The cross-cultural production “Ein Heldenleben · CAI LUN” blends Richard Strauss’s symphonic music with Peking opera to tell the story of Ts'ai Lun, the Chinese inventor who revolutionized papermaking nearly 2,000 years ago.
Premiering in London, the show unites Western classical music with traditional Chinese opera, symbolizing a fusion of Eastern and Western art forms.
#CrossCultural #EinHeldenlebenCyLoon #PekingOpera #RichardStrauss #ChineseOpera #TsaiLun
Premiering in London, the show unites Western classical music with traditional Chinese opera, symbolizing a fusion of Eastern and Western art forms.
#CrossCultural #EinHeldenlebenCyLoon #PekingOpera #RichardStrauss #ChineseOpera #TsaiLun
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NewsTranscript
00:00Iron Heldenleben, a hero's life originally composed by Richard Strauss, sets the stage
00:14for this ambitious cross-cultural production. But the hero of this story is not a figure
00:20from Western history, but rather Cai Lun, the Chinese inventor who revolutionised the
00:26art of papermaking nearly 2,000 years ago. The show's director says her vision is to
00:32unite these great art forms and share them with the world.
00:36The symphonic music is the West's greatest contribution to the arts. Peking opera is,
00:46I believe, the most significant art form in China, and Cai Lun is one of China's greatest
00:52historical figures. My aim is to bring these elements of greatness together on one stage.
01:00In 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, I was struck by how little many northern Europeans
01:06knew about modern China. At that moment, I felt a strong desire to show the West both
01:12the reality of today's China and the great figures in our history.
01:19The story is told through a unique fusion of traditional Peking opera and Western symphonic
01:24music, creating not just a symbolic collaboration, but a true blending of East and West. The
01:32conductor describes it as a journey of mutual discovery.
01:36I think it's an interesting experiment of sort of cross-cultural contamination and possibility
01:43of making two very different cultures talk to each other and somehow work towards a certain
01:52degree of harmony that had not been envisaged by those people who created the independent
01:59bits out of which this whole work is made of. And so it's, from a creative point of
02:06view, it's very stimulating.
02:09Little is known about Cailun's personal life. An imperial court eunuch, he held high
02:15office but later took his own life following a political scandal. Despite this tragic end,
02:21his legacy as the inventor of paper has secured him an enduring place in Chinese history.
02:28Cailun's story is virtually unknown in the West, yet his paper-making innovation had
02:34a lasting impact on human history. It went beyond China to the Islamic world and eventually
02:40here to Europe. And now his personal life has come to life on the London stage.
02:47Li Jianhua, CGTN, London.