Xi Shi reprises ancient beauty

From Turandot to Madame Butterfly, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing is known for staging world-renown classic operas, now it is setting its sights on a homegrown work that opened last night to rave reviews.

Xi Shi is the first original opera produced by NCPA in conjunction with Shanghai Opera House. After more than a year's preparation and with strong cast, Xi Shi is also serving as the opening performance for the 7th Beijing International Theater and Dance Festival.

The opera is an ode to Xi Shi, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China who lived during the end of the Spring and Autumn Periods in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue, according to historical records.

Xi Shi's beauty was said to be so extreme that the fish would be so dazzled when they saw her that they would forget how to swim and would sink away from the surface.

Xi Shi is aimed at reviving a story of both love and war in ancient China with the heroine depicted as national hero and a dangerous beauty who caused the downfall of a kingdom.

The story tells how Gou Jian the king of Yue was once imprisoned after a defeat in a war by King Fu Chai from the State of Wu. Secretly planning his revenge, Gou Jian offered Xi Shi to Fu Chai as a tribute to show his loyalty.

Bewitched by the beauty of Xi Shi, Fu Chai forgot all about his State affairs and on her instigation, killed his best advisor, the great general Wu Zixu. In 473BC Gou Jian launched his strike and defeated the Wu army.

"In the opera, what I wanted to describe was the story of Xi Shi and her motherland, not a single love story," explained Zou Jingzhi, Xi Shi playwright. "As for the conclusion of Xi Shi, the play will provide an answer, which is both tragic and thought provoking."

"The first original opera for NCPA tells the story of the most beautiful woman in China through opera, the most popular art form in the world," added Deng Yijiang, vice president of NCPA. "When you watch the opera, you will be fascinated by its plot and scenery and you will understand why she was regarded as the most beautiful woman in China."

The use of Western opera to portray Chinese history in Chinese style saw the introduction of many traditional Chinese instruments rarely found in typical Western classical opera.

Traditional sounds are harmonized with the four tones of Chinese lyrics to take audiences through a fairyland of thousands of years ago. Many episodes of the opera are expressed with arias, best fitting for a memorable love story.

"Xi Shi is staged in the form of Western opera, but in essence, especially in terms of music, it is very familiar to Chinese audiences with a vast use of traditional Chinese tunes that resonate perfectly with the plot," explained Huang Xiaoman, Xi Shi's music director and vice director of China National Opera House.
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