The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown
Encyclopedia
The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown is a chamber opera
by Jason Kao Hwang
, to a libretto by Catherine Filloux
. It premiered in 2001
, directed by Jean Randich and conducted by Juan Carlos Rivas. The original cast was Sandia Ang (Soprano), Ryu-Kyung Kim (Mezzo-contralto), and Zheng Zhou
(Baritone).
Instrumentation for the opera includes many traditional Chinese instruments, including the pipa
, gaohu
, erhu
, and zhonghu
, heard together with western instruments including the piccolo
, flute
, alto flute
, B flat clarinet
, bass clarinet
, cello
, accordion
, vibraphone
and other percussion
The opera has been recorded on New World Records
, with the original cast and conductor.
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
by Jason Kao Hwang
Jason Kao Hwang
Jason Kao Hwang is a Chinese American violinist and composer.A versatile performer, Hwang focuses primarily on jazz and improvised musics, and has a particular interest in cross-cultural projects...
, to a libretto by Catherine Filloux
Catherine Filloux
Catherine Filloux is a French-Algerian-American playwright. She has received awards from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the O'Neill, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, and the Asian Cultural Council. In 2003 she was a Fullbright Senior Specialist in playwriting in Cambodia.Filloux's plays...
. It premiered in 2001
2001 in music
See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
, directed by Jean Randich and conducted by Juan Carlos Rivas. The original cast was Sandia Ang (Soprano), Ryu-Kyung Kim (Mezzo-contralto), and Zheng Zhou
Zheng Zhou
Zheng Zhou is an American operatic baritone who has sung at many of the world's finest opera houses. His opera credits include performances with the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Illinois, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Teatro Real, the Philippine...
(Baritone).
Instrumentation for the opera includes many traditional Chinese instruments, including the pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
, gaohu
Gaohu
The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera...
, erhu
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
, and zhonghu
Zhonghu
The zhonghu is a low-pitched Chinese bowed string instrument. Together with the erhu and gaohu, it is a member of the huqin family, and was developed in the 20th century as the alto member of the huqin family .The zhonghu is analogous with the erhu, but is slightly larger and...
, heard together with western instruments including the piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, alto flute
Alto flute
The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
, B flat clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
and other percussion
The opera has been recorded on New World Records
New World Records
New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....
, with the original cast and conductor.