Yashagaike (Demon Pond)

  • 2012/2013 Season
  • [New Production]
    Katuski Osamu : Yashagaike (Demon Pond)
    Opera in 2 Acts
    Sung in Japanese with Japanese Supertitles
  • PLAYHOUSE
  • PERFORMANCES

    2013
    Jun.2526282930
    TueWedFriSatSun
    6:30
     
    6:30
    *
    2:00
    *
    2:00
     
    2:00
    *

At the New National Theatre, Tokyo, the staging of operas by Japanese composers is something we see as an important part of our mission. In the NNTT Opera's first season under Artistic Director Otaka Tadaaki, we staged Yuzuru (by Dan Ikuma), which is commonly regarded as the finest work in the history of Japanese opera. The following year we presented Chinmoku (Silence), an exquisite work based on the classic Endo Shusaku novel of the same name, and which was composed by Matsumura Teizo over a period of 13 years. With Yashagaike, the NNTT Opera will be performing the first work commissioned by the NNTT since Rokumeikan in 2010. It was commissioned from Katsuki Osamu, a composer who Otaka Tadaaki was fully confident would be able to incorporate lovely Japanese melodic elements into his music. Mr. Katsuki has so far produced a body of work that includes many Lieder and other highly refined pieces. His skills have garnered him a strong reputation, and we look forward with great anticipation to this latest effort. Directing the production is Iwata Tatsuji, a popular opera director who has created a number of successful opera productions for theatres all over Japan. He worked with the composer to create the libretto, which is an adaptation of the play of the same name by Izumi Kyoka. Mr. Iwata directed an enormously successful production of the opera Kojiki, which was performed as part of the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan 50th Anniversary Festival (2011). At the NNTT, in 2000 he directed the production of Orpheus und Eurydike, which was the first opera performed in our Pit Theatre. We wanted this opera to be imbued with the kind of melodies that audiences will be humming on their way out, and we hope to see it performed in theatres across Japan and overseas as well. Please join us for the world premiere of Yashagaike, the sixth new opera commissioned and produced by the New National Theatre, Tokyo.

   
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