Hao Weiya’s The one-act “AI variation” is the lyrical embodiment of a single idea: that the greatest danger posed by rapid advancements in technology are the people who believe they are in control.

The work, by composer Hao Weiya and librettist Wang Yuanfei, tells the story of three people over the course of seven life-changing days, sometimes in the not-so-distant future. It deals with big themes, such as mortality and immortality, rationality and madness. Artist Situ Rui — performed by Zhou Zhengzhong-is trapped both in a creative rut and facing his impending death. Li Yao — played by Li jingjing– is a scientist who uses artificial intelligence technology to save him. Chu Qiao — played by Dong fang– is Situ Rui’s lover, who resists the idea that technology is a panacea for all ills, and tries to prevent Situ Rui from being “updated”. His efforts are in vain. The new Situ Rui, with no human memories or ideas, has transformed into a humanoid machine: a machine that gains immortality by gaining time and self-realization by gaining rationality.

The contrast between Situ Rui’s dying “sentimental part” and her immortal “machine part” grips audiences until the end of the show, as these three characters desperately try to figure out what makes us essentially Human. Chu Qiao insists that death, by forcing us to understand loss and love, gives human beings knowledge and inspiration. Li Yao and Situ Rui end their performances without a better understanding of their inherent humanity – or inhumanity – than at the start of the opera. They still don’t know if the “machine part” of a human is what an idealized human is looking for. Will science change what it means to be alive? If a machine has all the thoughts and ideas of a man, then would it be to become the man? The opera leaves these questions open: questions that the audience will take home.

What is just as appealing about this work are the questions of what is natural and what is human. Hearing the news that Situ Rui has been updated, transformed into a humanoid machine, Chu Qiao cannot bear to face the reality she finds herself in now. She believes that human beings are alive and are distinguished from machines by love and affection as well as warmth and sensual impulses. It is mortality, she insists, that defines love. She therefore doubts that Machine-Rui can still remember and understand the love once shared between them. In contrast, Li Yao says that humanity is the cause of so many problems in the world: Humans create the problems they suffer from across the planet, while being responsible for the creative stalemate they are forced into. It is the rule of reason that obliges beings to seek transcendence in faith, art and relationships.

But is it human if we are concerned with endowing machines with human characteristics? What if we no longer had time to reflect and question ourselves, because the rule of reason filled our day with an obsession with technological progress?

“AI Variation” is intended to join the Chinese lyric canon for its success. Her score, which is an innovative blend of contemporary opera and invented natural tunes, raises difficult questions about human minds in the coming era of artificial intelligence. Under the skillful direction of Zhang Jiemin, the imaginative and fluid music indicates that all words would be inadequate to express many of the composer’s ideas about the truths of life.

A variety of innovative acoustic atmospheres depart from the conventions of opera. It is Hao Weiya’s attempt to portray signs of ambiguity and complexity when defining what is “essentially human.” Half-water-filled crystal wine glasses mimic natural light, inviting the audience to see another side of something common. Harmonies are used to mimic the natural environment, which evokes issues such as; Is man separate from nature or is he part of it? and how does nature reflect human emotions? The disharmonic intensity of certain chords produced by the orchestra recalls the experience of spiritual awakening.

There are allusions to Richard Strauss’s “Death and Transfiguration” from start to finish, which is an iconic ingredient in Hao Weiya, added to stress the importance of loneliness and contemplation in transcending the confusing and desperate existence. that people face in an IT culture.

Most delicious of all, the music is noted to make every phrase of the performers perfectly audible. Pitch and tempo change throughout the recitative parts, allowing singers, like actors, to deliver their lines to the rhythms of natural speaking, and even allow for seemingly instantaneous moments of inspiration.

Baritone Zhou Zhengzhong’s performance as Situ Rui turns out to be so perfect, realistic, and well-tuned in intensity that audiences probably fail to perceive the momentary alienating effects of the orchestration that are used to criticize the presence. hypocrisy, unfair and biased behavior. in his tune “Who are you? Who am I? “This orchestral narrative technique, following dialogue so closely and highlighting moments of conversation, is again used to draw attention to the interaction between man and machine in” There has been a knock on the door, “when the meeting of man and machine did not proceed as planned. Zhou Zhengzhong’s skillful economy of dramatic gestures makes his performance of a humanoid machine fascinating.

Chu Qiao, perfectly characterized by mezzo-soprano Dong Fang, is a warm and sympathetic presence, imbuing every line with a dramatic characterization. Soprano Li Jingjing is a beating heart on stage who juxtaposes reason and love in the air “The Last Man on Earth Sits Alone in a Room”.

The whole still serves the drama and the sense of the story. One can only imagine the pressure that was exerted on Yang Jingze, the director and set designer, to create a visual environment that could adequately reflect a play so rich in philosophy.

At a time when China is witnessing a wave of nationalist music, drama and dance, projects such as “AI Variation” show the commitment of Chinese artists to balancing patriotic works with Western music and other forms of dance. art, creatively engaging with the kaleidoscopic aspects of contemporary art. world cultural heritage. “AI Variation” offers a way forward in terms of strengthening cultural support for opera in China, which has begun to see a growing group of young opera enthusiasts, as well as initiate philosophical conversations about what is opera and what it should be. Ultimately, it’s an opera about how we live under the pressure of the computer. Control versus freedom, mental versus mechanical, uniqueness versus mass product. Dualities permeate this piece, illustrated by the acoustic music of the composition.

“The last man on Earth was sitting alone in a room. There was a knock on the door. “The allusion to Fredric brown The news at the end of “AI Variation” is intended by Hao Weiya and his co-workers as a reminder: that our belief is often strongest when, rationally, it should be weakest. It is the very essence of hope. And it is only in the hope that any explicit duality is implicitly unified.