The Italian President Sergio Mattarella just couldn’t have enough “Marco Polo” during his state visit to China last week when he was treated with a bombardment of music about “Marco Polo” wherever the trip took him as his eager hosts rolled out their plans to impress him in music, also to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s journey to ancient China.
Sergio Mattarella was welcomed by President Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, at the concert hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing for a Puccinian night. On November 8th, Lü Jia, music director of NCPA, conducted the NCPA Orchestra, chorus and soloists from both China and Italy entertaining the dignitaries by performing opera arias by Puccini including “Nessun dorma” from “Turandot.” On the programme was also a main theme from Marco Polo, the 2010 ballet produced by NCPA.
In Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang province, Sergio Mattarella was met with a second Marco Polo night. On the bill was “Marco Polo,” an opera produced and premiered by Teatro La Fenice in April. The opera in three acts was composed by the students Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello. The Zhejiang Conservatory of Music presented the opera on November 10th performed by a local orchestra and an international cast.
A third “Marco Polo” evening followed back to back on November 11th. After Sergio Mattarella said ciao to Hangzhou and arrived in Guangzhou, he was escorted to the Guangzhou Opera House for yet another “Marco Polo” performed by Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra from the pit. GOH’s production of “Marco Polo” received its premiere in 2018 in a stage direction by Kasper Holten. The opera in three acts was composed by German composer Enjott Schneider (who doesn’t speak Chinese) set to a Chinese libretto by Wei Jin. It has undergone extensive revisions and cuts by a league of Chinese composers since then to overcome its language barriers. The latest modification was revived in May.
Guess which is Sergio Mattarella’s favourite?