Classic opera The Red Guards on Honghu Lake will be presented by the NCPA Chorus at the Opera House of the NCPA in Beijing.

The Red Guards on Honghu Lake was completed in 1958. In October 1959, Hubei Province staged the opera in Beijing for the first time as a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. The performance was a huge success, and the opera has since then become a treasure of China's national operas. China's previous generations of leaders, including Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu, He Long, and Chen Yi, had all watched the performance of the opera and gave very high praise of it. After it was made into a film, it became a household name all around China.

This production upholds an attitude of carrying forward and promoting this classic work. On the basis of preserving the sentiments of the original music, Dong Yuexian, who is in charge of music creation and arrangement in this production, gives delicate touch and modification to the music, making it more suitable for operatic and musical presentation and more appealing to modern audiences, particularly the young ones. Gao Guangjian, stage designer, brings the classic scene of the vastness of the Honghu Lake and the expansive lotus field onto the stage through romantic design and magnificent multi-media visual effects, perfectly combining the virtually real scenes with the beautiful melody.

As China's national performing arts center, NCPA has the duty to carry forward and promote classic Chinese works. After two years of discussion, NCPA has partnered with Hubei Provincial Opera and Dance Drama Theatre, who is the holder of the copyright of The Red Guards on Honghu Lake. A top-notch production team in China, led by renowned director Zhang Jigang, who is the creator of the dance Thousand-handed Bodhisattva and one of the key figures in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympiad, is invited to re-stage this classic work, striving to bring new life to this classic in the modern era and let it continue to move and touch today's audiences.

Venue: Opera House of the NCPA

Date: September 28 - October 5, 2014

Add: No. 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing

Source: NCPA