2021 National Taichung Theater Fall for Great Souls

To quote National Taichung Theater (NTT) Artistic Director Joyce Chiou, “Opera must appeal to the audience; it should not be limited to age-old conventions.” Expanding the idea further, an artistic director’s responsibility is to strike the fine balance between what audiences and the prevailing market anticipate and what music critics expect. Veteran critics might not find repertory works intrinsically illuminating, but productions that offer innovative or alternative modes of presentation can inspire the public to appreciate how something so familiar can be interpreted in a totally different way, opening new vistas for everyone’s cultural appreciation.

Since 2016, when the NTT opened its doors with Das Rheingold — the first installment of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle — its artistic and programming team has endeavored to present stylistically original and theatrically pioneering opera productions year after year, introducing Taiwan’s music lovers to the many facets of the operatic genre, successfully creating a distinct NTT brand as Taiwan’s indisputable operatic destination. In fact, the NTT’s Chinese name is literally “Taichung National Opera House,” and both the Grand Theater and Playhouse are equipped with built-in orchestra pits, making them ideal venues for opera and musical theatre.

During the NTT’s first four years of operation, the working experience of La Fura dels Baus’s complete Ring Cycle helped the NTT build its strength and capabilities in stage technology, programming and production, marketing and promotion and customer service.

©臺中國家歌劇院  攝影師- 林峻永

Under Chiou’s leadership, the NTT follows a two-pronged approach regarding opera — “expanding the lexicon” and “assembling its own productions.” In 2020, the NTT collaborated with Komische Oper Berlin, and re-produced its production of La Bohème in 2008, directed by Andreas Homoki (the current Director of the Zürich Opera House). Audience response was enthusiastic: tickets for all performances sold out a month before the scheduled premiere. For 2021, the NTT laid out plans for three of its own opera productions: Hänsel & Gretel, with young audiences in mind; Wagner’s Tannhäuser as an “Opera Concert” and a fully-staged Il barbieri di Siviglia by Rossini.

Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini © The Royal Danish Theatre Miklos Szabo

Hänsel & Gretel has secured a place in the repertory in major opera houses because of its charm and appeal, laying for young viewers the groundwork for a lifelong love of opera. The NTT invited Taiwan’s renowned interdisciplinary artist Ballboss (who started as illustrator and theatre director) to craft a refreshingly modern approach that turns the “classic” on its head, actively challenging the way opera “should look” on stage. Set in the present day, this contemporary production attempts to close the gap between fairytale and real life. Although the pandemic forced Hänsel & Gretel to be postponed until next year, the NTT uploaded a sneak preview of video highlights over the summer, attracting more than 3,000 views online, increasing the public’s curiosity about this upcoming home-grown production.

Hänsel & Gretel ©臺中國家歌劇院  攝影師- 林峻永

We are happy to report that the two opera productions scheduled for 2021’s Fall for Great Souls are confirmed to take place. Over the summer, the Tannhäuser “Opera Concert” was sold out within a week, and Il barbieri di Siviglia already enjoyed robust sales.

The NTT’s 2021 Fall for Great Souls ponders on new questions that arise once our world has entered a “new normal.” Topics worth contemplating include “Can grand opera be small and beautiful?” and “Can classical operas be updated and contemporary?”

Advance planning, when confronted with new uncertainties, must remain flexible in completion. A case in point is the Tannhäuser “Opera Concert,” which appears in a semi-staged format using a chamber arrangement (of the Paris version, a first for Taiwan). Conductor Chang Yin-fang leads a 10-musician ensemble in a production featuring an all-Taiwanese cast directed by Hung Hung with musicologist Chiao Yuan-pu as consultant. When it comes to giving the medieval knight and minstrel a modern spin, Hung Hung considers Tannhäuser as being like most men, desiring a comfortable home yet craving conquest and adventure. Venus, on the other hand, has the allure of a modern-day movie star, while Elisabeth is a conventional housewife and Wolfram a stalwart example of respectability.

In addition to giving Wagner’s romantic tome a semi-staged treatment, the NTT brings to operagoers Martin Lyngbo’s version of Il barbiere di Siviglia — a co-production with the Royal Danish Opera — where the tight, comic storyline is filtered through the aesthetics of black-and-white silent film with multimedia technical wizardry, injecting new energy into the delightful music and humorous libretto. Leading the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan in the pit is internationally-renowned conductor Lio Kuokman. The music, projections, imaginative lighting and bel canto voices add up to become a feast for the eyes and ears for everyone in the NTT Grand Theater. This fully-staged, heartwarming “gift of opera” marks the finale of 2021, as we draw this tumultuous year to a close.

For further information on the complete programs of Fall for Great Souls Series:

https://www.npac-ntt.org/GreatSouls/