CRI听力:Jerusalem Opera Festival - Old City, Music and Love

The Jerusalem Opera Festival has attracted audiences from all over the world. The event mixes the old city charm and beautiful opera music, in an attempt to entertain locals and tourists.

CRI's Liu Xiangwei has more.

Jerusalem Opera Festival  

Beneath Jerusalem's Old City walls, Sultan's Pool, an outdoor amphitheater turned from an ancient water basin, resounds with beautiful music and singing.
This is Jerusalem's first opera festival in recent years, featuring Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera "L'elisir d'amore", or "The Elixir of Love" in English.

The love story of two country kids is full of fun and laughter with a quack's hoax of the elixir of love, which he says can make a person be loved by everyone.

Ilanit Melchior is the Tourism Director of the Jerusalem Municipality.

"It's a light opera, it's fun and it's about love. And the city of Jerusalem is a city of peace and love. At the foot of the Old City, you sit and see the walls of the city with a beautiful set of opera. To feel it and to listen to the music in such an amazing location makes the experience even better."
Francesco Cilluffo, the Italian conductor of the opera, says it's a great honor to perform in the holy city.

"It's such an important place for many many different cultures. There's definitely something very special about here. It's a great occasion to bring together so many people coming from all over the world under the flag of music, which is an international one."

The story of "L'elisir d'amore" is set in the bucolic countryside, with sunflowers, orange trees, blue sky and starlit night. The audience, both locals and tourists, are amused by the funny storyline, the exquisite singing, and the surrounding environment.

"Very nice, very impressive, I like it very much. It's a very nice atmosphere. There's something special here, the environment, the Old City..."

"I think also the location here is very special, because we are in a place that is very acoustic, you can hear the music and the singing very well, not like in a closed theatre or in an open space. Here because of all the mountains, the sound is very special."

Being a famous tourism destination with abundant historical and cultural attractions, Jerusalem is not a place of opera. Hanna Munitz, General Director of the Israeli Opera company which co-organizes the festival, feels exciting to bring opera to Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem doesn't have opera, so it's very special for us to come here to this very special place, a very wonderful place, and we like performing in open air. For us, it's an opportunity to make opera more accessible for the people. Actually we aim to do this project, a festival, in Jerusalem for five years, and then we will think again."

Ilanit Melchior from the Jerusalem Municipality also hopes the opera festival can help to explore more potential of the city and bring different kinds of tourists.

"We want them to enjoy good quality of music, but also to enjoy the city of Jerusalem, the nice view, the attractions... We hope they will be good ambassadors to the city of Jerusalem after the opera."

For CRI, I'm Liu Xiangwei.