The Jade Bracelet (Picking up the Jade Bracelet ¬B¥ÉÅN)
This opera, famous for its clever and delicate pantomime, is set in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). A beautiful young maiden, Sun Yujiao, lives with her widowed mother in a small town where they raise chickens to support themselves. When her mother leaves home one day to visit a temple, Sun Yujiao comes out of doors, feeds the chickens, and sits down to sew the soles on her slippers. A handsome young nobleman, Fu Peng, catches a glimpse of Sun Yujiao and is immediately smitten. On the pretext of buying some of the chickens, Fu Peng approaches to flirt with her. Feigning annoyance, Sun Yujiao goes indoors to conceal her attraction to him. Before leaving, Fu Peng drops his jade bracelet and hides around a corner. When she reemerges, Sun Yujiao finds that the handsome stranger has left, but she discovers that he has dropped his bracelet. She bends over to pick up the jade bracelet and, discretely slips it on. Seeing this, Fu Peng laughs, confident that she shares his affection. (--opera synopsis by Thomas Wilson)
The Cast
Sun Yujiao ...................................................... Ming Wang
Fu Peng ............................................................ Tai Qi Wang
The Monkey King
(The Dragon's Kingdom or Watercurtain Cave ¤ô©©¬})
Sun Wukong, the "Handsome Monkey King," who reigns over "The Blessed Land of Flower-Fruit Mountain," is an immortal, and a rather impish one at that. For example, he once erased his own name from the list of condemned souls in the ledgers at the Palace of Darkness, thereby ensuring his own immortality. In this episode, Sun Wukong visits his neighbor the Dragon King who possesses a 13,500 pound divine pillar called the magic "Sea-settling needle," once used to forge the Milky Way. The Dragon King, whose palace is on the bottom of the sea, uses the pillar to stir up storms and waves. When the Monkey King is shown the magic needle, he is able to command it to shrink down to the size of an embroidering needle and store behind his ear. Fearing Sun Wukong's power, the Dragon King declines to give it to him, so the Handsome Monkey King steals it, leading to a fierce scuffle with the Dragon King's prawn soldiers and crab general. (--opera synopsis by Thomas Wilson)
The Cast
Monkey King (Sun Wukong) ....................... Zhang Xuehao
Dragon King .................................................... Chin-ming Deng
Dragon Daughter ........................................... Ming Wang
Prawn Soldier ............................................... Jonathan C. Bush
Crab General .................................................. Y. D. Chang
Guard ................................................................ Marc Block (Hamilton student)
Guard ................................................................ Karin Wimbley (Hamilton student)
Guard ................................................................ Eric Allanson (Hamilton student)
Farewell My Concubine
(The Hegemonic King's Farwell to his Concubine ÅQ¤ý§O®V)
China had been torn apart by ferocious warfare for more than two hundred years before it was unified in 221 B.C. by the ruthless emperor Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang proclaimed that he would be the first ruler of a ten thousand year reign, but war resumed with renewed cruelty immediately after his death, and his dynasty fell within a few short years. Two contenders for the throne emerged from this chaos: Liu Bang, then king of the western state of Han, and Xiang Yu, hegemonic king of the southern state of Chu. A little over a century later, the Grand Historian of China wrote of Liu Bang, "Before he was born, Dame Liu dreamt she encountered a deity. The sky grew dark and was filled with thunder and lightening. When his father came looking for Dame Liu, he saw a dragon above where she lay [a sign presaging the next emperor]. After this she became pregnant and gave birth to Liu Bang." Clearly Heaven had made its choice, which would pose a daunting challenge to just about anyone except the courageous but brash Xiang Yu, whom the Grand Historian describes as "over eight feet tall and so strong that with his two hands he could lift a bronze cauldron." At a young age Xiang Yu abandon his civil studies and resolved to "learn the art of attacking ten thousand enemies."
As the opera opens, Liu Bang's army has just surrounded Xiang Yu's camp. Xiang Yu understands that his defeat is due to the will of Heaven, not to any of his shortcomings on the battlefield. Realizing the end is near, Xiang Yu rises up in the night to drink with his Lady Yu, and with passionate sorrow, sings to her of his fear for her fate after his death. Tears stream down his face, while those about him weep, unable to lift their eyes from the ground. To distract the king from his bitter sorrow, Lady Yu performs a sword dance, and, as the opera ends, she cuts her own throat so that she may not burden him any further.
So ends this particular episode. In the ensuing battle, Xiang Yu breaks through the enemy lines, and cuts down countless oponents, yet no one is capable of vanquishing the hegemonic king of Chu. But all is lost, because Heaven willed it, and in the end, it is only Xiang Yu himself who seems capable of bringing about his death, for he takes his own life with the sword that had slain "ten thousand enemies." (--opera synopsis by Thomas Wilson)
The Cast
Lady Yu ......................................................... Charlene Tong
Xiang Yu/King of Chu .............................. Shang Kao
Watchmen ................................................... Zhang Xuehao, Tai Qi Wang
Eunuch .......................................................... Y. D. Chang
Lady in Waiting ........................................ Nina Tong
Lady in Waiting ........................................ Lisa Ervin (Hamilton student)
Lady in Waiting ........................................ Miki Kodama (Hamilton student)
Lady in Waiting ........................................ Dorthea Underwood (Hamilton student)
Soldier ......................................................... Morgan Crooks (Hamilton student)
Soldier ......................................................... Michael Hew Wing (Hamilton student)
Soldier ......................................................... Justin Pagel (Hamilton student)
Soldier ......................................................... Ben Zoll (Hamilton student)
Director of the Orchestra ¹ª®v: Chunqi Zhao (drum or gu ¹ª and clappers or ban ªO)
Huqin Jµ^: Guoyong Wei and Roger Yeu (2-stringed cylindrical bamboo "fiddle" with a fixed bow)
Erhu ¤GJ: C. S. Wang (2-stringed hexagonal redwood "fiddle" with a fixed bow)
Moon lute or yueqin ¤ëµ^: C. S. Wang (4-stringed plucked instrument)
Gong or luo Ær: Robert Wong
Small gong or xiaoluo ¤pÆr: Kevin Yao
Cymbols or bo ¹Y: Yongsheng Liu
Reed horn or suona ÜÔ§o : Guoyong Wei
Notes on some of the performers
Charlene TONG µ£¤pd: A specialist in the female huadan role, Charlene Tong began studying opera at age six under the tutelage of her mother, Tong Zhiling (a huadan master), and entered the Shanghai School of Theatre after the Cultural Revolution, graduating in 1980. She has performed in Hong Kong, Shanghai and, in 1984, received great acclaim for her performance at the Lincoln Center.
WANG Ming ¤ý±Ó: A graduate of the Tianjin Drama School, where she received special instruction from Yang Ronghuan, one of the four great Beijing masters of the female dan role, and received great acclaim when she graduated in 1969.
WANG Tai Qi ¤ý®õ¸R: A graduate of the Shanghai Drama School and a leading opera performer in China. He is a disciple of the opera master Yu Chengfei.
ZHANG Xuehao ±i¾Ç¯E: Born into a long line of Beijing opera performers and a graduate of the Beijing School of Chinese Theatre, Zhang Xuehao continues the heritage of the military role (wusheng) perfected by Ru Yuanjun, Ru Fulan, Fu Dewei, and Qian Fuchuan. Mr. Zhang has also starred in many feature films for the screen and television.