Dream of the Red Chamber

Libretto by David Henry Hwang and Bright Sheng
Music by Bright Sheng
Based on the book by Cao Xueqin

The company of Dream of the Red Chamber. Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera.

Based on the book by 18th-century Qing Dynasty writer Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone) is one of the four great classical Chinese novels, considered by many to be the pinnacle of  Chinese literature.  Dream of the Red Chamber was commissioned by San Francisco Opera and premiered there in 2016, directed by Stan Lai, in a coproduction with the Hong Kong Arts Festival, which presented the work in spring 2017, prior to a fall tour of Mainland China.

Yijie Shi and Pureum Jo. Photo by Cory Weaver for the San Francisco Opera.

The Silver River

Libretto by David Henry Hwang
Music by Bright Sheng

Based on an 4,000-year-old Chinese folktale about the creation of night and day, The Silver River tells a story of a forbidden love between a Goddess Weaver and a mortal man.

The Silver River was commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where it premiered in 1997, directed by Lisa Peterson. An expanded version opened at the Spoleto Festival in 2002, directed by Ong Keng Sen, in a coproduction with the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City.