Dr. Sun Yat-sen (opera)

Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Chinese: 中山逸仙; pinyin: Zhōngshān Yìxiān) is a 2011 Chinese-language western-style opera in three acts by the New York-based American composer Huang Ruo who was born in China and is a graduate of Oberlin College's Conservatory as well as the Juilliard School of Music.

[1] The action of the opera focuses not on Sun's political life, but rather, it is a love story involving his second wife Soong Ching-Ling, a revered figure in modern Chinese history who became vice-president of the People's Republic of China until she died in 1981.

[7] In her essay on the opera, Desirée Mays notes that the relationships which had developed between Sun and Charlie Soong, his longtime supporter and fundraiser, and the complications which were to arise because of the love-affair (and then marriage) of Ching-ling, Charlie's second daughter, to Sun, the impetus for the opera came from the discovery by playwright Candace Mui-ngam Chong of "a snippet of a true tale about a wedding dress intended for Ching-ling".

Chong then wrote the opera's libretto,[8] although "while staying 98% close to historical facts, Ruo states, [it] focuses on the human side of the great man".

The composer chose to create two versions of the opera because, as Kelly Chung Dawson states, "he is interested in experimenting with the ways in which Eastern and Western influences can affect a composition".

[11] With the fully staged Beijing production in rehearsal later in 2011, "word came down from Communist Party officials in late August: the 30 September world premiere of [the] opera [...] would be postponed indefinitely.

Sun Yat-sen arrives, having escaped capture by Quin soldiers, and brings with him his wife Lu Mu-zhen who follows at a much slower pace since her feet are bound in the traditional Chinese manner.

But to everyone's surprise, Lu Mu-zhen enters the room and, although she sings about her misfortune and years of sacrifice, she gives Sun her signed divorce paper, thus setting him free to marry Ching-ling.

Scene 1: China: The presidential palace Under Sun's leadership and with the help of Yuan Shi-kai, an ambitious general in the Revolution, the Qing Dynasty is overthrown.

Accompanied by his newlywed wife Ching-ling, who is pregnant, Sun gives speeches in various locations in China, gathering supports to overthrow Yuan's rule: "Why does one start a Revolution?

"[17] Scene 2: The Soong residence After Sun's house is attacked one night by Yuan's assassins, the couple is forced to flee and, during their escape, Ching-ling miscarries but eventually she is able to reach her parents' home alone.

At the time of the May 2011 VOX "preview" presentation of act 1 in New York, Nick Frisch interviewed the composer, who stated that: Frisch continues to explain that: Following the Hong Kong premiere, British critic John Allison commented on several aspects of the music in his article in the British magazine Opera: Additionally—quoting Huang Ruo as " 'collaging East and West' "—Miyoshi outlines what she describes as his: She states that this sound will accompany Ching-ling's act 3 aria when she has miscarried and is fleeing the assassins.

[7] In his analysis of the music as performed at the premiere, critic John Stege begins by noting that "These performances offer a stunning demonstration of Huang's skill in molding Eastern and Western modalities into a successful theatrical synthesis, and he continues with: In his review, James Keller makes the following observations regarding the orchestration and its effects: Following the world premiere, a variety of critical evaluations were published.