China National Peking Opera Troupe came to new york to perform. Thanks to a friend, it got two free tickets with good seats. I lobbied for a long time to persuade her to go with me. We begged my mother-in-law to take care of the children as usual on weekends, to comfort the two boys who kept saying that they would go with us, so that we could break the normal life of Sanwa's parents and steal a night's leisure to watch a Beijing opera at Sir Lincoln Center in Manhattan.
That night, the third group of the National Peking Opera Troupe performed the whole book "Yangmen Women". When the curtain opened, the first thing I noticed was the band and its members' musical instruments sitting on one side of the stage, including those holding erhu, dulcimer, gong, drum and trumpet ... At first, they turned from static, and pure Chinese musical instruments gave off pure China sounds, which were really "synthetic sounds", drawing people into the atmosphere of China and Peking Opera.
In the first play, the center of the stage is a standard stage prop, with a red tablecloth and a chair surface. This chair is too high for people to sit on. Four footmen and four maids happily went over and put peaches on the table. Mu Guiying's appearance is also jubilant, because Tian Bo Palace is celebrating Yang Zongbao's 50th birthday. She recalled Guang Chen, a "female man", and lamented that she was now a housewife, so she sang elegantly and humorously: "It's ridiculous that I bend my bow and bend my horse, pass a cup and stand a lamp, and get busy inside and outside. I wanted to marry Mu Kezhai and fall in love for decades. " Meng Huaiyuan and Jiao Tinggui came to report that Yang Zongbao was killed in battle. ...
Maybe people are middle-aged, so the opening of the play almost made me cry. I have written novels and plays, and suddenly I seem to realize that such a protagonist, such psychological activities, such joys and sorrows, and such dramatic tension are presented to the audience in a very short time and space. Isn't it the effect that other art forms and various works are striving for? From this, I entered the play. I found myself able to roughly distinguish between various roles based on Facebook and lyrics. I noticed the headdresses and costumes of actresses, and saw that actors can have long or short beards such as black, white, red and gray. I enjoy all kinds of singing and fighting, and I am intoxicated with laughter for all kinds of humor and shaking the burden. I was amazed at the fine dance steps of the actresses. I made knives and guns for the martial arts students.
I prefer to ponder the lyrics and dialogues, and the biggest feeling may be that "singing is better than speaking", not only because these lyrics tell stories and express feelings, but also because they are rhythmic, sonorous or loud, which makes our domestic eardrums feel very happy.
Sometimes, what I see is just a word, a big Chinese character. For example, in previous plays, the words "longevity" and "yang" were written on the curtain wall or marked on the stage, so a Chinese character, which describes the atmosphere, expresses emotions and conveys history, is so clear and pure China.
The first half of the play is a literary drama, an emotional drama, and the story of characters mostly takes place in the courtyard of Tianbo House. In the second half, however, martial arts are the mainstay, and the background curtain is changed to the Great Wall with rolling hills and continuous mountains. Different scenery, different scenes, not only avoid the possible dull, boring and monotonous, but also meet the needs of different audiences and tastes.
As soon as that wusheng appeared, he turned four or five somersaults in a row and turned from the left rear of the stage to the right front. When he stood still, someone immediately applauded. In martial arts dramas, it is also a tradition and characteristic for generals to carry two pheasants on their heads and a row of small flags on their shoulders. They grabbed the pheasant feathers on their heads and sang about the world while playing like snakes. Their heroic spirit has a different flavor. I thought that Mu in the first half of the literary drama and Mu in the second half of the martial arts drama were all played by one actor, and I was secretly surprised. Later, I found it more reasonable to know that they were played by two actors respectively.
Seeing such Beijing opera has produced feelings, and it is more likely to be outside the play. The theme of Yangmen Woman reminds people of history and legend, childhood, stories handed down by grandparents, feelings conveyed by picture books, and old times when parents occasionally took us to see Huai Opera in our hometown.
Ms Moon in the same frame is a young and elegant performer, and she is more sensitive to music. Seeing that Lincoln Center is usually a jazz performance venue, she sighed: "Watching a Beijing opera in a jazz atmosphere really makes people feel like crossing!" I couldn't help laughing. Nowadays, whether in China, new york or Beijing, or even in any corner of the world, watching Peking Opera and China, an ancient drama, will have a sense of crossing.
I am not a fan. Speaking of it, I should be interested in Beijing opera after going abroad. Not so much interested in Beijing opera as in everything in China; And if I don't go abroad, I may turn a blind eye to Peking Opera and everything else in China. I remember the first time I returned to China, I asked my good friend in college, Mao Zi, to buy a ticket for poly theatre Opera. I thought the quintessence of Chinese culture was waiting for me in China. I remember watching a martial arts drama like "Make a scene in Heaven". The applause and applause of the audience lingered in my mind, which I will never forget for many years. Distance may make us forget or cherish. Man is such a complicated and strange animal.
As the saying goes, "Life is like a play, and a play is like life." For a spectator like me, only when people are middle-aged, in a foreign land and pop songs become memories of youth, can they watch them occasionally and see the life between scenes, inside and outside the play, which is lively and nostalgic.
Essays on Aesthetics of Peking Opera II. Before performing an old play, such as Peking Opera, gongs and drums will be played, which is called "opening gong" to create an atmosphere. Hearing this, people outside the venue can quickly enter the venue, and people inside the venue can relax and prepare to enjoy the opera.
However, most Peking Opera performances are "passbook plays", and there are often multiple scenes, and many actors take turns to play them. Or think that the last part of a drama is the "finale", but it is not, and the penultimate part is the finale. The last martial arts drama is a gift for the audience, called "Farewell".
As the saying goes, "the opening gong is easy to knock, but the stage play is difficult to sing." If the opening gong is good, everything will be fine after the lively knock; So it's hard to sing. What's the difficulty?
First of all, we must stop our peers. Competing on the same stage overnight, there are many celebrities with their own specialties. If you want to "finish the game", you must do better and keep up with your peers. It is said that Mei Lanfang performed in Shanghai for the first time at the beginning of last century, and the repertoire list came out. Standing in front of him were Wu Sheng, Lao, Hua, Shou Feng and Su Yun. , are top names. The owner of the theater asked Mei Lanfang, who was only the second in charge of Tsing Yi at that time, to come to the stage. Mei's pressure can be imagined Fortunately, Mei Lanfang performed a circus "Mukezhai", which was well sung and won a full house applause.
The second is to retain the audience. After watching the play all night, people are a little sleepy. The audience didn't just leave to enjoy your "drama". If you are not as good as others in singing, reading and playing Kung Fu, and you are covered with flaws, the audience will either pee or leave, and no matter how big the corner is, it will collapse overnight. Although Mei Lanfang's performance in Mukezhai is successful, there are still some shortcomings, that is, the back four sides are a little heavy, which makes him bow his head from time to time and damages his image. Later, the accompanying friends came up with a plan. Every time Mei Lanfang performs, several friends sit in the box on the second floor. When May bowed her head, they high-fived her. After many twists and turns, I finally helped Mei Lanfang get rid of this habit.
It's hard to sing a play, but it's hard to stand out from the crowd. Happy ending, good beginning and good end.
Peking Opera Aesthetic Prose Part III Peking Opera is the quintessence of China. It has a history of 200 years. The name of Peking Opera first appeared in Shenbao in the second year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1876). Historically, it was called Pihuang, Huang Er, Huang Qiang, Peking Opera, Peking Opera and National Opera. In the fifty-fifth year of Qing Qianlong (1790), Huizhou Class Four entered Beijing and Kunqu Opera entered Beijing.
According to the data, Peking Opera is a comprehensive performing art, which integrates singing (singing), chanting (reciting), doing (acting), fighting (martial arts) and dancing (dancing). It tells stories, portrays characters and expresses the thoughts and feelings of "happiness, anger, sadness, joy, shock, fear and sadness" through programmed performance means. Roles can be divided into four categories: raw (male), Dan (female), pure (male) and ugly (both male and female). Characters are divided into loyalty, ugliness, good and evil. Every image is vivid.
On the stage, Peking Opera is an immaterial performance. A paddle rocked the boat to kill the whole family, whipped the horse, and the voice was shrill: What's the meaning of the clown Wang? I can stop a million soldiers with a sword! Gently lift your feet, lift your feet, and put an empty gold pot in Xiulou to drink his 300 cups; Trembling at the first corner of the island ice wheel, I was so intoxicated! Phoenix's eyes are deep, and the clothes in the king's tent sleep soundly. I'm here to pay my bill and relax. Clouds are gathering and empty, and the ice wheel is surging, which is a clear autumn scene. Embattled and helpless? Forever lament farewell to my concubine. Handsome and young, a man with a beard, always relies on colorful flags to flip the sun, the moon and the dry Kun.
Listening to Hu, dancing in the sky with long sleeves; Beautiful and charming lips are light in color and tactful in eye movements; A person's soul wanders leisurely. Mo Dao is really unattractive and infatuated. Walking alone in the desert, holding the pipa in his arms, the Han people who have changed are at peace; Zhaojun went out in the snowstorm. Suddenly, gongs and drums roared; Looking at the hammer, I stumbled The biting cold wind penetrated Lian Yingzhai, and the misunderstanding at Sanchakou at night was solved. Song Wu spread his shop in front of the cross slope and shot halberds outside Yuanmen, Lv Fengxian. Feathers, nylon scarves, violins, and gate towers left millions of troops trapped in isolated cities; I am also very quiet inside.
Bao meditated in Kaifeng House and sang the eternal swan song. Kneel on your knees, just to honor your mother for one night. Look at me with eyes that despise theocracy, the Monkey King, and stir up the myth that heaven is weak. Wow, Jiang Gan, a group of heroes, have been taken in for stealing books! Gentle and infatuated White Snake, White Magic Snow fights against stealing fairy grass with her life; Help me, Xu Lang, go back to the dead. Please ask Zhang Sheng to hide under the matchmaker's chessboard for the time being and take you to meet my young lady Cui Yingying. In the auspicious play, dragons and phoenixes appear auspicious, and Liu Huangshu returns with a beautiful woman. I only sigh that Zhou Yu, the young commander-in-chief of Soochow, lost his wife and soldiers!
China's Peking Opera, with its rich repertoire, many performing artists, many troupes, many audiences and far-reaching influence, ranks first in the country. 19 19, Mei Lanfang led a troupe to perform in Japan, and Peking Opera first spread overseas. 1924 led a delegation to perform in Japan again, 1930 led a crew of 20 people to visit the United States, which was a great success. 1934 was invited to visit Europe and perform in the Soviet Union, which attracted the attention of European drama circles. Since then, Peking Opera has been regarded as a school of drama in China all over the world. This is real information.
I like Beijing opera since I was a child, just because it sings beautifully and roundly; Fascinating and intoxicating. The music accompaniment of Beijing Opera is stable, and the actors' performances are peaceful. Take your time, don't deliberately sing three sighs. Never emphasize violent and bloody scenes and language, it has always been peaceful, stable and serene. Therefore, she is the quintessence of Chinese culture and a veritable king of drama stage! Watching singing and playing, watching sadness; Looking at the way of hiding your face and crying, all of them interpret the gentle and delicate beauty unique to the ancient East.
It's a pity that many friends don't like Beijing opera, and it's not nice to say that she is a long tone. That's the refinement of sound. Who can reach that level? The groans of pop music can never compare with her, and the screams of rock music are far less exciting than Allegro. Don't abandon our national quintessence. She is the precious and outstanding cultural essence of our nation. Friends, please watch more Peking Opera and pay attention to our national quintessence! Don't let her be destroyed in our hands and be a sinner forever! She is really beautiful, beautiful and charming!
I first listened to Beijing Opera when I was a freshman. At that time, an Austrian high school delegation came to our middle school for academic exchange. Foreign teachers want to walk into the classroom and feel the classroom atmosphere of China students. So, the school added a music class to our class, which is Peking Opera.
On weekdays, the music teacher who often secretly shows us movies teaches us to sing Mei Lanfang's Drunk, and explains it to us sentence by sentence. Every time everyone opens their voice, the chubby music teacher will clap his hands and stop: "Be sure to sing in a low voice and pay attention to the adjustment of breath." Slowly, under the teacher's repeated training, the first sentence we sang, "The island ice wheel turns first", finally reached a tolerable level. I secretly glanced at the foreigners behind me and found that they were also listening in a daze.
In order to ease the awkward atmosphere, the teacher played a piece of kuya's Drunk Imperial Lady. Kuya's hands, eyes and body movements are really in place, and the sentences are vivid and vivid, which makes me feel the beauty of art as a person who has seen the world.
Later, every time I listened to songs, I would listen to some Peking Opera intentionally or unintentionally.
Listening to Beijing opera is addictive. It sounds as if you are the protagonist in this play, and you will make two gestures accompanied by Jinghu, and you will have a corner addiction.
Gradually, I fell in love with Beijing Opera, just like my first love. For me, Peking Opera is an art that I want to be close to or accompany for my whole life, but this art is like an independent girl full of breath. The girl's heart needs us to spend time and energy to ponder, just like first love. In ignorance, there is a world that only smells like me and her, so we don't need too much, just be together.
Li Shengsu's Drunkenness of the Imperial Lady is the most frequently listened to. Li Shengsu's eyes are very smart, and he can really talk. There is an old saying that "a stunner is enough to move people". Li Shengsu's appearance is really graceful and coquetry, like a treasure of pearls, gold and silver. Although an aria is not as tortuous and slightly drunk as Master Mei, it is also lovely.
When I am in a bad mood, I lie quietly in bed and listen to Beijing Opera with my eyes closed. My blood seems to be swimming rapidly, which makes me feel strangely comfortable.
Writing quotations and Chairman Mao's poems with Peking Opera tunes makes people feel that the energy of Peking Opera music score is also great. Some Beijing opera quotations and poems are reluctant to part with, and there are obvious traces of cutting feet and fitting shoes. However, some of them are very smooth and full of spirit, emotion and artistic conception, such as Qiu's "The Masses Are Real Heroes" and "Wind and Rain Send Spring Home". Comrades with vocal music design said: these can be sung. What else can't you sing?
This brings us another problem. Why must the rhythm of Beijing Opera lyrics adhere to the framework of 223 and 334 and the upper and lower sentences?
Is there any reason? It is said that there is: this is determined by the singing method of Beijing opera. Each sentence of a Beijing opera aria is divided into three paragraphs, and the number of beats in a paragraph is relatively fixed, so the number of words in the lyrics cannot be staggered; The upper sentence is flat and the lower sentence is flat, because the flat voice can be lengthened, which is convenient for "singing in a male voice", that is, "creating a cavity". But the word "drunken imperial concubine" is not neat. It is not a cavity, but a qupai style. How to sing? Quiet? The tone of Beijing dialect is Gao Pingtiao, and the tone of Shangsheng is Shangsheng, which seems to be easy to stretch. The original sound of Beijing Opera is Huguang, and the tone of Hubei dialect is falling, which is inconvenient to extend. How to explain it? And as we all know, Peking Opera is not always in the next sentence, but more in the last sentence; Moreover, the "progressive cavity" in Beijing opera refers to a small cavity. As for the big cavity, except that the beginning part is limited by the pronunciation of words, the cavity behind it has nothing to do with pronunciation. Therefore, these reasons are not convincing.
It can only be said that the meter of Peking Opera is a historical and artificial phenomenon, a habit and an established practice, which makes no sense. Probably from rap literature. This kind of meter has two shortcomings: first, it is suitable for narration but not for lyricism (the lyrics of old plays often have traces of the third person); Second, it is rigid and has little change. The simplicity and rigidity of the lyrics meter greatly contributed to the solidification of Beijing Opera.
The older generation of Peking Opera artists have consciously or unconsciously broken through the box. "Dojo-changing" and "Shaqiao Farewell" are piled with four words in Huang Er's eyes. At the end of "Going to the Tiantai", Sanyan gave up another sentence "You and I are a commoner", which is the so-called "sentence", that is, sang two sentences. Cheng is so bold. He sang the fourteenth beat of "Eighteen Beats of Tiger Cutting" without a word, just like the original poem! Mei Lanfang sang "Three Mothers Teach Children": "Xiao Dong came home from school and I taught him to recite, but he couldn't recite a word. I beat him in the family way, but he said I wasn't his real mother, hey, old man! " What is this? This is prose, it doesn't rhyme at all! But very emotional.
I deeply feel the need to break through and enrich the rules of Beijing Opera. I think we can absorb the Qupai style. Compared with the original formal ancient modern poetry, lyrics and songs are undoubtedly an improvement. I used to write Kunqu opera with lyrics, and found that this seemingly rigorous poetic style is actually much more free than that of 223 and 334, so I don't have to stick to the upper and lower sentences. You can use several superordinate sentences or several subordinate sentences to meet the emotional needs in the play. The rhymes used in ancient poems are often flat. You can also rhyme in paragraphs. Du Fu's ancient poems all rhyme to the end, and Bai Juyi's ancient poems also rhyme according to emotional needs. Why can't a 20-to 30-sentence Beijing Opera lyric be the same? Good rhyme can save layers and have a turning point. I even think that Beijing opera can absorb some rhyming forms of western poetry, such as inter-behavioral rhyme and ABAB；; Rhyme, ABBA ... ...
Not for the rhythm, not to confuse the traditional rhythm of Beijing opera, not to be unique, but to promote the development of Beijing opera. New content, new ideas, new feelings need new rules.
Of course, we don't want to make the rhythm of Beijing opera sparse, and the original rhythm has been abandoned. The subject should still be two two three, three three four, and the upper and lower sentences.
Are you worried that it will be like Beijing Opera? Please listen to Wind and Rain Send Spring Home.