[New-Poetry] "Li Bai", the opera

[jforjames at aol.com]

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_6306657

Poetic justice for "Li Bai"
Opera brings to life a Chinese verse master
By Kyle MacMillan Denver Post Fine Arts Critic
Article Last Updated: 07/06/2007 01:59:28 PM MDT


If the name Li Bai means little in the West, the Tang Dynasty poet stands as tall in the Chinese cultural consciousness as William Shakespeare does in the English- speaking world. 


Long a fan of his expressive, sometimes playful writings, Diana Liao conceived the idea of an opera based on his life in 2000 and set about writing a libretto in conjunction with playwright Xu Ying. 


Seven years later, the fruits of her labor and those of dozens of other Chinese and American participants in the cross-cultural project will be unveiled when Central City Opera's world premiere of Guo Wenjing's "Poet Li Bai" opens Saturday. 


The work comes at a pivotal moment, when the surging Chinese classical-music scene is asserting itself internationally, and the West seems hungry for the creative reinvigoration that can blossom from the cross-fertilization of these two ancient cultures. 


"Poet Li Bai" is part of a series of new operas by the first group of composers after the Cultural Revolution, including Tan Dun's "The First Emperor," which debuted in December at the Metropolitan Opera amid a flurry of publicity. 



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