NCPA has stepped into the gap left by the China National Opera House, satisfying Beijing's thirst for opera. Chen Nan reports.

The third opera festival of the National Center for the Performing Arts starts with Carmen. Provided to China Daily

In the wake of the global financial crisis, almost every opera house in the West has had fewer productions in recent years. The China National Opera House, too, seems to be in the same boat, presenting just one or two operas and a few concerts, every year.

The fact is, however, that it is not just in recent years that the China National Opera House has been performing just a few works. This has been happening since it was established in 1952. It does not function like an opera house.

For example, in 2011, its orchestras and lead singers will travel across the country to perform Road to Rejuvenation. But it is more of a political mission to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Communist Party of China.

Even so, Beijing's audiences will face no dearth of operas with this genre emerging as a highlight of the capital's performing arts scene, thanks to the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

For the past two years, it has been presenting the annual opera festival, comprising a dozen classical and original productions, featuring a star-studded international cast.

Its third opera festival, that will open on April 9, is looking to build on the success of the previous two.

"At the heart of every great city stands an opera house," says Li Zhixiang, director of NCPA's program department. "Over the centuries, it has been the center of intellectual and social life: the place where the aristocracy gambled and partied, the rising bourgeoisie conversed, and the artistic avant-garde sought inspiration. NCPA is not an opera house but we want to do operas."

With more than 40 international artists from 12 countries, the festival will present nine operas and seven concerts from April 9 to July 9.

The opening show, Carmen, produced by NCPA, had a hugely successful performance in May 2010. Bizet's ever-melodic masterpiece will be staged for eight nights this year. The role of Carmen will be played by Hungarian mezzo-soprano Viktoria Vizin, who has played the title role of Carmen in 15 different versions. "The NCPA performance will be my 16th," she says.

"Carmen is like a curse because it's full of revenge and passionate love. It's also about praying for freedom and belief," she says.

According to Vizin, all past productions of Carmen have been unique owing to their different production teams. She says she has not watched the 2010 performance "because I want to feel the role and the atmosphere when I actually go on the stage of NCPA".

The show's other soprano will be Jossie Prez, winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

American actor Brandon Jovanovich will play the tormented soldier Don Jose. The actor, who has played eight versions of Carmen, says: "There are some things that are really great in it and I love the role of Don Jose."

"It's an important role for my acting career," says the actor who was born and raised in Billings, Montana, a place devoid of opera.

"I sang in the church choir and listened to Christmas carols at home. That was my introduction to musical performances," he says.

Now a star of the world's leading opera houses, Jovanovich says working with different directors has also inspired him to bring something new to the role in the NCPA version, directed by American Francesca Zambello.

Jovanovich appeared with Vizin at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 and 2010.

The third opera festival will also see the latest production of Puccini's Tosca, a graphic tale of social realities, human nature and of the interpretation of love and hatred.

NCPA has invited renowned director Gian-Carlo del Monaco, and Spanish dramatic baritone and soprano Nicola Beller-Carbone to give this classic new life.

Compared with the previous two festivals, which featured popular works from opera houses abroad, the third opera festival will showcase China's achievements in opera production.

Following the success of Xi Shi, an original NCPA production composed by Lei Lei, with lines by Zou Jingzhi, which tells the tragic tale of the eponymous beauty of ancient China, NCPA has invited the two to write the original opera, Orphan of Zhao Family, an adaptation of a Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Chinese play.

To attract more Chinese audiences, NCPA is bringing in modern operas adapted from popular novels, including Marriage of Xiao Erhei, based on the novel by Zhao Zhuli, an established Chinese writer. The opera, created in 1952, is best known for its humor and use of dialect.

The festival will also invite renowned singers to its seven concerts, including Grammy Award-winning South Korean soprano Jo Su-mi, Russia-born soprano Anna Netrebko and Chinese tenor Wei Song.

"These concerts offer the audience a chance to experience the power and beauty of opera music," says Li Zhixiang.