On October 30, the Moscow International House of Music will host the Russian premiere of the Opera Kōdayū, which was written by the order of Japanese singer Eiko Aoki and by Azerbaijani composer Farhang Huseynov his libretto, reports the publishing house AOKI Yoshihide Aoki.
This four-act opera is based on the true story of Daikokuya Kōdayū, a handsome boatman and captain of a crew of sixteen. Two hundred years ago on December 13, 1782, Kōdayū's boat, loaded to capacity with cargo, left Shiroko Beach off Ise, central Japan, towards Edo (present-day Tokyo). But it faced a violent storm immediately following departure; after drifting for eight months in the Northern Sea, the ship finally landed on the coast of Amchitka of the Aleutian Islands. Having overcome numerous difficulties later on, Kōdayū appealed to Catherine the Great Queen Ekaterina II) and obtained her permission to return to Japan after ten years on February 29, 1792.
According to Aoki, his mother Eiko Aoki, the Opera singer, herself, dreamed of Opera for many years, where the main character would be a Japanese and the plot of the opera would be devoted to Japan's contacts with another country. "She wanted the Opera to have a happy ending and could introduce Japan and its culture to the world through this Opera. She was always looking for such a story," he recalls.
The head of the publishing house added that his mother found the work of Katsuragawa Hosyu "Heard in the Northern regions" - all the adventures of Daikokuya Kōdayū are featured in detail there.
However, the search of the composer for writing Opera took about 6-10 years. It took the Azerbaijani composer, laureate of the silk road competition Farhang Huseynov three years to compose the music. Lyrics to the arias were written first in Japanese, then translated into Russian by famous in Japan musician and singer Nikita Yamashita.
report.az