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Turandot ‘a Chinese story we need to grab hold of’, Hong Kong production’s director says

Director Jia Ding explains why his Opera Hong Kong production of rare Western work ‘that talks about China’ has to be historically accurate

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Detail from the set of Opera Hong Kong’s new production of Turandot. Designer Jia Ding is aiming for authenticity in his sets for Puccini’s only opera set in China. Photo: Opera Hong Kong

To mark the centenary of composer Giacomo Puccini’s death, Opera Hong Kong is making one of his most beloved operas, Turandot, genuinely Chinese.

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The Italian opera known for the soaring aria Nessun dorma, is set in China even though its story, of a cold-hearted princess who asks all male suitors to answer three riddles or die, may be of ancient Persian origin.

The semblance of Chinese-ness in the opera is largely down to Puccini’s borrowing of several Chinese folk songs, most notably Mo Li Hua, or “Jasmine Flower”.

Other “Chinese” elements include the offensively named Ping, Pang and Pong, Turandot’s Fu Manchu-style mandarins, and typically, a lavish set that is a hotchpotch of kitsch motifs of the exotic East.

Chinese playwright and director Jia Ding, who is directing Opera Hong Kong’s new production of Turandot. Photo: courtesy of Opera Hong Kong
Chinese playwright and director Jia Ding, who is directing Opera Hong Kong’s new production of Turandot. Photo: courtesy of Opera Hong Kong
Jia Ding, the Chinese director and playwright who is directing the new Hong Kong production, says it is his intension to be historically accurate.
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