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New
Production (World première) |
2005.2
Osan, from "Shinju Ten no Amijima" |
Original by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Music and Libretto by Kubo Mayako
OPERA HOUSE
3 performances
February 25(Fri)6:30pm, 26(Sat)3:00pm, 27(Sun)3:00pm 2005 |
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Conductor:Kanda Keiichi
Director:Aguni Jun
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| Background |
| This is the NNTT’s ninth production of an opera by a Japanese
composer. The first was Dan Ikuma’s TAKERU performed
to commemorate the grand opening of the NNTT in 1997, and the last
two were Narukami and Shunkan, staged in January
2004, which attracted public attention because of Ichikawa Danjuro’s
debut as an opera director. The music and libretto were written by
Kubo Mayako, who has been highly successful overseas. In 1996, she
was commissioned by the Opernhaus Bühnen Graz, the prestigious
opera house in Graz, the second largest city in Austria, and the gateway
to success at the Wiener Staatsoper, and by the organizers of the
Steirischer Herbst (Styrian Autumn) Festival to write an opera. Her
opera Rashomon, staged on the opening day of the festival
in 1996, was a great success. Its Japan premiere based on the Japanese-language
version in 2002 is still fresh in our memories. Based on Shinju
Ten no Amijima (The Love Suicide at Amijima) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon,
the opera by the same name is a tragedy of contradiction and conflict
that arises from eroticism and reason. High hopes are placed on the
world premiere of the work, which dramaturgically suits this season’s
theme: the “Fate of Women.”
<Japanese operas performed at the NNTT in the
past>
TAKERU, October 1997
Tenshu Monogatari (The Tale of Castle Tower), February
1999
Tsumi to Batsu (Crime and Punishment), June 1999
Chinmoku (Silence), March 2000
Yuzuru (The Twilight Crane), December 2000
Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), January
2002
Hikari (Light), January 2003
Narukami and Shunkan, January 2004 |
| Note by the Composer, June 2003 |
| Adapting classical literature for opera cannot be justified simply
by shifting what is common to the two categories in style and idea
to the contemporary setting. There is a gap that cannot be ignored
between the present day and the period when Shinju Ten no Amijima,
on which this opera is based, was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
and performed, and the world of giri (obligation) and
ninjo (human feelings) has also changed. The reason Shinju
Ten no Amijima still makes a powerful impression on the audience
and writers is Chikamatsu’s aesthetic sense and humanism. The
focus of appreciation by modern enthusiasts is the pursuit of the
prototypes of human beings created by Chikamatsu, which are hidden
behind giri and ninjo in the Genroku period (1688-1704) and in early
capitalism.
There is no end to the stimulation my imagination receives from
original drama by Chikamatsu. This testifies that the original drama
is rich in content. Why did Osan intend to rescue Jihei and Koharu
without thinking of herself? Why was Jihei unable to make a decision
to choose between his wife and Koharu? Was Osan simply a good wife
and wise mother? Answers are varied. I want to write about the absurdity
of love based on humanism derived from Chikamatsu rather than his
Shinju Ten no Amijima. |
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