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Tonight and tomorrow, "Voice of China-Concert of 2005 Famous Songs" will be staged at Zhongshan Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, followed by performances in Foshan and Shenzhen on1/kloc-0 on the 3rd and 5th.

How long has it been since citizens walked into the theater? Where is the heady beauty of traditional Chinese opera? How to make the essence of ancient art touch the softest part of people's hearts again?

Before the performance, the reporter interviewed the representatives of Beijing, Kunming, Guangdong, Vietnam, Sichuan, Bangbang, Henan and Boss Huang who participated in the Guangzhou performance. In the eyes of famous artists, the beauty of opera is everywhere: the lyrics of "Listening to his words makes me sweat" and the long string of clappers that are tragic and tense are beautiful; With a wave of his hand, the stunt of "changing face" with black face, white face, painted face and red face is beautiful; The girls in the Yue Opera "Five Girls Celebrate Birthdays" are all beautiful. In Huangmei Opera "Flowers", the playful affection of "Lang's flower sister's flower, pair by pair under the ridge" is still beautiful ...

Experts lamented that compared with the intense passion in the opera Carmen, in the final analysis, China people still like the love of "the sleeves are so hooked, the eyes are so soft, and 20 minutes is just flirting" in the Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion. How many years of great changes, the ancient drama drifted between the rivers and lakes, accompanied by the string of silk and bamboo, singing and singing, with the famous corner of the ticket lovers, let China people from generation to generation suddenly "taste the nine flavors of life." However, today, the situation of the old opera, as Bai Xianyong, a volunteer of Kunqu Opera, said, is like a porcelain with dust in the corner, and no one knows its beauty.

How to wipe the drama carefully and make it shine again? Whether it's Chen Zhilin, the president of Sichuan Opera Theatre, who claims that "the survival of Sichuan Opera is not a problem", Shang Changrong, the chairman of Chinese Dramatists Association, who thinks that "the dawn of opera is ahead", or Mao Weitao, the head of Zhejiang Xiaobaihuayue Opera Troupe, who admits that "the opera has been marginalized" in a low-key way, all the famous artists share the same aspiration that the beauty of opera in the cracks is doomed to flourish, although it has temporarily fallen into a low tide, because it is rooted in the people and thousands of people. Only the lowest things can achieve great tolerance. As Malan, the representative of Huangmei Opera, said, "They are voices growing from the land where China1300 million people are born". Famous artists sincerely admire that this concert has given us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of traditional Chinese opera.

1

Where is the beauty of traditional opera?

Shang Changrong: The lyrics are mainly poetry, and the singing rhythm is moving.

The beauty of Beijing opera is both masculine and feminine. Its expressive charm is diversified and has profound aesthetic connotation. It can play both emperors and princes and the Red Chamber in the West Chamber. There are both Jin Ge iron horse and talented person and beautiful woman. Poetry is the core of Beijing Opera's lyrics, and its singing skills are moving with rhythm, and its intonation is very particular.

Zhu Shihui and Wang Lijun: Peking Opera can become a national quintessence because its beauty lies in freehand brushwork.

Beijing opera can become a "national quintessence" because its beauty lies in freehand brushwork. Beijing opera can reproduce the complex world in a simple and artistic form, and show different scenes with dance and figure. The stage scenery is extremely simple, with only one table and two chairs. Actors can show doors, boats, horses, and even thousands of troops through performances, plus simple props such as whip and paddle, and show the transformation of time and space. If the actor on the stage holds a whip, it can indicate that he is riding a horse; Holding a wooden paddle can represent rowing; Turning around on four walk-on platforms can be said as "walking 108,000 Li" or "leading 8 million troops". However, the "costumes" of Beijing opera actors are numerous and complicated. From makeup to costumes, everything from the head and face to embroidered robes is not a work of art. It is very appropriate to set off the complexity with simplicity. This expression of freehand brushwork originates from life but is higher than life.

Zhang Huoding: Different colors of facial makeup reflect the beauty of Beijing opera.

Facial makeup is an important embodiment of the beauty of Beijing opera. Paint a certain color on a person's face to symbolize his character and quality, role and destiny. Simply put, the red face contains praise, representing the brave; Black face is neutral, representing a fierce and wise man; Blue face and green face are also neutral, representing rebellious heroes; Yellow face and white face are derogatory, representing fierce and deceitful people; Gold face and silver face are mysterious, representing gods and demons. In addition to color, the sketching form of Facebook also has similar symbolic significance. For example, a pink face symbolizing fierceness, a pink face with a white face, and a pink face with only the bridge of the nose and the eye socket painted, indicates the different degree of sinister cunning. Generally speaking, the larger the area, the more vicious it is. In a word, color represents personality, and different drawing rules indicate the degree of personality.

Zhang Jingxian: Singing with three sighs, Kunqu Opera has a unique charm.

Kunqu Opera, known as the "ancestor of hundreds of operas", is an outstanding representative that can best reflect the beauty of oriental art. In 200 1 year, Kunqu opera was listed as "representative work of human oral heritage and intangible heritage" by UNESCO. The beauty of Kunqu Opera lies in the script first. The script of Kunqu Opera is literary and rigorous, and it uses a lot of classical poems, with beautiful and profound artistic conception and rich humanistic spirit of China traditional culture. Secondly, the beauty lies in singing, which has a strong musicality. The singing of Kunqu Opera is often full of sighs, euphemistic and lingering, with a special charm. The stage of Kunqu Opera is a combination of singing, dancing, poetry and painting, with a blend of scenes and feelings. In singing, there are fewer words and more cavities, which are complicated and precise, and have rich performance figures; The stage has a strong sense of picture, reflecting the classical beauty of traditional art in all directions, and the actors are like the people in the painting.

Xu Heying: Hebei Bangzi is sonorous, especially good at performing tragedies.

Hebei Bangzi is sonorous, tragic and euphemistic, which is both overwhelming and gurgling. The unique beauty of Hebei Bangzi lies in its sonorous and tragic tone. As the saying goes: Yanzhao has been generous and mournful since ancient times. Hebei Bangzi is good at performing tragedies, with its sad cavity and high tone range, which can vividly show the grief and indignation of the characters in the tricks and make the audience listen to it heartily.

Chen Zhilin: Sichuan Opera is humorous and integrated into people's lives.

Sichuan Opera is a very rare opera in China, which integrates five kinds of vocal tunes, namely Kunqu Opera, Gaogao Opera, Huhu Opera, Balloon Opera and Dengguang Opera. It can be described as a master of the vocal tunes of China Opera. In the development and evolution of more than 200 years, it has merged with Sichuan dialect, local customs of immigrants from all over the world, folk songs and dances, rap and folk tunes, and finally formed a local opera with Sichuan characteristics. Sichuan Opera embodies the humorous character of Sichuanese. The script of the drama has a strong literary foundation and various expressions, just like Sichuan cuisine, with rich colors and rich techniques. For example, stunts such as lifting, changing face, drilling a circle of fire, and hiding knives have been integrated into the solid experience of people's lives, which is both mysterious and cordial.

2

Can you adapt to modern life?

Shang Changrong: Some people say that the pace of Peking Opera is slow. We must use the scientific concept of time to express the leisure and elegance of the ancients. When it is fast, it is fast, and when it is slow, it is slow. It should be said that the "slowness" of drama art has its special cultural value in the "fast" rhythm of the network age.

Mao Weitao: Modern people are not invariable and generalized, and they are not always pursuing fast pace. The modern cultural spirit is diversified, and the individual's pursuit of beauty is different. There will always be people who like drama, which has charm and appeal. I think it may be more difficult for people who like Yue Opera to like rock music. Theater art originated in Greece and has a certain religious temperament. After solving the problem of food and clothing, modern people will definitely seek a spiritual medium. The "slow" ancient drama can just cause some people's hearts to sing.

Sin Nui Hung and Chen Xiaohan: Nowadays, the younger generation thinks that the rhythm of traditional opera is too slow, which is a misunderstanding. Just like Cantonese opera, the rhythm of all aria in all programs is not slow. We decide when to be fast and when to be slow according to the needs of plot development and inner conflicts of characters. When expressing the fierce struggle in the characters' hearts, the rhythm is relatively accelerated and even tense. Therefore, the content of the opera determines the program. Cantonese opera keeps pace with the times according to its own characteristics, and it is not blindly accelerating the rhythm and speed but innovating. Talking about innovation can't be separated from the "source" of "tradition" or cut off from the source, otherwise, our traditional opera will lose its foundation.

three

How to attract young audiences?

Yu Kuizhi: "Every man has his own love". The reform of traditional opera doesn't have to please the audience. As Beijing opera artists, we must first improve our artistic level and polish our works of art into fine works. With the gradual enrichment of young audiences' life experience and the continuous improvement of their cultural quality, they will truly realize the beauty of traditional operas. Traditional Chinese opera is a long-flowing industry, unlike popular culture, which pursues sensational effects and great success, popular culture will eventually be short-lived, while Beijing opera is timeless.

Wang Lijun: Not long ago, Tianjin organized two groups of activities of "Peking Opera Art Entering Universities", and the students and audience responded very strongly, even to the point of "idolize". It can be seen that as long as our traditional operas take the initiative to approach the audience and young people, they are still very willing to sit down and enjoy it.

Zhang Jingxian: Different operas have different audiences. Since 1980s, we have been doing the popularization of Kunqu opera, mainly targeting cultural figures and college students. Fortunately, we have seen the results of our efforts now. Our Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe regularly gives lectures in colleges and universities every year, holding activities such as "Kunqu Opera Approaching Young People", offering free classes to teach singing, and offering low fare concessions, and introducing young people to the performances, trades and selections of Kunqu Opera, inviting them to take part on stage, so that they can feel the unique charm of Kunqu Opera in the interaction.

Malan: I don't deliberately cater to young audiences. I think good things must be good. Audiences seeking excitement should not go to the theater. Going to the theater is to give people a beautiful edification. I believe that with the growth of people's age, there must be a memory for traditional things, and there must be a password that will be touched at some point. He doesn't need to come to the theater every day, just a few days a year to see it, and his heart will be awakened.

Li Shengsu: I think young people should take the initiative to enter the theater. If they watch TV and broadcast operas at home, they won't feel the aesthetic atmosphere at all. In recent years, we often send operas to universities, and some students sigh after watching them: Peking Opera is so beautiful. Of course, we also need to package traditional operas. This requires our visual effects such as stage design, beautiful lighting and costumes to make the audience shine. For example, our newly rehearsed Mei Lanfang absorbed the advantages of drama in form. As the saying goes, "the more you keep it, the less you have it." On the basis of retaining the original content, traditional operas should cater to the tastes of young people and carry out targeted innovations.

Introduction to famous artists

Shang Changrong (Peking Opera)

The third son of Peking Opera master Shang Xiaoyun, the first winner of the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Drama. At the age of five, he performed on stage, and he was well-known under Hou Xirui, Chen Furui and Su Lianhan. Her voice is loud and generous, combining "shelf" and "bronze hammer" and pursuing "personality" performance. The characters created are majestic or simple and vigorous, performing, singing and reading at the same time, relaxed and passionate, forming a unique performance style. Representative plays: Cao Cao and Yang Xiu, Zhenguan Grand Event, Yu Chenglong, an honest official, etc.

Yu Kuizhi (Peking Opera)

Yang Jiajiang and Wu Zixu, the famous dramas of Yang Baosen School, Xiangma Biography and Wild Pig Forest, etc. have been staged successively, winning the love of the old, middle-aged and young audiences with their fresh singing charm and stage style, and winning the Plum Blossom Award and Mei Lanfang Gold Award successively.

Zhu Shihui (Peking Opera)

It is called "the first ugliness in Chinese Peking Opera today" by experts. Starring in plays such as Xu Jiujing's promotion to the official position, Plaster Seal, and Famen's Life, he is said to be a must. He has won the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Drama and the Mei Lanfang Gold Award.

Zhang Huoding (Peking Opera)

Tsing Yi, a famous Cheng School in China Peking Opera Theatre, is excellent in singing, acting, reading and dancing. The performance highlights the characteristics of Zhuang Mei, purity, profundity, dignity and remoteness of Cheng School art and has its own performance style. In singing, it is called "Cheng Qiang Zhang Yun". Representative plays such as Suolinnang, Tears of the Barren Mountain and Dream of the Spring Maiden, and innovative premieres of Cheng School's plays such as Qiu Jiang, Quest for Heaven, Legend of the White Snake, Jiang Jie, etc. Won the Plum Blossom Award for Drama.

Wang Lijun (Peking Opera)

Actor of Tianjin Youth Peking Opera Troupe, a worker, a martial artist and an old student. 1992 Li Huiliang, a famous Peking Opera performance artist, was personally awarded such plays as "Crossing the River and Fighting" and "Sunny Tower". He was handsome in appearance, solid in skills, generous in acting, and excellent in singing and acting. His representative plays include "Pulling a Block" and "Heroic Righteousness". He was awarded the Plum Blossom Award and the title of "Star of the First Peking Opera".

Zhang Jingxian (Kunqu Opera)

He mainly focuses on the noble family and the upright family, with a wide range of performances, exquisite and vivid performances, and rich vocals, and has created many stage images with different personalities, such as Yang Guifei in the Palace of Eternal Life, Du Liniang in Peony Pavilion and Zhuo Wenjun in Sima Xiangru. Won the plum blossom award twice.

Xu Heying (Hebei Bangzi)

For more than 20 years, drawing lessons from the singing advantages of sister art, he has formed a new singing style with both drama characteristics and aesthetic feeling of the times. He is a leading figure in Hebei Bangzi today, and his representative plays include Du Shiniang and Dou E Yuan, and won the Plum Blossom Award.

Sin Nui Hung (Cantonese Opera)

Over the past 60 years, she has founded the Red School Art, starred in dozens of popular Cantonese operas and more than 100 films, and created a series of female artistic images. The red cavity and red school performing arts created represent the highest achievement of Cantonese opera. He was awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by the Asian Performing Arts Association of the United Nations and the Performing Arts Award by the United Nations Symphony Association.

Chen Xiaohan (Cantonese Opera)

The performing arts are elegant and gentle, natural and unrestrained, exquisite in work and graceful in figure, especially in sleeves, fans and feathers. Good at shaping characters and expressing feelings with traditional programs. Its vocals have developed the vocal art of Cantonese opera, and formed a personal style-with emotion, with emotion, with emotion, with emotion, with emotion, with flexible changes, full of charm, delicate and vivid, creating a unique genre vocal "B-tune".

Li Shengsu (Peking Opera)

Gong Qingyi, with elegant appearance, charming, clear and sweet noise, standardized and natural performance and both civil and military skills, is the most glorious successor and disseminator of Mei School art today. Won the plum blossom award.

Mao Weitao (Yue Opera)

He studied under Yin School of Yue Opera and worked as a student. He won the "Five One Project Award" in Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, the Wenhua Performance Award in the Ministry of Culture for four times and the Plum Blossom Award for two times. He is one of the most important representatives in the innovation process of contemporary Yue Opera in China. He is good at accurately shaping characters with different personalities on the stage, and endowing the "female niche" of Yue Opera with brand-new humanistic spirit and business charm.

Hu Meiling (Henan Opera)

He studied under Chang Xiangyu, the master of Henan Opera, and became an outstanding successor of Chang School. He is good at playing Maiden Dan, Hua Dan, Tsing Yi and peking opera blues, and has formed a euphemistic, elegant and lofty singing feature and a beautiful, subtle and simple performance style that pursues Beijing-Kunming style. Representative plays include "Carrying the Flower Bridge", Mulan, and "The Great Sacrifice Piles". The new version of The Legend of the White Snake won the Plum Blossom Award.

Chen Zhilin (Sichuan Opera)

Won the plum blossom award for the second time. He has starred in dozens of plays, such as "Bashan Scholar" and "Entrusting the Country into Wu". Formed its own unique artistic charm in performance. Gong Wen, Wu Xiaosheng, Zheng Sheng, handsome in appearance.

Malan (Huangmei Opera)

Starring in romantic apricot blossom village, dusty female painter, much ado about nothing, Dream of Red Mansions, Playing Peony, etc. He also filmed the movie The Dragon Girl, an artistic film of Huangmei Opera, and the Huangmei Opera TV series Yan Fengying, The Scared Dream of Chopping Coffins, The West Chamber, The Journey to the West, etc. Handsome appearance, strong foundation, beautiful figure, beautiful singing, won the Wenhua Award and the Plum Blossom Award.

Guangzhou performance repertoire

Excerpts from Yu Kuizhi's "Going to the Roof" and "Three Stores"

Li Shengsu's Farewell My Concubine and Mu Guiying in Command.

Yu Kuizhi and Li Shengsu sang "Sitting in the Palace" in the chorus "Shiro Visiting Mother"

Wang Lijun's "Wild Pig Forest" excerpt "Snow Drift"

Zhang Huoding's "Dream of the Spring Maid"

Shang Changrong's My Beauty Case and Cao Cao and Yang Xiu (cantata)

Zhu Shihui's "Xu Jiujing's Promotion to the Official" and "Plaster Seal" (Beijing Opera)

Zhang Jingxian's "Peony Pavilion" excerpts "Dreaming" and "Like Hangzhou" (Kunqu Opera)

Xu Heying's "Wang Baochuan" excerpt "Da Deng Dian" and "Du Shiniang" excerpt (Hebei Bangzi) "opened the treasure chest by hand"

Mao Weitao's "Lu You and Tang Wan" excerpt "Wandering around the world for three long years" (Yue Opera)

Hu Meiling's excerpts from Mulan's "Who says women are inferior to men" and "Hua Mulan shyly gives worship" (Henan Opera)

"So Red Dust" from Malan's Dream of Red Mansions (Huangmei Opera)

Chen Zhilin's "Bashan Scholar" and "Cut the Yellow Robe" (Sichuan Opera)

Sin Nui Hung's "Zhao Jun's Embarkation" (Cantonese Opera) (Capella)

Chen Xiaohan's Fan Li Seeking Beauty (Cantonese Opera)

Revisiting Classics and Returning to Tradition

Chen zhi

As an integral part of traditional culture, China's traditional operas have been intoxicating for thousands of years. Countless masterpieces, such as Orphan of Zhao, Mu Guiying in command, and My Beauty Case, describe the ideal in the chest, the situation of the times, the sincerity and the spirit of showing off outstanding people. In the "small world of drama", they show the "world drama field", the legendary stories that are touching and touching, and the romantic figures that are immortal.

The "Voice of China-2005 Guangdong Concert by Famous Artists" unveiled today will bring you a feast of China traditional operas. Eight major domestic operas and 14 famous artists performed on the same stage in Guangdong, with a strong lineup and excellent repertoire, which can be described as a rare drama "summit" in China for many years. Invited by members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang and Governor Huang Huahua, Jade became this grand event, which reflected Guangdong's profound intention to inherit the essence of national culture.

It is undeniable that today's traditional opera art is facing challenges, not only gradually withdrawing from the urban stage, but also the performance market in rural areas is shrinking day by day, and some operas are disappearing sharply. Once a young actor said very irreverently, "If Master Mei Lanfang were alive today, he would not be as popular as he was then." Indeed, compared with the era when traditional Chinese opera was almost the "only" entertainment activity, people's cultural and entertainment activities are much richer today. How to make traditional Chinese opera closer to the audience and occupy a place in modern people's life like pop music?

Mr. Bai Xianyong, a famous writer in Taiwan Province, has set a successful precedent in this respect. His adaptation of the Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion has been performed for 50 consecutive performances in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong, and it has set off a whirlwind among young students in Peking University and Tsinghua. The success of The Peony Pavilion reminds us once again that the traditional Chinese opera art, which is getting farther and farther away from us, does not lack the vitality of keeping pace with the times.

When babbling children are amazed at the gorgeous stage modeling on the opera channel, when young students are dazzled by the graceful flow of sleeves, and when the fast-paced modern life suddenly takes a nap in a long aria, we will suddenly find that the roots of traditional culture have already been deeply buried in the hearts of everyone in China. "Voice of China-2005 Guangdong Concert of Famous Music" provides a stage for our country's artistic masters to show their elegant demeanor, and also provides an opportunity for Guangdong audiences to discover the beauty of traditional Chinese opera. The seeds it sowed, under the sunshine of a nation's revival and longing for excellent traditional culture, will make us look for the lost treasures in the 5000-year cultural treasure house again.

Special topic writing: Our reporter Guo Shan trainee reporter He Dongyun (except signature)

Figure:

Mao Weitao, a famous Yue Opera player.

Yu Kuizhi, a famous Peking Opera artist.

Li Shengsu, a famous Peking Opera artist.

Chen Xiaohan, a famous Cantonese opera artist