likely to sell briskly. Will it be a genuinely moving experience, good for a laugh, or a little bit of both? In the final analysis, this remains just about anybody's guess.
Performance Notes:
The Sofia State Opera's production of Puccini's Turandot plays at Taipei's Sun Yat-sen Theater on Sept. 20, Sept. 21, Sept. 22, Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at 7.30pm, and on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 at 2.30pm. In Kaohsiung it plays at the Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center on Sept. 28, Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 at 7.30pm, and on Sept. 30 at 2.30pm.
Ticket prices in Taipei are from NT$1,200 to NT$4,800, and in Kaohsiung from NT$800 to NT$3,600. Seats can be reserved by calling (07) 7403-466, or by visiting www.ticket.com.tw, or applying in person at any Kingstone bookstore.
Taiwan, once relegated to the backwaters of international news media and viewed as a subset topic of “greater China,” is now a hot topic. Words associated with Taiwan include “invasion,” “contingency” and, on the more cheerful side, “semiconductors” and “tourism.” It is worth noting that while Taiwanese companies play important roles in the semiconductor industry, there is no such thing as a “Taiwan semiconductor” or a “Taiwan chip.” If crucial suppliers are included, the supply chain is in the thousands and spans the globe. Both of the variants of the so-called “silicon shield” are pure fantasy. There are four primary drivers
The sprawling port city of Kaohsiung seldom wins plaudits for its beauty or architectural history. That said, like any other metropolis of its size, it does have a number of strange or striking buildings. This article describes a few such curiosities, all but one of which I stumbled across by accident. BOMBPROOF HANGARS Just north of Kaohsiung International Airport, hidden among houses and small apartment buildings that look as though they were built between 15 and 30 years ago, are two mysterious bunker-like structures that date from the airport’s establishment as a Japanese base during World War II. Each is just about
Japan is celebrated for its exceptional levels of customer service. But the behavior of a growing number of customers and clients leaves a lot to be desired. The rise of the abusive consumer has prompted authorities in Tokyo to introduce the country’s first ordinance — a locally approved regulation — to protect service industry staff from kasuhara — the Japanese abbreviated form of “customer harassment.” While the Tokyo ordinance, which will go into effect in April, does not carry penalties, experts hope the move will highlight a growing social problem and, perhaps, encourage people to think twice before taking out their frustrations
Two years ago my wife and I went to Orchid Island off Taitung for a few days vacation. We were shocked to realize that for what it cost us, we could have done a bike vacation in Borneo for a week or two, or taken another trip to the Philippines. Indeed, most of the places we could have gone for that vacation in neighboring countries offer a much better experience than Taiwan at a much lower price. Hence, the recent news showing that tourist visits to Pingtung County’s Kenting, long in decline, reached a 27 year low this summer came
RSS