Shangai-born Bright Sheng settled in New York City in 1982 and has since written a number of important compositions, including this opera, The Song of Majnun. It has been called a Persian Romeo and Juliet, a fair enough description though its music is pretty far removed from that of most of the popular works associated with the Shakespearean tragedy. In the end, the music at times divulges a mixture of Chinese folk styles, Benjamin Britten (particularly from A Midsummer Night's Dream), and even a bit of Bernstein-tinged Broadway and Stravinsky. That said, Sheng expresses his own individual voice in the opera and his music is quite original and compelling. The libretto is by Andrew Porter and the story centers on two lovers, Majnun and Layla, whose romance is frustrated by the latter's father and ends with her suicide, leaving Majnun embracing her tomb and declaring his desire to join her. Sheng sees the story almost as a metaphor for his feelings for his native land. He uses some clever devices in the work to explain parts of the story: in Scene Two, for example, village gossips rapidly chatter about the two lovers, telling of opposition to their romance and of Majnun's resultant madness (in Arabic, "Majnun" can mean "insane" or "infatuated"). Majnun's love song for Layla comes in the latter half of this scene and is heard again at the beginning of Scene Three (sung by the chorus and eventually by Layla) and elsewhere in the opera. It is ethereal and haunting, modern in its cooler lyricism and elements of tension, but quite memorable.The third scene deftly handles the theme of Majnun's love song and contains colorful excitement and brilliant vocal writing in the central part. The opera's final scene (Scene Eight—Layla's funeral and Majnun at Layla's tomb) moves from haunting to intensely powerful and finally to touchingly tragic, all moods brilliantly realized by Sheng. While Sheng's vocal music and sense for drama are excellent throughout, his orchestral writing also shows a mastery. The somewhat Stravinskyian orchestration in the long instrumental episode in the central part of Scene Four is powerfully effective in capturing the desperation of Majnun's father's attempt to persuade his son to forsake Layla and go on a holy pilgrimage. Lasting about an hour, The Song of Majnun is a quite approachable work and should appeal to those with a fondness for modern opera.

© Robert Cummings, All Music Guide