Theatergoers in Beijing are getting a week of Italian opera. Artists from the China National Theater of Opera have already started putting their latest renditions on stage.

Sunday night marked the opening and the first performance was Rossini's The Barber of Seville. This was the first time the complete libretto masterpiece was performed in Chinese.

Later this week, two other classics will be on show. One is Pietro Mascagni's one-act Cavalleria Rusticana , famed for its intermezzo music. The other is Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, celebrated for its play-within-a-play structure.

(CCTV.com December 13, 2004)