Opera Online- Tea:A mirror of Soul Week 4

Welcome to Opera-Online!

Welcome students and teachers to Opera Online. This week on our voyage through the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of Tea: A Mirror of Soul, we will look at tea sage Lu Yu and some of the tea traditions that inspired this opera.

YouTube Clip of the Week

The tea ceremony is an important aspect of Japanese and Chinese culture. It is a consistent element in the opera Tea: A Mirror of Soul and therefore I thought I would share the experience with you…

Japanese tea Ceremony

Web Site of the Week

Lu Yu (733-804) is sometimes known as the Patron Saint of Tea or the Sage of Tea and is the founding father of tea art. He is worshipped by many for his monumental book Cha Jing (The Classics of Tea a.k.a. The Book of Tea) the first complete work on cultivating, making and drinking tea. This historical figure is also an important, unseen character in Tea: A Mirror of Soul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_Yu

The Japanese House or Shofuso, sits in a beautiful oasis with manicured lawns and a huge koi fish pond inside Fairmount Park. Why not pay a visit and experience traditional Japanese cultural activities during the year, including a tea ceremony demonstration!

Opera on the Air

On January 30th at 1pm WRTI radio will broadcast the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi's Stiffelio conducted by Placido Domingo. The cast includes Sondra Radvanovsky as Linda, Jose Cura as Stiffelio, Andrzej Dobber as Stankar and Phillip Ens as Jorg.

On January 31st at 3pm WHYY Channel 12 will air the documentary The Audition about the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, in which the contestants compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The competition is seen through the eyes of three hopefuls.

Don't forget to invite your friends to sign up to receive these alerts by emailing their name, school, and age to us at outreach@operaphila.org.

Until next time …

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