Ready to hit every high note

From the stirring chords of Ode to the Red Flag to landmark productions by the world's most revered opera institutions, the newly completed Shanghai Grand Opera House announced its inaugural season on July 6 — an ambitious slate of 47 productions across 82 performances, running from Oct 17 to Feb 20.

The new opera house on the eastern bank of the Huangpu River will officially open on Oct 17, coinciding with the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

The Grand Opera House was an important cultural project in the municipality's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), with construction taking six years.

A contemporary architectural wonder, it features a monumental spiral staircase in the shape of an unfolding Chinese fan that spans 30 meters at its widest.

"As the Chinese fan gradually unfurls and shines with dazzling brilliance, it attracts wide public attention, as well as awe from the worldwide theater community," said Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Opera House, at the season's opening conference on July 6. She went on to announce the new theater's guiding principles as "for public good, for artistic excellence, and for global resonance".