Artists from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as North America, Germany, Belgium, Russia, the UK and across the Arab speaking world gather in Edinburgh for three weeks of classical and contemporary music, dance, theatre, opera and visual arts.

 

Bringing together east and west The Peony Pavilion, performed by the National Ballet of China with western classical ballet, a classic symphony orchestra, traditional Chinese instruments, and a quintessentially Chinese story demonstrates the ideas and ambitions of Festival 2011. This beautiful and moving ballet is based on a love story by one of China’s greatest writers, and contemporary of Shakespeare, Tang Xianzu.

 

In The Revenge of Prince Zi Dan Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe retells the familiar tale of Hamlet setting it in China and performing the tragedy in the extraordinary acrobatic and elaborately costumed style of Jingju opera.

 

The Tempest is re-imagined by Mokwha Repertory Company from Seoul in a distinctive production weaving Shakespeare’s famous tale with 5^th Century Korean chronicles. King Lear is deconstructed as a one man tour-de-force by Contemporary Legend Theatre from Taipei.

 

The Revenge of Prince Zidan

 

Debussy, Mahler, Messiaen and Schumann were each intrigued and inspired by the colours and sounds of Asia. Orchestras taking part in Festival 2011 including the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montrl, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Yogyakarta Court Gamelan.

 

Scottish Ballet and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra perform Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth, Mahler’s stunning song cycle inspired by Chinese poetry from the T’ang Dynasty, alongside the world premiere of a work created for the company by internationally acclaimed American-based choreographer Jorma Elo.

 

Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Opera bring a large scale production by Jonathan Kent, designed by Paul Brown, of Strauss’s epic opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, spanning life on earth and the spirit world.

Currently rehearsing in Fez with actors from across the Arab speaking world One Thousand and One Nights re-examines the brutal, erotic and exotic stories of Shahrazad in a production directed by Tim Supple.

 

Staying in the Middle East, resonating strongly with recent events, Nigel Lowery’s production of Semiramide for Vlaamse Opera, conducted by Alberto Zedda, is set in the final days of an Arabic dictator’s regime.

East and west meet again in Stephen Earnhart and Greg Pierce’s production of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, based on the novel by Haruki Murakami. Festival 2011 is proud to present the world premiere of this hypnotic production combining performance, music, puppetry, dance and film.

 

Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, one of the world’s leading photographers, brings two poetic series of work never before seen in Europe. Lightning Fields and Photogenic Drawings reveal Sugimoto’s dramatic exploration of the very nature of photography.

 

The Virgin Money Fireworks Concert with over 100,000 firing sequences launched from Edinburgh Castle and choreographed to music performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra will fill Edinburgh’s skies on Sunday 4 September at 9pm.

 

Dance at Festival 2011 includes French-Vietnamese choreographer Ea Sola’s re-creation of her critically acclaimed meditation on the human cost of war, Drought and Rain, New York-based Chinese choreographer Shen Wei’s Re-Triptych, the south Indian Nrityagram Dance Ensemble and Korean choreographer, Eun-Me Ahn and her company’s colourful tale of Princess Bari.

 

 

 Princess Bari

 

The roll call of world-renowned musicians at Festival 2011 includes Kent Nagano and Myung-Whun Chung, Meagan Miller and Yundi making their Festival debuts. Joining them on the stages of the Scottish capital will be Maria Jo Pires, Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, Vladimir Jurowski, Melvyn Tan, Xuefei Yang, Belcea Quartet, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Diana Damrau, among many others.

 

Continental Shifts is a series of talks and discussions exploring Festival 2011 themes and ideas. Contributors include James Kynge, Dr Sashi Tharoor, Professor Wang Hui, Christopher Brookmyre, Anita Nair, Shoma Chaudhury and Festival artists.

 

Jonathan Mills, Edinburgh International Festival Director, said: European artists, explorers and philosophers have drawn inspiration from the Far East for centuries. This Festival draws inspiration from across the diverse cultures of Asia, from Vietnam to China. We very much hope people will come on this exotic and sensual journey and immerse themselves in the beauty and traditions of Asian cultures both ancient and modern.’

 

Public booking opens Saturday 2 April both online at www.eif.co.uk and by phone on +44 (0)131 473 2000