Dream of the Red Chamber

In the mid-1930s, the Shanghai-based Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin had an audacious idea: compose an opera based on the classic 18th century Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. Tcherepnin shared his dream with his friend, the composer He Luting, and added that he had in mind the perfect librettist – Lu Xun. The only problem, Tcherepnin confessed to He, was that he feared Lu Xun – China's greatest living author – might not have the time or inclination to work with him.