DUET «WAIT FOR ME, DARLING» FROM THE OPERA «IMIANSHAN» BY LUAN KAI AS A SEMANTIC CENTER OF LYRICAL-HEROIC DRAMATURGY AND THE SYNTHESIS OF MUSICAL TRADITIONS

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify the role of the duet «Wait for Me, My Love» from Luan Kai’s opera
Imianshan as the semantic and dramaturgical center of the work, as well as to analyze the features of the synthesis of
Western European and Chinese national musical traditions in its intonational, figurative, and compositional
organization.
The methodological framework of the study is based on a complex of approaches, including intonational-stylistic
analysis, genre and dramaturgical analysis, structural-compositional method, comparative method, and performanceinterpretative
approach. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that, for the first time: the duet «Wait for
Me, My Love» from Luan Kai’s opera Imianshan is considered as a key dramaturgical node of the work and a semantic
bearer of its ideological and emotional concept; this duet is analyzed in the context of intercultural interaction processes
in world musical culture, particularly as a manifestation of the synthesis of national and European traditions in
contemporary Chinese academic opera; the mechanism of combining lyrical-intimate and heroic-patriotic spheres
within a single vocal-dramaturgical episode is specified; the role of the chamber vocal duet as a structural-semantic
center of operatic dramaturgy in contemporary Chinese national opera is clarified. Thus, the study broadens the
understanding of the artistic principles of contemporary Chinese opera and deepens knowledge of cultural synthesis
processes in academic music of the late 20 th and early 21 st centuries.
Conclusions. The duet «Wait for Me, My Love» from the opera «Imianshan» is a key dramaturgical and
semantic center of the work, where lyrical-intimate and heroic-patriotic spheres are combined. Through cantilena
melody, pentatonic modality, variant thematic development, canonic and unison presentation, and a multi-layered
accompanimental texture, composer Luan Kai reveals the inner world of the characters and their emotional states.
The duet is constructed as a gradual convergence of two principles – male and female – symbolizing different
aspects of separation: an active striving toward the future and a contemplative, internally focused hope. Their fusion in
canonic and synchronous звучание embodies the idea of spiritual unity that overcomes space and time.
The synthesis of the European harmonic system and the Chinese modal foundation forms a universal musical
language, through which private love is transformed into a metaphor of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and national unity.