OUGD603 - LIVE BRIEF - Left Bank Opera Festival - Research - 'The Yellow Princess'

Camille Saint-Saens' 'The Yellow Princess' is the story of a man who is obsessed with the drawing of a Geisha on the front of a cabinet, and his opium-induced hallucinations about a mysterious and beguiling Japanese lady.

The opera is a comic in one act and five scenes by Saint-Saens. Saint-Saens was influenced by the 'Japonism' movement in Paris at the the time. He appealled to public taste by choosing a story about a Japanese princess, although it is set in the Netherlands. The music is characterized by a 'Light and brisk' quality which uses pentatonic harmony to evoke an oriental sound.

The story follows Kornelis, a student who is fascinated by all things Japanese, and his cousin Lena, who is in love with Kornelis. The latter is too obsessed with his portrait of Ming, a Japanese girl, to notice his cousins affections. In a fantastical dream caused by opium, Kornelis is transported to Japan. At first enthralled, he eventually comes disillusioned as he comes to the realization that he is in fact in love with Lena.

The story focusses on Japan and Japonism playing with the obsession of a western man and his obsession with Japan and the painting of a Japanese Geisha, of which is said to be based on Vincent Van Gogh's 'La Courtisane'.

Again tradition is at the heart of this production as well as in the others, a further look into Japanese art (an aspect which is the main focus of this opera). I shall outline the ideas in a future blog post.