Opera Turandot debuts at Bird's Nest

An opera with Olympic flair

A year ago, Zhang Yimou wowed a worldwide audience with the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.

A scene from the famed opera Turandot unfolds at Beijing's National Stadium, or Bird's Nest. The opera - with more than 1,000 performers - debuted Tuesday night to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China. The opera's director, Zhang Yimou, was also behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. [Xinhua]

Last night at the same venue - the National Stadium - the Chinese director won thunderous applause for his latest production of a classic opera when he took a bow that was beamed onto two giant screens.

Zhang's Turandot was designed not just for opera buffs, but for a mass audience with the combined appeal of the Bird's Nest, China's biggest name in performing arts and a Western opera against a Chinese backdrop.

Zhang and his team are very familiar with Puccini's swan song. They first produced it in Florence in the mid-1990s, and then came the Forbidden City edition, which also was filmed. These were followed by productions in South Korea and Germany.