Midway through the second act of the opera "Rokumeikan," Countess Asako, the wife of Count Kageyama, the conservative government leader, turns to her former lover Einosuke Kiyohara, who heads the progressive opposition party, and emotes in song: "No, we do not talk of politics; it is of love we speak."
Despite the noble lady's words, the opera lays bare both — yet neither — and in this conundrum lies the essence of a masterpiece, according to Hitoshi Uyama, who is directing the production being staged at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, from June 19-22.
Uyama, who also wrote the libretto based on Yukio Mishima's play of the same name, explained during our recent interview: "There are many tangled conflicts in the opera, but confrontations are necessary for our human vitality. The precarious balance between the two becomes infused with a kind of Shakespearean dramatic power.