'Farewell My Concubine': Renowned Chinese Peking opera hits the New York stage

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Two of China's biggest Peking opera stars have arrived in New York to stage a unique interpretation of "Farewell My Concubine" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Unlike previous shows, the two will be performing in front of a small audience in a space of cultural significance. Our correspondent Karina Huber has more.

Shanghai Peking Opera actors Shang Changrong and Shi Yihong rehearse a scene from "Farewell My Concubine" a Chinese tale of love and suicide set during a pivotal moment in Imperial China's history. Based on real events from more than 2000 years ago, the opera is set in the period when the Qin dynasty was ending and the Han reign beginning.

SHANG CHANGRONG PEKING OPERA ACTOR "This is a very moving historical story. It is very well-known in China. It is not only a piece of war history, but is also a moving love story about the farewell between a hero and his concubine. In China, everybody likes this drama."

The opera is being staged in an intimate setting for an audience of 60 people in what the Met says is the first Chinese scholar's garden built outside of China. Opera star Shi Yihong says it's the first time they've performed so close to the audience.

SHI YIHONG SHANGHAI PEKING OPERA ACTRESS "The Chinese garden in the Metropolitan Museum has floors, stairs and stones from the ancient Chinese era. Performing in such a space is very, very special. The challenge was figuring out how to stage a drama in such a space, so that the audience feels personally in the scene, and can even play with us at the same time."

KARINA HUBER NEW YORK "The Metropolitan Museum of Art chose this drama as a sort of companion piece to a recently completed exhibition titled "Age of Empires" devoted to the Qin dynasty - the same period in which "Farewell My Concubine" takes place."

Douglas Hearn, the Douglas Dillon Chairman of Asian Art at The Met, says over 350,000 people saw the exhibition. He says there is a strong appetite in New York for Asian culture.

MIKE HEARN THE DOUGLAS DILLON CHAIRMAN OF ASIAN ART AT THE MET "Asia is looming large on the horizon both economically and politically and so it's very important to have a cultural perspective, to have a historical sense of where these cultures come from."

He says the Met hopes to provide some of that context with productions like this. The Shanghai Peking Opera is putting on ten performances of "Farewell My Concubine" over a two-week period in New York. Karina Huber, CGTN, New York.