Amy Tan's New Opera Premieres in September
Posted on August 9, 2008
Amy Tan talks to The Wall Street Journal about her new opera for which she wrote the libretto. The music was composed by Stewart Wallace. The San Francisco Opera is staging an operatic version of Tan's bestselling novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter. She began as an adviser and co-writer, but eventually took over the writing completely.
Amy Tan: I hadn't planned to do it. [Librettist] Michael Korie and I started together outlining the story. I was part of it; I was always co-librettist, but I thought I was there mostly to contribute early to what the story idea might be, its emotional authenticity, because this came from family history. I was to be a kind of cheerleader. Suddenly I was pushed really into taking a greater role, when Michael had three projects that came through.What a fascinating experience it must have been for her. The opera premieres Saturday, September 13, 2008; you can find out more about the opera and buy tickets here.WSJ: You seem to have understood the conventions of operatic writing innately.
Amy Tan:I think that whatever form you write, whether it's a story, an opera, a play, a novel, short stories or poetry, a writer has to have the same innate understanding of story. It's often about trauma, these deep emotions that reverberate, as opposed to love, and did I wear the right dress, or social customs. I didn't have to really spend a lot of time learning from Stewart; I knew intuitively.