Chinese performance comes of age as Paul Andreu’s egg finally hatches.

Paul Andreu’s vision has become reality. His masterpiece, The National Center for the Performing Arts, or NCPA, the giant silver dome west of Tiananmen Square, has been brilliantly lit for its December debut and ticket sales are booming.

“The era of performing arts is drawing near in China. I mean, not only in Beijing, but also in Shanghai and other major cities,” says Qian Shijin, Art Director of the Shanghai Grand Theater and consultant who has worked on the NCPA project from the beginning. “The Shanghai Grand Theater was put into operation in 1998, which led a round of theater construction in China. The National Grand Theater brings it to a height.”

Currently the largest performing arts center in the world, the NCPA, or “The Egg” as it is colloquially known, is so large you could fit two Worker's Stadiums in it. It’s twice as big as the Kennedy Center in New York and three and a half times larger than its counterpart in Shanghai (see sidebar, page 23). Nearly 80 plays and 180 performances are slated for its debut season and officials are predicting that 300,000 people will have seen performances there by March. “Among the 70 plays that are already open for ticket sales, 15 are sold out,” says NCPA marketing chief, Wang Wei.

Since the project was announced in 1998, critics—domestic and foreign—have openly questioned Andreu's design, calling it a “mausoleum” in complete disharmony with its surrounding architecture. Inflated budgets, relocation of locals and endlessly delayed construction didn’t help matters. Andreu, who also did the new wing of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Shanghai’s Pudong airport, shrugged it off, saying the egg design was “very Chinese.” “The location made it clear that it’s a cultural symbol of the nation, just like the Great Hall of the People represents the supreme power,” says the French architect, “but it's a new architecture—a good design should not be restricted to tradition.”

Qian Shijin, who has worked as the art director for the Shanghai Grand Theater for nine years, loved the egg idea right away. When he came back to Shanghai after the bidding round with the news that the egg didn’t go over too well in Beijing, he joked, “Bring Andreu and his egg to Shanghai. Beijing doesn’t favor it, but we do.”

Ultimately, national ambition to build a truly great theater won out and on December 22, Andreu’s egg hatched, boasting some of the best acoustics to be found in Asia. At the trial performance of the Cultural Revolution era classic ballet "Red Detachment of Women," audiences, however, felt the stage should have been brighter and the music louder. “Those are just the misconceptions of art that we want to correct,” says chief stage designer, Jin Zhishun. “Chinese audiences are misled by too many large scale singing and dancing galas. Strong lighting and loud sounds are not proper for a theater. That is why we designed the Opera House with only two doors—to black out all the outside noise. The only sounds will be those of the musical instruments or the ballet shoes hitting the floor. A paper tearing on the stage will be heard clearly throughout the theater.”

Yao Shuo, project manager of the China Performing Arts Agency, is especially thrilled by the NCPA. For years he watched as high-profile, large-scale musicals like Phantom of Opera, The Lion King and Les Miserables all made stops in Shanghai, but bypassed Beijing. “The NCPA will provide the space needed for top level international talent,” Yao says. “But it will also be a platform for nurturing local art performance.”

Looks like Andreu will have the last laugh.

by Summer Liu

Don’t Miss the Debut Season

New Year’s Concert
Dec. 31-Jan. 1 | Symphony
This once-in-a-year all-star lineup features violin virtuoso Vadim Repin, veteran soprano Kathleen Battle and piano prodigy Lang Lang conducted by Seiji Ozawa, the multi-decade leader of the award-winning Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Le Corsaire
Jan. 5-6 | Ballet
World famous opera conductor Valery Gergiev leads 510 performers from the Mariisky Theatre in Russia to present four pieces, including the classic ballet, Le Corsaire, which they made famous in the '70s. The ballet is based on a poem by Lord Byron.

José Carreras in Concert
Jan. 18 | Opera
The three tenors, Jose Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, knocked out China at the Forbidden City six years ago. One of the three may be gone, but Jose Carreras is back for a solo concert.

Pink Floyd Ballet
Jan. 29-30 | Ballet
French choreographer Roland Petit and the National Ballet of China revisit one of the strangest but most popular pieces of modern ballet, all done to Pink Floyd songs. Petit himself regards this as the best among all the different editions.

New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Feb. 23-24 | Symphony
The oldest symphony orchestra in the United States presents Beethoven Symphonies No. 8 and 9, as well as Brahms' Symphony No. 4. Conductor Lorin Maazel has been awarded the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor.

Tan Dun Organ Concerto
Mar. 31 | Organ
China's foremost avant-garde musician, Tan Dun derives inspiration from Chinese folk music and the composition of the Imperial court. He became the first Chinese musician to win an Oscar for Best Original Music in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Le Roi d’Ys
Apr. 3-6 | Opera
Recommended by the French government, Le Roi d’Ys by Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse premieres in China. Veteran conductor Edouard Lalo will be on stage to conclude the debut season. This is the NCPA’s salute to Paul Andreu, the controversial architect who designed the building.