Meng Jinghui Theater Sutdio The Life Attitude of Two Dogs

Date: May 19-20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Comedy Theater

The Life Attitude of Two Dogs tells the tale of an elder dog Laifu and younger dog Wangcai leaving their home for the urban area in search of happiness and to practice their great ideals. The urban area is not so good as they have imagined, thus in the lustrous and dazzling life style, they see the various aspects of human life and make one stupid mistake after another. As a consequence, they begin to complain about their life and these complaints reflect larger problems of existence that cannot be understood by their simple minds. In order to eat their fill, they perform in the streets and attend an audition for talent shows, entering the entertainment world, they work as security personnel and get adopted, but later abandoned and beaten black and blue by a dog disposal team. Finally, they're determined to courageously live and soldier on no matter how tough their lives get.

The King's Singers

Date: May 20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

The King's Singers were officially born on May 1, 1968, when six recently-graduated choral scholars from King's College, Cambridge, gave a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank in London. This group had formed in Cambridge and had been singing together for some years in a range of lineups under a different name, but this big London debut was the launchpad for the five-decade-long career of The King's Singers we know now. Their vocal makeup was two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has never wavered from this formation since. 2018 marks the 50th birthday of the group, and to celebrate, The King's Singers are presenting their anniversary season: GOLD. Everything in this GOLD season, from triple-album to book and concert tour, celebrates the amazing musical heritage of The King's Singers, and also looks at the bright future of vocal music in all its forms.

Sir Andrew Davis & Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Date: May 19 - 8 pm

Venue: Shanghai Symphony Hall

Sir Andrew Davis has served as music director and principal conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2000. He began his tenure as chief conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in January 2013. It has 88 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia. The MSO performs to more than 200,000 people in Melbourne and regional Victoria in over 150 concerts a year. Its principal venue is Hamer Hall.

The Tea Spell in Shanghai

Date: May 19-20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: 1862 Theater

Following his last work of Dreams of Zen, The Tea Spell is another starling dance play of choreographer Zhao Liang. It is also the second work of his oriental trilogy of body and soul. The work is inspired by the exquisite tea set relic, which was unearthed from Famen Temple and used for the emperor in Tang Dynasty (618-907). It follows the clue of "Tea", which blurs the boundary between time and space and returns to human nature. In the play, the three characters of a woodman, hermit and monk represent different types of people. They encounter a fair lady, constantly change and get lost in the endless loop, presenting a spiritual vastness of human beings through a fresh and elegant visual tableau. The storyline is vivid and manifests profound human nature. Through multisensory experience, the audiences glimpse into the subtle wisdom of the universe in a detached way. In terms of visual effect, the performance presents its cutting-edge aesthetics in terms of costumes, props, choreography and artistic makeup.

A Coproduction of NCPA, Royal Opera House & Opera Australia Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg

Date: May 31-June 7 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg was composed from 1845 to 1867 and completed after Tristan und Isolde, and premiered at the National Theatre Munich in 1868. The work holds a unique position among operas by Richard Wagner, since it is his only "comic" opera and has lively music. The plot is based on an historical social context that include figures of the period. The protagonist Hans Sachs was the most famous "Die Meistersinger" in German history, who had written numerous poems to celebrate the spirit of humanity and life, making significant contributions to German art in the 16th Century. The figure was used by Wagner to express his ideal of reforming art and delivering high praise for German culture and art. This version is a coproduction of the NCPA, Royal Opera House, Convent Garden and Opera Australia, and a second opera produced by the NCPA in collaboration with the Royal Opera House after Andrea Chenier, which was launched in 2015.

National Theater of China Fusheng

Date: May 19-20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

Fusheng, who holds expansive knowledge about Confucianism and is employed as a learned scholar in the Qin State, which has just unified China in the ancient time. As time goes on, Confucianism, which has long been admired for so long, has lost its influence. The First Emperor of Qin orders the "burning of books and burial of Confucian scholars." But Fusheng preserves the Confucian masterpiece The Book of History and defends the culture without fear of death, but when he seems to have succeeded, his soul is tortured. Yet as a scholar of Confucianism, he seems duty bound to sacrifice his life for it.

Years of Tranquility: Ton Koopman Conducts the Seasons

Date: May 25 - 8 pm

Venue: Shanghai Symphony Hall

Born in Zwolle, the Netherlands, Ton Koopman had a classical education and studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam. He received the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. Naturally attracted by historical instruments and fascinated by the philological performance style, Koopman concentrated his studies on Baroque music, and soon became a leading figure in the "authentic performance" movement. At the age of 25, Koopman created his first baroque orchestra; in 1979 he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed in 1992 by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir. Combined as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, the ensemble soon gained worldwide fame as one of the best ensembles on period instruments.