The 2025 Chinese Opera Festival Grandly Opened in Vienna

On January 23, the grand opening ceremony of the 2025 Chinese Opera Festival in Europe was held in the University of Vienna. With huge curiosity, the Viennese from academic circle, media outlets, art and culture fields, business world as well as other professionals crowded into the auditorium, Hof 1 of the Altes AKH campus, located at Spitalgasse 2/Alser Straße 4, 1090 Vienna, to see the World Heritage Site of the Chinese Opera, and to experience the legendary charm embodied in it.

While the concept of “Gesamtkunst” by Richard Wagner is more than familiar on the European opera stage, the comprehensive quality of the traditional Chinese opera with elements like “symbolic maneuver, poetic speaking, dramatic singing and showy martial arts” are unknown realm for the Europeans. Largely overlooked and wrongly understood, the aesthetic beauty and philosophical profundity with deeply social, religious and ethical roots are not caught by a wide range of the European audience. Rather, they are often blocked by the loudness of some solo instruments or by the exotic melodies on top of the unknown stories requiring immensely different cultural connotations. 

The goal of 2025 Chinese Opera Festival in Europe aims at breaking the ice. In the coming months, more information events will take place, and eight local Chinese operas will be on stage in Austria as well as in Germany, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. Namely, Wu Opera “The Legend of the White Snake”, Gui Opera “Peach-Blossom Face”, Kunqu Opera “The Romance of West Chamber”, Yue Opera “The Butterfly Lovers”, Yang Opera “Wu Han’s Three Attempts to Kill”, Qinqiang Opera “The Bond of Red Plum Blossoms Again”, Xi Opera “Pearl Pagoda” and Huai Opera “Zhao Wuniang”.

During the Grand Opening Ceremony, Prof.GUO Xiaonan, a well-known Chinese theater director and dramatist, held a lecture by offering the audience a brief yet thorough overview of around 2000-year-long history of the Chinese opera, its major developmental periods and the variety of more than 300 different local forms. With the title “Spirit, Magic and Characteristics of the Chinese Theater Art”, Prof. Guo’s lecture examined the history and the artistic spirit of the Chinese opera in relationship to religion and philosophy, enhanced by its aesthetic and cultural features. Explained in his presentation was also the form of expression including music, masks, costumes and performance systems. The vivid costumed display by ZHENG Tianlong, WU Peijiao and CHU Yujiang of the classic stage movements via Gaojia Opera summarized the unique beauty of the Chinese opera.

Prof. Guo from Shanghai is a leading and much awarded figure in the cultural and artistic scene. His works include Yue Opera pieces like “Kong Yiji” and “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai”, Kunqu-Opera “Evening Crane”, and Peking-Opera “The lover of the Tang dynasty”. He created theater works like “Moth”, too. Prof. Guo shaped his theater concept as “Old in the New, New with Roots”, advocating the fusion of traditional art with modern aesthetic touch. His book “Vision/Thinking” was awarded the Prize for Chinese Literature and Art Criticism in 2012.

The Opening Ceremony saw a press conference and a panel discussion on the impression of the Chinese opera. Mr. Ernst Woller, President of the Landtag Vienna, Honorary President ICC, showed up and gave his warm welcome for the initiative of the Opera Festival. Among the podium participants were Mr. SONG Chen, Secretary General of China Opera Research Society (COPS), Prof. GUO Xiaonan, Chinese Opera Expert, Dr. Padraig Lysaght, Head of Confucius Institute in Vienna, Mr. Marco Lumsden, Managing Director of Lumsden and Friends, Dr. Brigitta Schwarzer, lawyer and Lego education expert from INARA GmgH, and Prof. Richard Trappl, China expert, ICC Honorary Advisor. Questions from the audience on the rhythms of the opera poesies, the names of different tones, and the distribution of the drama roles aroused big interest for deeper understanding of the art. Good wishes and high anticipations were in the air. 

Organizers of the event include Art Development Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, China Opera Research Society (COPS), International Culture Cooperations (ICC) and the Austrian Journalist Club (ÖJC). Mr. John Herzog, Vice President of ÖJC, moderated the whole event, with Dr. WANG Jing as the translator.

Not to be missed are the upcoming events, respectively held in the UN Vienna International Center on 18. February with the topic of “The Cultural Implication of the Music in the Chinese Opera”, and in MuTh Concert Hall on 19. March with the topic of “The Aesthetic and the Form of the Traditional Chinese Opera Costumes”.  Save the dates!