Romance of the Western Chamber Songs - Rubenstein & Lee Musical Masterpiece | Chinese Opera Music for Relaxation, Study & Cultural Appreciation

This disc of “Songs from Rubenstein and Lee's ‘Romance of the Western Chamber,’ a Musical,” contains music, both from musical instruments alone and from musical instruments and singing. The music is based on themes from Chinese folk songs and Chinese phrases, written for western instruments that are pleasing to the western ear. There are 22 different selections, most of which are just under three minutes, with three just under four minutes, for a total of 57 minutes of delightful music.“Romance of the Western Chamber” is a two and a half hour musical based on a play that first appeared in China as “Xi Xiang Ji” in the thirteenth century. It is a lovely love story of a poor 23-year-old man and rich 19-year-old woman who fell in love at first sight. The original play ran for about twenty hours. It was the most famous love story in Chinese literature and was made into a movie and several Beijing operas. It was adapted and turned into a musical by Dr. Howard Rubenstein, a physician and playwright who wrote ten very interesting plays. Rubenstein revised the play into modern English, reduced its time, and had Max Lee, write music for it.See my review of the musical on Amazon for a description of the play.