Stage photo of Shaoxing Opera “The butterfly lovers”

Zhang Yimou, the prominent movie director, who has been put in charge of artistic work of the G20 opening ceremony, described it as an “internationalized” style to arouse attention, on Sept 3, just ahead of the meeting.

There will be a symphony with both Chinese and Western elements to show an “Internationalized China”, using for example, classical Chinese story “Butterfly Lovers” for a musical drama that uses Xiaoxing Opera and violins.

Zhang noted that inspiration for the concert comes from “Impressions of West Lake”, a well-known large-scale production, which, “if it succeeds, will be really beautiful”.

This is the first time for China to put on such a large symphonic event outdoors on a stage floating on a lake. He said it lasts 50 minutes and is a “landscape” symphony borrowing landscape as a stage for performance. 

His key words for the performance are: West Lake, Hangzhou characteristics, the charm of the area south of the Yangtze, Chinese style, and universal harmony.