For the last few days, a bunch of operas from the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing have been appearing on Opera on Video. I want to see them! The problem is, most of them are either unsubtitled or subtitled only in Chinese. However, for whatever reason, this one has English subs accompanying the Chinese, so bam, I saw it. I wanted to do it right away because I have no idea whether its availability is time-sensitive (and it's not on a platform that I can download from).
This is based on a novel by Mo Yan, who also wrote the libretto. It takes place during the Boxer Rebellion and concerns a woman, Sun Meiniang, whose father, Sun Bing, an opera singer, is going to be executed for leading an action against German invaders: this being the titular sandalwood punishment (or "sandalwood death"), which involves driving stabbing the victim with wooden stakes and leaving him to die over the course of many days, like crucifixion. She begs her father-in-law, the executioner, Zhao Jia, to spare him, but he won't, and her gormless husband (I'm afraid I missed a lot of the characters' names), in training to follow in his dad's footsteps, is no help. After a scheme to replace Sun Bing with a lookalike beggar (why he agrees to this is never made clear) goes wrong, as the punishment is beginning, Sun Meiniang's lover decides that he can't go along with this. He kills Gormless Husband and mercykills Sun Bing, while Sun Meiniang kills her suddenly-ex-father-in-law. The chorus sings about sandalwood and the barbarity of the punishment. The end.
First thing to note is that this isn't what you might expect when you hear "Chinese opera:" it's not the indigenous form; this is a Western-style opera sung in Chinese (presumably Mandarin, though I am forced to confess that I can't tell), as are all of the operas that the NCPA made available. I knew that that was a thing, but this is the first time I've ever actually gotten to see one, so that's neat. Though here, you won't know immediately that that's the case: each act opens with a guy singing actual, traditional Chinese-opera, providing exposition and accompanying himself on what I think is a jinghu.
I always wondered how well opera singing in Chinese would work, given the tonal nature of the language. Turns out, pretty reasonably well. I definitely perceived this as a mixture of Eastern and Western musical sensibilities; the characters' gestures and the way they vocalize were reminiscent of the other kind of Chinese opera, even if this isn't that, and there are traditional Chinese instruments as part of the orchestra. There aren't exactly arias, but nor does the singing really feel like recitative; I really don't know what to call it. Musically, it's not unpleasant to listen to, but I struggle to pinpoint highlights, other than the final chorus which is indeed pretty darn great. Not that I don't appreciate hybridization, but I think maybe if it wants to be a Western opera, it should lead harder into that.
This extends to the storytelling as well. I've always had so much trouble with Chinese narratives. I have to reject the idea that Chinese sensibilities are fundamentally alien to my own. People are people! Cultural differences are one thing, but that doesn't seem like it should be possible. And yet. This barely even seems to be trying to create any real sense of drama, and weird shit like Sun Meiniang's husband and father-in-law being totes cool with just killing her dad without, it appears, even recognizing that there's a conflict, is just...blah. Maybe if I read the novel, some things would be clarified.
Look, I'll tell you one thing: I'm not going to let my somewhat lukewarm experience here put me off from trying to learn more about and gain more appreciation for Chinese opera of whatever kind. But just the same: blah.
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