'Tom Fahy' was an assemblage of musicians headed by multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and County Galway native Tom Fahy, born Quinn McCarthy (1971-19 June 2008). Core members included Jiang Dan, Rachael Eisley, Zhang Li and Liu Kaige, while other players were drafted for the requirements of particular pieces. Their 50+ album catalogue was the fruit of a 9-year collaboration initiated while the core members were in residence in Honolulu, Hawai'i. To each album, the members brought a myriad of musical competencies.
The Peony Pavilion (simplified Chinese: 牡丹亭; traditional Chinese: 牡丹亭; pinyin: mǔdāntíng) is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598 at the Pavilion of Prince Teng.[1] One of Tang's "Four Dreams", it has traditionally been performed as a Kunqu (昆曲/崑曲) opera, but Chuan (川) and Gan (赣/贛) opera versions also exist. It is by far the most popular play of the Ming Dynasty, and is the primary showcase of the guimendan (闺门旦/閨門旦) role type. All Kun theatre troupes include it in their repertoire. Recent adaptations have sought to inject new life into one of China's best-loved classical operas, though such efforts have met with opposition from the Kun opera traditionalists.
The performance tradition has focused on the love story between Du Liniang (杜丽娘/杜麗娘) and Liu Mengmei (柳梦梅/柳夢梅), though in its original text (standard translation: Cyril Birch), it has strong elements of dramatic warfare (specifically set in the Song defense against the Jin Dynasty).
Du Liniang is the daughter of an important official. Her maid encourages her to abandon her dull studies and take a walk in the garden, where she falls asleep. She dreams of her lover Liu Mengmei, whom in real life she has never met, before being awoken by falling petals. Unable to recover the enchantment of her dream, she wastes away and dies.
In hell, the underworld judge determines that her marriage with Liu Mengmei is predestined, and that she cannot be retained. Instead, she is sent to haunt him, who now inhabits the garden where they had their dream. Recognising the girl he met in his dreams, he agrees to exhume her. Du Liniang asks him to go to tell her father the news of her resurrection, but he treats Liu Mengmei as a grave robber and impostor. In the end, Liu Mengmei is only saved from death by torture by the announcement of the results of the imperial exams. He has topped the list; the emperor pardons all.
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