''Genji monogatari'' (''The Tale of Genji'') is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

by the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Minoru Miki, with the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

Colin Graham Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in Hove, England – 6 April 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire), Stowe School and RADA. Early in his c ...

, based on the eponymous early 11th-century masterpiece of classical Japanese literature by

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abo ...

. The opera was composed in 1999 and premiered in June 2000 at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, with Graham directing the production. Cast members from the OTSL production participated in the Japanese premiere of the opera on 20 September 2001. The story of the opera is principally derived from the first three books of the novel.Kikuyo Komesu, "'Tale of Genji' goes to the opera". ''The Japan Times'', 14 September 2001.
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Roles

* Old Emperor * Fujitsubo * Prince Genji * Lady Rokujo * To-no-Chujo * Kokiden * Aoi * Suzaku * Koremitsu * Shonagon * Old recluse of Akashi * The lady of Akashi

References

External links

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis page on ''The Tale of Genji''

{{The Tale of Genji Operas English-language operas Operas by Miki Minoru 2000 operas Works based on The Tale of Genji Operas based on novels