The Chinese opera Erquan will be performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on May 22 and 23. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A Chinese opera entitled Erquan will be performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on May 22 and 23 as part of the 2019 NCPA Opera Festival.

Produced by the Wuxi Song and Dance Drama, the play is the first original Wuxi opera ever to be produced, and is based on the life story of Wuxi's visually-impaired folk musician Hua Yanjun, commonly known as A Bing. "A Bing's most famous work – Erquan Yingyue – has been referred to as the 'Chinese Fate Symphony', so it wasn't a hard decision to tell his life story for Wuxi's first original opera," said Liu Zhongbao, president of the Wuxi Song and Dance Theatre.

The NCPA Opera Festival, now in its 11th year, will run from April 10 to Aug 4 and will feature 11 productions, mostly from China, performed a total of 38 times.

Wang Hongwei bursts into a rousing rendition of A Bing. [Photo/WeChat account: wxsgwjyjsmzwjy]

"The past decade has not only?witnessed growing popularity of opera, but also a rise in the number of opera talents, including singers and stage designers. I'm impressed by NCPA's ability to tell Chinese stories through this unique medium," said Chinese tenor Wang Hongwei, who plays the leading role in Erquan.

Wang will also have a role in another NCPA Chinese opera – The Long March – which will be the closing piece at the festival, with performances being held from July 30 to Aug 4. It premiered in July 2016 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's epic military retreat across the country over the course of two years, starting in 1934, to evade Kuomintang forces.

Giuseppe Verdi's three-act opera, Un Ballo in Maschera, a production by China's National Center for the Performing Arts, started off the festival on April 10.