Organization

Admin

National Centre for the Performing Arts

Conductor

Pierre Vallet

Lighting designer

Masakazu Ito

Jo Kanamori

Stage director

Costume designer

Yuichi Nakashima

Singer

Bass-baritone

Matthias Goerne

Bluebeard

Soprano

Elena Zhidkova

Judith

Orchestra

Saito Kinen Orchestra

A kékszakállú herceg vára -  (Bluebeard's Castle)

Beijing

China

NCPA

Opera House

A kékszakállú herceg vára Bartók

Public

Bluebeard's Castle

Pallavi Pawar

Approved

Bartók Béla Viktor János is the leader of Hungary's modern music and a renowned pianist and folk musician. As one of the three greatest composers (the others are Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg) in the first half of the 20th century after Achille-Claude Debussy, he has intensely impressed the whole art world of the 20th century by his pioneering activities, and some experts even believe that his masterpieces are comparable to Beethoven's works.

As Bartók's only opera work, Duke Bluebeard's Castle has a particular position on the stage of music in the 20th century. This one-act opera tells a story about Judith who marries a wealthy Duke Bluebeard; she insists on opening the seven doors in the dark castle of Bluebeard to gradually disclose the distorted soul of the duke. Although this opera features grey mood, static scenes and only two roles, it has high dramatic tension. Removing excessive decorative plots, it focuses on the relationship between Judith and Bluebeard to gradually reveal the property, manor and mental realm of Bluebeard.

The performance is produced jointly by the Saito Kinen Festival and the Teatro Comunale Florence. The director and choreographer Jo Kanamori, who is very active on the international stage, will lead his dance troupe – Noism, the most popular modern dance troupe in Japan. Matthias Goerne, who plays Duke Bluebeard, is one of the world's top baritones and Elena Zhitkova, player of Judith, a beautiful vocalist with outstanding voice who has won a lot of praise for playing this role. Those world-class artists, led by the great conductor Seiji Ozawa, will bring a soul-stirring night of opera for the Chinese audience.

English

Bluebeard's Castle by Bartók, From (2011/2011), Directed by Jo Kanamori,, Conductor Pierre Vallet, NCPA, Beijing, China

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