A woman's tragedy about the power of illusion and the illusion of power
In her chamber opera Fantasy of the Red Queen, the impressively gifted writer, composer, performer and vocal artist Liu Sola has abstracted from her story, distilling it into a myth: the myth of the woman who wins power with the help of powerful men. ... In six scenes, with a stylized constellation of personae and a broadly eclecticist musical setting, traditional figurative forms of Chinese musical theatre combine with modern psychology, traditional and contemporary musical idioms with elements of pop. Liu Sola has captured the story in a surprisingly clear, intense formal language: a national narrative whose many levels of meaning rise above regional limitations. ... Close cooperation between the Ensemble Modern and an ensemble of Chinese
musicians and performers working under the name "Liu Sola & Friends" has created a piece in which
the music and the musicians themselves shape the action on stage. ...
The dramatic climax in act five is the revolution, portrayed by the musicians alone.
In a striped down choreography, they march across the stage while the percussion
instruments provide accompanying noise and structure. At present, concepts of this kind
can only be staged with Ensemble Modern.
(Hans Jurgen Linke. Frankfurter Rundschau, 8.5.2006)
World premiere: Bockenheimer Depot. Frankfurt. HKW. Berlin
Produced by: House of World Cultural (HKW/Germany) & "Ensemble Modern" (Germany)
Libretto, music composer, and director: Liu Sola
Conductor: Johannes Kalitzke
Choreographer and stage director: Chiang Ching
Cinematographer: Lu Yue (special guest of honor)
Stage designer: Yang Xiaoping
Lighting designer: Konrad Lindenber
Sound designer: Norbert Ommer
Leading voice: Liu Sola
Chinese pop mezzo-soprano: Wu Jing
Chinese Peking opera baritone: Zhen Jianhua
Piano: Liang Heping
Chinese percussion: Zhang Yangsheng
Chinese Percussion: Li Zhengui
Chinese Percussion: Zhang Lie
Pipa: Yang Jing
Gu Qin (zither): Wu Na
Performer in the video: Sun Ping (special guest)
Conductor for Beijing rehearsals: Zhang Lie
Oboe: Antje Thierbach
Clarionet: Nina Jan_en
Fag: Johannes Schwarz
Trumpet: Valentin Garvie
Trumpet: Sava Stoianov
Flute: Dietmar Wiesner
Trombone: Uwe Dierksen
Percussion: Rumi Ogawa
Percussion: David Haller
Accordion: Hermann Kretzschmar
E-Piano/Harp: Ueli Wiget
Violin: Jagdish Mistry
Violin: Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne
Viola: Katharina Schmidt
Violoncello: Michael M. Kasper
Violoncello: Anna Carewe
C.B: Joachim Tinnefeld
Conductor: Manuel Nawri
Video creator: Liu Sola and Lu Yue
Video editor: Chen Hua
Custome designer: Liu Sola
Customes make for video and stage: Beijing Yanhui Fashion Company
Make up artists for video: Chinese Peking Opera Stage Art Center & Ma Shuying
Customs rental for video: Chinese Peking Opera House
Stage manager: Stephan Buchberger
Artistic advicer: Ackbar Abbas
Director's assistant: Nai Wen Chang
Surtitles: Paul Brauer
Audio technician: Jo Schlosser
Electrician: Markus Mayer
Stage management Instrumente: Michael Schmidt
Translator chinese/german: Wu Xueqing
Ton und Video: Andre Schulz
Beleuchtung und Bahne: Hermann Volkery
Management & Coordinator: Li Simei, Liu Mila
Management & Coordinator/HWC: Gabriele Tuch
Project coordination/Ensemble Modern: Silvia Seibert
Producer: Johannes Odenthal (HKW/Germany)
Queen: Oh my devil, my master, where are you? Each and every cell in my body is created by you.
You are my savior, my guiding spirit. Without your guidance I have no life. You taught me how to
be reborn out of my petty existence. Why let me experience the greatest glory
and the greatest humiliation? I am the queen and the sinner in one. Condemn me.
Isn't power the greatest punishment on the powerful? Isn't power nothing but a void? Come judge me,
I leave it all up to you.
I am a daughter abandoned by the father, a twig of flowers men plucked, a proud star and a
warrior above them all. I take orders from fate, but my fate was dominated by men.
My husband dominated my body, the devil dominated my soul. Look around me - it's all generals
and soldiers. Look around me - it's all heroes and traitors. Men! It's them loving me, hating me,
spoiling me, jailing me, praising me, despising me, using me, abandoning me, inspiring me,
and betraying me. Men oh men, you are all my men. I believe in the power of men, this belief
will be my illusion and my pride ! Ah, Love me now, as your wife...
The nurse talks on her cell phone：
What? You are going overseas with your wife？！
What about me？！ You promised to make a star out of me！I am not well-educated？
Not easy？ What the use of all those followers of yours? Nothing but a few stamps!
Can't you just get me a certificate, or just say I am a professor?! So many people
are buying a degree from overseas! I thought things would get easier after I hooked up
with you, but no, you are just another coward! Honest? Forget it; I don't live in dreams,
abusing myself like that old crow. Youth has a shelf life too, and power expires.
You just wait and see. I am going to tell, to the newspapers. I am the innocent;
I'm just a young girl! I don't live in dreams. I live in reality. So many newspapers
out there I can talk to. All roads lead to success, but love and belief, it is just a story.
You can keep your story-telling to yourself my dear, because I am not listening!
