In the meantime, local fans will finally be able to appreciate an original opera at home. South Korea's feted composer Chin Unsuk's ``Alice in Wonderland'' is now available on DVD (Eklasse).
Lewis Carroll's classic story is brought to life with Chin's dreamy music, Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang's poignant libretto and Kent Nagano's fine-tempoed interpretation. It debuted last year at Munich's Bayerische Staatspoer (Bavarian State Opera) with maestro Nagano at the baton, and now everyone can experience the performance. The opera was listed in the Los Angeles Times' ``Best of 2007'' and named ``World Premiere of the Year'' by European critics in Opernwelt magazine.
Deliciously surreal and hypnotizing, Alice's adventure is thoroughly deconstructed through multimedia creations inspired by pantomime, theater and musical. It is at once fascinating and thought-provoking as our protagonist asks the undying question: ``Who in the world am I?'' Soprano Sally Mathews delivers arias with restrained drama and deep tones while she speaks the lines with a childish purr.
Particularly striking is the scene with the smoking Caterpillar, brought to life by a bass clarinet soloist. The opera production seems to be an audiovisual materialization of the composer's musicality ― her greatest muses being dreams, light and color.
In English with Korean, French, German and Italian subtitles. Chin herself spent six months translating the libretto into her native tongue. On sale at major record shops and bookstores. Call (031) 911-5613.
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