A Night at the Chinese Opera

A Night at the Chinese Opera
Opera by Judith Weir
LibrettistWeir
LanguageEnglish
Based onThe Orphan of Zhao
Premiere
8 July 1987 (1987-07-08)
Kent Opera

A Night at the Chinese Opera is an opera in three acts by Judith Weir, who also wrote the libretto. Aside from an earlier opera for children, this was Weir's first full-scale opera, written on commission from the BBC for performance by Kent Opera. Weir incorporated an early Chinese play of the Yuan dynasty, The Orphan of Zhao, as the centrepiece of Act 2 of her opera.[1][2]

The work received its premiere on 8 July 1987 at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, England.[3] The Opera magazine critic noted that "few new operas have recently made so diverting a first impression as A Night at the Chinese Opera, partly on its intrinsic musico-dramatic merits, partly through the style of production".[4]

The outer acts are fully scored for the chamber orchestra in 'closed-forms' such as aria, sextet, seven-part motet but the Yuan play is mostly scored for flute, lower strings and percussion.[4]

  1. ^ Judith Weir, "A Note on a Chinese Opera". The Musical Times, 128(1733), 373–375 (1987).
  2. ^ David Wright, "Weir to Now?". The Musical Times, 134(1806), 432–437 (1993).
  3. ^ Loveland, Kenneth, "Reports: Cheltenham" (September 1987). The Musical Times, 128 (1735): pp. 507–509.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Opera87 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).