Also known as China's "War and Peace", "Dream of the Red Chamber", an 18th-century novel by Cao Xueqin, is one of the four classic novels in China.

And now the epic piece of literature has been adapted into a lavish new opera , which has just had its world premiere in San Francisco with a total of six performances in all. But, Can this American-version of the opera attract a new audience to this timeless Chinese classic?

Opera of Chinese literary classic premieres in San Francisco

This is a project with all the hallmarks of a traditional Chinese opera.

For American audiences, it offers the opportunity to discover one of the great epic novels in world literature. "Dream of the Red Chamber" was first published in 1791 and is often called the Chinese "War and Peace".

Cao's "Red Chamber" is colossal. It has 40 major characters and 10 times as many secondary ones chronicling the downfall of a great family during the Qing Dynasty. And it's all set against the backdrop of some serious political upheaval.

Composer Bright Sheng uses both brass, wind and percussion instruments to blend the cultures of the East and the West in unique and highly innovative ways.

Chinese folk tunes are transformed into rapturously expressive and multi-colorful new music.

"You need to get a good understanding of both Chinese and Western cultures in order to create something original, something that will resonate with audiences in both countries," said Bright Sheng, composer, "Dream of the Red Chamber"

"The thing that makes it an opera is that there are very high emotions at the core of it all. Once we boiled it down to that love triangle, it felt like it had the elements of a conventional opera."

"Dream of the Red Chamber" runs through September 29th and will then travel to the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March.