EIF: Book of Mountains and Seas is arguably not 'opera'
Perhaps 'staged oratorio' would be nearer the mark, as it teams chamber choir Ars Nova Copenhagen with two superb percussionists – Michael Murphy and John Ostrowski – on tuned and untuned instruments, and six puppeteers under the direction of Basil Twist.
Ruo is his own librettist on four ancient Chinese myths from the collection of the title, stories of the origin of the planet and mankind, and of the responsibility of humans for the environment. Although they are distinct, the four parts flow into one another, culminating in a puppet giant Kua Fu chasing the single sun that the God of Archery, Hou Yi, has spared of the ten that originally lit the planet Earth.
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The 12-strong choir, directed by Theatre of Voices counter-tenor Miles Lallemant, sings in Mandarin and a vocabulary of sounds that Ruo has invented, and there are some magnificent solo voices among them as well as immaculate ensemble singing. The puppeteers, identically costumed in black velvet smocks, manipulate lanterns and the elements of the giant with flowing skill, and create seas and rivers with reams of white silk.
Beautifully lit by Ayumu 'Poe' Saegusa, the theatre of the piece is organic and elemental and every bit as mesmeric as the music, the ingredients of which are more complex. Ruo's distinctive style blends his own heritage as a Chinese-born, U.S.-resident musician, using Eastern scales but also strikingly jazzy chords and rhythms.
Mostly the music is very spacious, but there are sections of density as well as propulsive excitement, dialogues between the men and women's voices and between soloist and chorus. The two instrumentalists put in a power of work with long sequences on singing bowls and very fine six-mallet marimba playing at the work's climax.
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