Chhlong Tonle (Crossing the River)
An opera-monodrama in three stories:
1. stained
2. strange music 15:25
3. crossing the river 35:01
FINALE 47:58
Jin-Xiang Yu, soprano; Liliya Ugay, piano Composer - Liliya Ugay, Librettist - Sokunthary Svay Dramaturg - Antigoni Gaitana, Stage director - Emerson Haven, Lighting designer - Bella Schwerin, Recording engineer - Justin Ball Recorded at Dohnányi Recital Hall, Florida State University on March 27, 2022
Chhlong Tonle was created with the support of IDEA grant from Opera America, 2021 Chhlong Tonle* explores the roles women are called to serve through the prism of different cultures and traditions in a theme of fluidity and crossing. “Stained”, the first story, opens us up with Leyli, whose arranged marriage results in a wedding night that does not dawn as expected. Inspired by a phrase from the poet, Kimiko Hahn, “That Strange Music”, the second story, chronicles the relationship of two concert pianists whose virtuosic and musical beginnings descend into a postpartum, distorted landscape. “Chhlong Tonle”, our final story, takes us literally and figuratively across the Mekong River in Cambodia with the pregnant Sreymum. The opera culminates in a unified call of all the women voiced through a single female vessel.
*In Khmer, the language of Cambodia, the term “chhlong tonle” means to literally “cross the river” but is also a figure of speech to mean “giving birth.” In traditional Cambodian birthing rites, only women who have given birth, who have already “crossed the river,” are allowed to be with the expecting mother and midwife.
This project took about three months of preparation and execution. I worked closely with the director Emmerson Haven to make sure the lighting and projection would match the blocking and stories. The final product was a beautiful performance and a very long day of recording many times to get every angle for the video. The recording was not able to have the same lighting effects as the live performance due to camera inabilities.
I used two projectors for this project, one was the larger image and created background textures or landscapes, and the other was a smaller projector that I used to create special effects.
The very first design was a henna design that slowly drew on the back of the stage. During the first story there is also a moment where the sheet Jin-Xiang Yu is holding has a red spot of blood that turns to black and spreads over the sheet. This was a small projector that I had to aim at the sheet during the performance, and it had a very cool effect as you could see the dread engulf the character.
The second story had music notes floating out of the piano and this also required aiming the projector at the correct space on the stage. This was mostly because the small projector had just been used for the spot and needed to now project across the stage toward the piano. The large projector was used for the stage lights to show the concert pianist’s role in this story.
The third story largely used the large projector with water and then tree textures. The small projector was used at the end to emphasize the word here, which is sung many times as the opera closes. I decided to erase the second E in here after the end of the song to show the importance of HER, women, who the whole story is about.
Along with the projectors I also used ten LED small stick lights for color and lighting. I also used an LED strip light of blue covered in a blue sheet to portray the river which Jin-Xiang crosses at the end of the opera.