A Diary, Two Stories

The Diary is an original concept that pairs Dominick Argento’s witty one‑act opera A Water Bird Talk with Leoš Janáček’s passionate song cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared, offering audiences two contrasting stories of love and choices.

In A Water Bird Talk, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Argento portrays a henpecked lecturer whose musings on water birds mirror his own marital frustrations, blending humour with self‑deprecation. In contrast, Janáček’s deeply personal song cycle tells the story of a young person who defies societal norms and falls in love with a gypsy woman—a narrative inspired by the composer’s own late‑life love. Together, these works explore vulnerability, desire, and identity through music, storytelling and movement, enriched by evocative visual elements.

Following their critically acclaimed collaboration on Philip Glass’s The Book of Longing, director Mo Lai Yan Chi, conductor Vivian Ip, and violinist Nina Wong reunite with some of Hong Kong’s finest artists. This production invites audiences into a powerful and deeply moving music‑theatre experience.