Alice Ping Yee Ho, City Opera Vancouver, and Leaf Music are proud to present Chinatown, a sweeping opera that tells the collective story of thousands of Chinese immigrants who left their homeland between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries in search of a better life for them and their families. The first opera in Hoisanese and English and the first to fuse authentic Chinese folk dialects and cultures into the world of English opera, Ho's Chinatown is a tribute to the legacy of the people who toiled under the promise of prosperity, and instead received abuse and hardship. Chinatown revolves around the intertwining lives of Saihin and Xon Pon, two young men from Hoisan county in South China who have come to Canada in search of prosperity. We follow their story as they meet, work together, endure hardships and have families of their own. A collaboration between composer Alice Ping Yee Ho, librettist Madeleine Thien, and Hoisanese translator Paul Yee, Chinatown brings together decades of lived experience from thousands of Chinese immigrants in an intimate and emotionally arresting musical and dramatic soundscape. Ho says the opera is intended to be an artistic depiction of the realities facing early 20th century Chinese immigrants. "This album represents an important work that tells the stories and experiences of early Chinese immigrants. It's clear by the standing ovations and positive reviews that the opera Chinatown is a beautiful and moving story of racism, resilience, and family. I hope this album will inspire the audience the same way as it was imagined in the theatre - the experience of an epic journey of music and drama, both heart-wrenching and heart-warming."

Tracklist:

Act I Scene 1: In Times of Leisure, My Thoughts Move Quickly (Hoisan Singer) [03: 21]
Act I Scene 2: Hurry Along, Little Math (Xon Pon, Young Xon Pon, Uncle Toy) [07:55]
Act I Scene 3: Mon Wah School, Amount Owed (Saihin, Xon Pon, Hoisan Singer) [07:12]
Act I Scene 4: Welcome, Welcome, Saihin Brother (Saihin, Xon Pon) [07:57]
Act I Scene 5: Ah-Hin? Congratulate Me! I Won Cash! (Saihin, Xon Pon) [07:57]
Act I Scene 6: Oh Friends Come and Listen! (Saihin, Xon Pon, Hoisan Singer, Wenli, Anna) [08:10]
Act I Scene 7: Ah-Hin, This Letter Just Arrived. (Saihin, Xon Pon, Immigration Officer) [08:03]
Act II Scene 1: I Crossed the Sea a Child (Eugene, Xon Pon, Hoisan Singer, Anna, Wenli) [11:56]
Act II Scene 2: City Forces Them to Move, So Cruel (Eugene, Xon Pon, Hoisan Singer, Anna, Wenli) [14:31]
Act II Scene Your Papers, Please (Uncle Toy, Police Officer, Eugene, Xon Pon, Anna, Wenli) [05:09]
Act II Scene 4: In Two Hours (Uncle Toy, Eugene, Xon Pon, Anna, Wenli) [05:54]
Act II Scene 5: Uncle Toy Will Be Here Soon (Hoisan Singer, Saihin, Xon Pon, Eugene, Anna, Wenli,... [13:21

UPC: 3191684102344
Label: Leaf Music
Release Date: 9.8.23
Format: CD

Ho / City Opera Vancouver - Chinatown (CD)