Musically, he said, he thought the Chinese would be totally at home with the piece, given their training in Western opera.

In Western opera a particularly impressive aria will often be applauded, even if the music is continuing.

He studied Western opera, made commercials and sang pop music.

Western opera used to be like that, too - occasions for social intrigue and fashionable display, with music obbligato.

Many Chinese viewers, perhaps unschooled in Western opera, may feel bemused, he said.

But the struggle against them ends up becoming one of the great recurring myths of Western opera.

In Western operas that used speech, though, it often seems alien to the music.

He will become known for combining secular and sacred African American music with traditional Western opera.

Western opera connotes sophistication, so people might feign enthusiasm even if they do not feel it.

Western opera in China has come a long way in a short time.