Harry Ross on The Great Wave: 'When you listen to the music, you can almost taste the tea'
The librettist explains how the famous work of Katsushika Hokusai inspired composer Dai Fujikura
Next time the little blue wave emoji pops up on your screen, it’s worth taking a moment to ponder its origins and how it could possibly have come to inspire an opera. In a sense, it’s not the wave itself which is behind Scottish Opera’s latest commission, The Great Wave, but the lives of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and his daughter Oi, using his world-famous woodblock print, ‘The Great Wave Off Kanagawa’, as the lens through which to tell their story.
Music comes from Japanese composer Dai Fujikura with words by Scottish librettist Harry Ross. ‘We’d been working together for 20 years,’ says Ross, ‘and were wondering what’s next. Dai and his wife had just seen the British Museum’s 2017 exhibition of Hokusai’s work and she said his story would make a brilliant opera.’ Research and the pandemic resulted in a bit of a hiatus, but now receiving its world premiere in Scotland is a piece which is driven by Hokusai’s love of his work, his endless motivation for doing his very best and for pushing boundaries. The show also touches on his quirky sense of humour, long life and the unusual arrangement of his artist daughter coming to live with him in her 40s to manage his struggling business affairs.
Part of the sound world created is by traditional Japanese instruments, including the historic shakuhachi flute. ‘The opera is led by the music,’ says Ross. ‘It’s all about texture, which lends itself to opera… in one scene, for instance, there’s a very quiet conversation between Hokusai and Oi. She’s making him some citrus tea and when you listen to the music, you can almost taste the tea.'
Scottish Opera: The Great Wave, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thursday 12, Saturday 14 February; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Thursday 19, Saturday 21 February; picture: Julie Howden.