Puccini's opera Turandot, produced by the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) started its second run at NCPA's Opera House yesterday. And this time an all-Chinese production is telling the story of the Chinese princess.

Turandot, which premiered in March, is the first opera that NCPA has produced itself. What makes this production so special is that the NCPA commissioned Chinese composer Hao Weiya to write the last 18 minutes of the opera after Puccini died of throat cancer in 1924.

The full-length version that is performed worldwide today was completed by his colleague Franco Alfano in 1926.

Based on Puccini's last sketches and notes, Hao created new music, including Turandot's aria The First Tears, which won general acclaim from the performers.

Composer Hao is modest about his composition, saying: "I'm happy that many people like the part I wrote but this is only the start. I have reworked the orchestration for the second run and hope to improve it performance after performance."

If the new ending was the selling point of the production's premiere, the second run is attracting opera-goers for its all-Chinese cast and crew.

Veteran director Chen Xinyi, the Rome-based conductor Lv Jia and the setting designer Gao Guangjian were all involved in the premiere.

"Puccini's music is like a bottomless treasure and I can always find new inspiration from it," says Chen, who is a constand defender of Turandot and changes her from a cold-blooded princess to a woman searching for love.

The biggest change of the second run is the cast. Yesterday featured the Hong Kong tenor Warren Mok as Calaf and soprano Sun Xiuwei as Turandot.

7:30 pm

National Centre for the Performing Arts, West of Tian'anmen Square

6655-0000