As an intangible cultural heritage of our country, Lu Opera culture has been performed all over the Dabie Mountains and sung throughout Anhui Province with its local charm and characteristics of deep houses and courtyards since it took root in the Jianghuai land. The fire is passed down from generation to generation, showing the charm of Lu Opera. So today, come with me to learn about the characteristics of Lu Opera among the four major local dramas in Anhui.
In the old days, most of the Lu Opera troupes were semi-professional (i.e. farming during the busy farming season and singing during the slack farming season), and they traveled to rural markets for a long time. They usually don't go on stage during performances, but only play on the ground. Most actors lack basic skills. As long as they have a good voice and know some "rhymes", they tend to re-sing rather than redo over time. The repertoire performed is mostly "two minor" plays and "three minor" plays. Most of the singing is performed by one person singing in harmony, accompanied by gongs and drums, without strings, and can be performed by a group of three or five people, which is called "two playing three singing".
The actors play several roles, taking turns, and they also play gongs and drums. Later, it developed into "three hits and seven singings", "seven busy and eight not busy", and a fixed role system has not yet been formed. In the past, there were no female performers in Lu Opera, and the female roles were mostly played by young boys with sweet and crisp voices. By the late 1920s, Lu Opera troupes began to enter the city, and the repertoire of performances continued to be enriched, and the number of roles also increased accordingly. They were divided into six roles: Hua Dan, Xiao Sheng, Qing Yi, Lao Dan, Lao Sheng, and Clown.
During the prosperous period of Qi Qi Opera, every time it was performed in various places, it absorbed local popular operas or folk arts to enrich itself. Some troupes also cooperate with Huizhou troupes and Beijing opera troupes intermittently. The Huizhou troupes and Beijing opera troupes first perform the main opera, and then continue to perform Lu opera minor operas. This practice is called "Siping with folding" troupe or "Luantan troupe" ". The joint performance with Anhui and Peking Opera has given the actors of the Seventh Opera a new and different evolution in singing, acting, chanting and gong and drum accompaniment. The more advanced Guoqi troupe continued to perform in cities, and as they had to adapt to the appreciation habits of urban audiences, great artistic changes also took place.
Lu opera in Anhui has three types: upper, middle and lower due to different regions and singing styles. On the road, the music in the Lu'an, Huoshan, Feixi and Shucheng areas centered on Lu'an is rough and high-pitched, with ups and downs, and has mountainous characteristics, which is called "mountain tune". On the lower road, with Wuhu as the center, the music in Wuhu, Nanling, Fanchang, Ma'anshan, Dangtu and Jingxian areas is clear, graceful, delicate and peaceful, showing the flavor of a water town, which is called "water tune".
The middle road takes Hefei as the center and covers Hefei, Dingyuan, Feidong, Chaohu, Wuwei, Hexian, Hanshan and Lujiang. The music has the characteristics of both the upper road and the lower road. It is bright, simple, natural and fresh. The singing tunes of Lu Opera are divided into two categories: main tune and coloratura. The main tune is the main singing tune of this opera and other operas. It can be used for narrative or lyrical, and is suitable for expressing complex emotions. Coloratura is mostly folk tunes, light and lively, often used in small operas. The singing style of Lu Opera is rich, and there are often supporting tunes in the falling banquet. The whole stage is sung in unison, which is called "Yingtai". Traditional Lu opera has no orchestral accompaniment and only uses gongs and drums for the start, interlude and accompaniment. It is commonly known as "half an opera full of gongs and drums".
The performances of early Lu Opera were relatively simple, basically a combination of local tunes and folk dances, and the movements generally did not match the plot. The performances are mostly staged, with basically no fixed lines, and often use temporary strings of words and formulaic words. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lu Opera made great reforms in performing arts and other aspects.
Lu Opera, formerly known as "Inverted Seven Operas", originated from the Dabie Mountains in western Anhui and is one of the four major opera types in Anhui Province. Because its influence was far greater than other operas at that time, in 1955, with the approval of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, it was renamed "Lu Opera" after the ancient name of Hefei, the provincial capital. In 2006, upon approval, Lu Opera was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.
Lu Opera, centered on Huoshan, Lu'an, Jinzhai and Shouxian, radiates to the surrounding areas, forming two important branches in Lu Opera, namely "West Road" and "North Road". It has gone through a development process from small to large, from single to rich, from fragmented to systematic, from the traditional "two small plays" and "three small plays" to excerpts and now to the large-scale continuous plays. During this period, it drew on and absorbed sister arts such as Eastern Hubei Huagu, Duangong Diao, Haizi Opera, Tea Picking Opera, as well as local Dabie Mountain folk songs, folk songs and dances between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, and formed its own unique artistic outlook.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, through the unremitting efforts of several generations of Lu opera actors in western Anhui, the traditional plays "Borrowing Luo Yi" and "Hugh Lilac" and the modern plays "Cheng Hongmei", "Mama" and "New Songs from Tea Mountain" have been launched and other classic plays that are famous all over the country. A large number of performing artists such as Sun Zichan, Li Yulan, Wu Keying, and Wang Hongyun emerged, as well as Wanxi Lu Opera composers such as Li Ruyao and Wu Zhengming. I believe that in the spring of great development and prosperity of literature and art, Wanxi Lu Opera, a small flower in the chrysanthemum altar, will bloom even more beautifully.
Conclusion Lu Opera is highly absorbing, inclusive and popular. It absorbs local folk tunes, folk songs, love songs, Macheng "Gaoqiang" and other music in singing, and absorbs Hubei's music in performance. The techniques of "Flower Drum Opera", "Duangong Opera" and "Haizi Opera" from the East are incorporated into many of the operas' concepts and contents from Buddhist, Taoist and other religious cultures. In this sense, Lu Opera has certain historical value, cultural value, cognitive value and artistic value.