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1760: The Jesuits are subjected to slander and repression and are threatened of being driven out of China where they have been present for over a century. The only way out is to successfully support the powerful emperor of the Manchou dynasty in his attempt to satisfy his first wife’s passion for theater. This is an incredible challenge: to perform a famous opera by Carlo Goldoni, with music by Maestro Niccolo Piccini, at the heart of the Forbidden City. Yet what could be a better weapon than theater in the conquest of the Celestial Empire? Behind the formidable walls that surround the court of Peking, scheming and power struggles, sensuality and jealousy, are rife. In the fascinating atmosphere of the era of enlightenment, Goldoni and the Jesuits, Voltaire and Casanova, as well as cardinals, concubines, tenors, castrates and eunuchs, cross each others’ path. Between Rome, Peking and Paris, this is a sweeping evocation of a golden age, where reason and libertinage cohabited.
Following L’ami de Galilée (2006), a best-seller in France and Italy that was further translated into four languages, Le rideau de jade is equally dedicated to the relation between China and the West. The habits and customs of the Chinese civilization and the artistic and cultural climate of the European courts of the time are described with a wealth of details and authenticity, in a novel that mixes together real characters and events with fictional heroes.
Isaia Iannaccone was born in Naples. He is a chemist and specialist of China, in particular of its history of sciences and techniques. He is currently a professor at the European School in Brussels and a researcher with the Observatoire astronomique de Paris.
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