Iron Road is an opera in two acts written by the award-winning Canadian composer Chan Ka Nin with a libretto by Mark Brownell and Cantonese translations by George K. Wong.
[1] Chan's opera takes place in late nineteenth century British Columbia at a point of great political friction.
This pursuit would prove difficult considering the country's rugged landscape, varying political sentiments regarding unification, and the onslaught of foreign labourer immigration, among other factors.
Since the time of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), inhabitants of the Canton region had been regarded as inferior among the elite, Northern Chinese culture.
[3] Around the time of Canada's Confederation, the Cantonese suffered as a result the First and Second Opium Wars, which severely damaged the economic conditions of Guangdong, forcing formerly-employable workers into poverty and causing general strife.
[6] Many argued citizens would lose labour opportunities from the Chinese, who they believed had no long-term investment in their lives in Canada as they had often come without their wives or children.
He says he is uncertain of the moment that sparked his inspiration for the opera, but that its development partially evolved from a conversation he had had with a member of the Council of Chinese Canadians choir, which he directed.
By chance, the composer encountered an article describing a Norwegian ship, Hebe, upon which 265 Cantonese immigrants had arrived from Hong Kong; one of them was a young woman.
The choice of Edmond as librettist seemed natural as he had graduated from Ryerson College Film School with a degree in English and had had experience writing screenplays.
Chan credits each librettist as having contributed something meaningful to the project, but says that Brownell was able to construct a story which balanced its conveyance of "human relationships and historical events.
[11] During the project's final stages, translator George K. Wong would join the team in 1999, and in 2000, the famous Canadian director, Tom Diamond, was commissioned by Tapestry.
As the mother dies, she gives Lai Gwan her wedding gown, a final token of love, and advises she go to Gum San in search of her father, who left years ago to find work in Canada.
Lai Gwan's rebellious spirit provokes Manli, and she is ordered to work the dangerous job of planting dynamite suspended from a rock face.
Afterward, Manli and Lai Gwan perform funeral rituals for the dead, by which the spirits bless them and they are to live together in peace.
[13][14] Much of the thematic content in Iron Road draws on Chinese popular religion, a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
[2] In the Iron Road study guide, Chan explains each of the opera's characters correspond with an element of Chinese cosmology: Water (Séui), Fire (Fó), Earth (Tóu), Metal (Gam) and Wood (Muhk).
[17] There are many scenes in which both yin and yang are presented, including Prologue — The New World, in which Ama and Lai Gwan embody divergent but dependent manifestations of their role as a woman in traditional Chinese society.
"[19] Likewise, melodies sung by the white characters are sometimes built on Irish folk and work songs,[20] allowing for the emphasis of Taoist dualism, whose influence stems from Chinese culture.
Since its première in 2001, Iron Road has received mostly positive reviews, praising its bicultural themes, historical commentary, and dichotomous musicality.
[22] Tamara Bernstein of the National Post, however, found Chan's love story insufficiently believable and suggested heightened musical drama would have been welcome in scenes involving death.