Characters

There are four main characters in the opera, each embodying very particular sets of historical, cultural and stylistic traits.

Chang-O, the moon goddess (soprano) is a remote, beautiful woman who in the course of the opera is called into her body, undergoes a number of transformations and ultimately transcends the confines of her `story´.

Hou Yi, the Archer (baritone) as Chang-O's husband plays out a number of projections of his fantasies of the woman/goddess.

The Queen Mother of the West, a demon goddess (mezzo-soprano) is a feisty, magical creature who competes with the Monkey King, a trickster figure (baritone) to tell versions of the Chang-O story.

They are old adversaries from a parallel myth where Monkey creates havoc in Heaven by stealing and eating the peaches of immortality from the orchard guarded by the Queen Mother. In the opera, Monkey sides with Chang-O and the Queen Mother, with Hou Yi.