Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Hu Guangxin
"Walking on the street, the sound of Ni Huiying's Cantonese music can be heard in the distance."
In the 1970s, Qin Mu, a famous writer in Guangdong, wrote such a sentence in an essay. In Guangzhou, who wouldn't know Ni Huiying? She is the "golden voice" and "little qu king" of the Cantonese opera industry, and also the leader who leads the innovation and development of the Cantonese opera industry. Since entering the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe in 1970, Ni Huiying has been deeply engaged in the field of Cantonese opera for 51 years. From half a century of art, Ni Huiying still has no intention of stopping: from last year to this year, the "Cantonese Opera Performing Arts Encyclopedia" edited by Ni Huiying released "Singing Nian Scroll" and "Doing Scrolls"; this year, she held "Fifty Spring of the Sea of Entertainment - Ni Huiying's 50th Anniversary Party" and launched a personal biography "Ni Huiying's Artistic Life".
Taking the 51st anniversary of Congyi as an opportunity, Ni Huiying accepted an exclusive interview with the reporter of Yangcheng Evening News. In Ni Huiying's eyes, Cantonese opera is the spiritual home that carries her memories of growing up, and it is also the cause she loves and strives for for half her life. How would she evaluate the past 51 years? She told reporters: "I will say to myself at that time: You did not take this road wrong. ”
Ni Huiying (third from left) sings with her son (second from left) and music producer Huang Zhiyi
【Fifty Years of Artistic Life】
Practice until you cry, but you don't know what suffering is
Ni Huiying grew up in Xiguan, Guangzhou, and has been immersed in the environment of Cantonese opera since childhood. She recalls: "When we were young, we often went to the cultural park to play, and the school's physical education class and self-study class were held there. At that time, there were at least five or six theaters, including the Red Star Theater, the Hundred Flowers Amphitheater, the Puppet Theater, and the Cultural Park Center... Sometimes they also act in daytime dramas, and subtly, I have a deep impression of Cantonese opera since I was a child. ”
In 1970, the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe recruited for the first time in the province after a gap of five years, and only 10 actors were recruited. Ni Huiying, who was only 14 years old, was a well-known "literary and artistic pacesetter" in the school at that time, so she was photographed by the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe. Although she already has a lot of performance experience, Ni Huiying's understanding of Cantonese opera is still ignorant: "When I was a child, I sang Peking Opera, songs, and danced a lot, and I didn't know much about Cantonese opera. But I knew that cantonese opera troupes were professional, and with the word 'professional', I joined the Cantonese opera troupe. ”
With the desire to become a professional actor, Ni Huiying took over the olive branch handed by the Cantonese Opera Troupe. And for the next half century, she interpreted the word "professional" even more personally. The training of cantonese opera troupes is very arduous: getting up early and being greedy, hanging their voices, practicing their bodies, learning to sing... Ni Huiying described it as a period of "not knowing what suffering is": "It is said that 'one minute on stage, ten years off stage', practice until crying, full of scars, this is the path that dramatists must go through." When you think that this is your job, you don't feel pain. ”
This stubbornness has run through Ni Huiying's 51-year artistic life. So far, Ni Huiying has starred in hundreds of plays, and in the most prosperous period of the Cantonese opera market, she has to rehearse two or three sets of new plays a year. She describes it as a process of "pain and joy": "Practice and performance are hard, but every new play is a new challenge. For example, in the first traditional Costume Cantonese opera "Yangmen Female General" rearranged after the "Cultural Revolution" in 1977, 22-year-old Ni Huiying picked a beam to play Mu Guiying, "In this kind of buckle trick, in order to support the costume, you must wear cotton clothes inside." At that time, I had to perform two times a day, and I was really sweating, and even my cotton clothes were soaked. After the afternoon performance, have a meal and continue to perform the evening performance. Although it was very hard, now that I look back, there are only two words in my mind: happy. ”
The lucky one of the times, the audience is her "charger"
Ni Huiying often said that she was "the lucky one of the times". When she entered the industry, it was in the heyday of Cantonese opera, Cantonese opera troupes blossomed everywhere, and the Guangzhou Cantonese opera troupe where she was located was even more powerful, bringing together famous artists such as Red Line Girl, Chen Xiaofeng, and Tan Peiyi. The young Ni Huiying grew up rapidly under the nourishment of her predecessors and soon became a well-known actor who stood alone.
Ni Huiying said: "I was fortunate to be valued by the leaders and seniors, who quickly pushed me to the position of protagonist. And at that time, he was young, his voice was relatively beautiful, and his performance was also very passionate. She had a clear understanding of personal success: "In those days, it was actually easier for us to become famous and gain public awareness. Drama was once popular with the masses, including teachers, doctors and other intellectuals liked to watch big dramas, so we would suddenly become popular. 1974's "Red Detachment of Women" is my famous work, I played Wu Qinghua, and cooperated with teacher Chen Xiaofeng. At that time, it was really a household name, and this drama would be broadcast on the radio. ”
"Looking back on all these years, I was really one drama after another, and I almost never stopped." For half a century, Ni Huiying has always been active on the stage of Cantonese opera, in addition to her love for Cantonese opera, the audience is Ni Huiying's "charger".
When she first joined the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe, Ni Huiying often followed the troupe to the mountains and went to the countryside to perform, and the enthusiasm of the villagers still makes her remember vividly: "Wherever there is a play to watch, the audience will rush from all directions." They sat in the audience and watched with hunger, and we would be infected on the stage. When my efforts are loved by so many audiences, I will have a great sense of accomplishment. ”
After she became famous, the pomp and circumstance was even more unprecedented: "Yangmen Women's General" was performed 30 times in Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the venue was full, and after each performance, there must be an audience guarding the entrance of the theater, and ni Huiying had to wait for Ni Huiying to remove her makeup and go out to say hello to them before she was willing to leave.
Ni Huiying lamented that there was a group of audiences who had followed her for forty or fifty years and were still her loyal fans: "They are not only very familiar with my plays, but even the other actors in our troupe are very familiar with them, which makes me very moved." The profession of actor is very meaningful, our work brings joy to others, and in the process, I am enjoying it. ”
Ni Huiying performs "The Legend of the White Snake and the Sacrifice Tower"
Innovation breaks the dilemma, and "Flower Moon Shadow" makes Cantonese opera more abundant
From more than 50 years of art, Ni Huiying has experienced many twists and turns in Cantonese opera. From a vote that is difficult to get tens of thousands of people to watch the drama, to the entire Cantonese opera market falling off a cliff. In 2003, a market survey conducted by the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture showed that in Guangzhou, which has a population of more than 10 million, only 2,000 or 3,000 fans will go to the theater to watch Cantonese opera, and Cantonese opera audiences show the characteristics of "high age, low education, and low income".
In the face of the crisis of Cantonese opera, Ni Huiying did not complain about the world: "Any kind of art must change with the development of the times." After the reform and opening up, the social productive forces have been greatly released, people are busy looking at the world with their eyes wide open, and the pace of life is much faster than before. Coupled with the impact of popular culture such as Hong Kong television and song halls, Cantonese opera has been cold. ”
Ni Huiying admitted that she had been confused and confused: "Cantonese opera has been silent for more than ten years, and even the people are reluctant to mention it after tea and dinner, I think traditional opera should not be like this, but I don't know what to do, I can't find a way out." At that time, I was both an actor and the head of the Cantonese opera troupe, and whether or not I could get money in the troupe was related to me. Our money is stretched thin, there is no income without the audience, and the troupe cannot function without income. "So, is stage art out of place?" I watched musicals such as "Miss Saigon", "Les Misérables", "Phantom of the Opera" and so on abroad, and they were very popular with the audience, and "Phantom of the Opera" was a play that has been performed for more than twenty years and brought hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Therefore, I proposed at the time that we must adapt to the changes in the audience and the market and create things that modern people love to watch. ”
Ni Huiying said frankly: "Sometimes it is not that we want to change, it is the audience that forces us to change, and we must think about why the audience does not buy tickets to enter the theater." We often soaked on the stage, such as fish knowing plumbing, too well understood the audience's reaction. ”
In 2002, Ni Huiying launched the new Cantonese opera "Flower Moon Shadow". Although it is Cantonese opera, this drama integrates symphony, pop music, modern dance and other forms of expression, and immediately attracts the attention of the whole society, and is evaluated as "the representative work of Cantonese opera in the social transformation period of the new era". "Flower Moon Shadow" successfully attracted a group of highly educated young urban people into the theater, breaking the embarrassment of Cantonese opera that has been old and old for more than a decade. This new Cantonese opera also went out of the Cantonese-speaking region and was highly recognized by local audiences in Shanghai, which has always been known for its fashion and taste; in 2011, it appeared on the stage of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, becoming the first Cantonese opera to land on the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
After the performance of "Flower Moon Shadow", Ni Huiying also set up a "college students into the theater" program to send Cantonese opera to the campus: "Even if 1,000 or 500 young audiences fall in love with Cantonese opera every year, as long as they persist every year, they will 'snowball', and I hope to plant the seeds of Cantonese opera in the hearts of young people." I'm very happy that now I often meet some people in their thirties and forties who will say to me, 'I fell in love with Cantonese opera because I watched "Shadow of the Flower Moon".' They were the same college students they were. ”
Li Ziliu and Ni Huiying sing the Cantonese song "A Million Lines of High Song"
Shou Zhengxin Task, Chief Editor of Cantonese Opera "Encyclopedia"
In the face of the rise and fall of the Cantonese opera industry, Ni Huiying always has a firm determination in her heart: "We must be clear about the value of drama, have self-confidence, and then adhere to it, create, and conquer the audience with our works." We innovate in order to adapt to the aesthetics of modern people; the purpose of adaptation is to conquer, enrich the art of Cantonese opera with beautiful singing voice and body, and let the audience feel the charm of Cantonese opera. ”
In recent years, Ni Huiying's work has a new focus. If she used to do more "innovation", now she has turned to "integrity". At the end of last year, the Cantonese opera classic "Cantonese Opera Performing Arts Compendium" edited by Ni Huiying has completed the release of "Doing Beating Volumes" and "Singing Nian Volumes", and will continue to launch "Music Volumes", "Repertoire Volumes" and "Fine Arts Volumes" successively. Among them, the "Singing Nian Scroll" collects 340 audio pieces, most of which are the original singing repertoire of many Cantonese opera celebrities in the past hundred years; at the same time, the "Singing Nian Scroll" also compiled the first set of Cantonese opera stage official pronunciation tables in history, with a total of 1700 common words in stage official dialects, filling the gap in the study of stage official dialects for many years.
Ni Huiying introduced that the Cantonese Opera Performing Arts Encyclopedia has been planned for at least ten years: "I am the president of the Cantonese Opera Troupe and an actor. But when instructing young actors to practice, it is difficult to find educational materials. So I want to compile a set of reference books, trace back to the roots, and establish a performance theory system for Cantonese opera. Our Cantonese opera is a world-class intangible cultural heritage, with its unique performances, singing voices and music, which must be passed on well. Art should blossom and not be assimilated or even alienated. ”
Ni Huiying has always been an innovator, but now she can find the value of tradition more: "Traditional things may have historical limitations, may not be perfect, but there is also a unique aesthetic in them." For example, the southern school performance, for a period of time, we were not very optimistic in the industry, thinking it was too old. But looking back now, you will feel that the style of the southern school's 'hard bridge hard horse' actually has a simple and rough expressiveness, which is not available in other dramas. These decades of work and performance experience have given me a deeper understanding of Cantonese opera. We must have a deep understanding of our own drama in order to innovate and develop. We have a very good time, the government is vigorously protecting traditional culture, this is a very good time to practice the ceremony. As Cantonese opera people in this era, we should have this mission and responsibility. ”
【Ni Huiying on Cantonese Opera】
Cantonese opera represents nostalgia and nostalgia
In Ni Huiying's view, one of the charms of Cantonese opera lies in its deep mass roots: "Cantonese opera grew up in the hot land of Lingnan, rooted in the folk and the people, for many people, Cantonese opera can be said to be a spiritual homeland, emotional support, which is why I do not abandon this art." ”
Since the end of the 1970s, Ni Huiying has visited and performed in different countries and regions many times. Over the decades, she has brought Cantonese opera to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Southeast Asia, and even African island countries such as Mauritius. As for China's Hong Kong and Macao, Ni Huiying bluntly said that they are all "their own people": "Everyone has the same roots, we go to perform every year, and the relationship is very close. ”
When performing abroad, Ni Huiying deeply felt the "cultural gene" characteristics of Cantonese opera: Cantonese opera represents hometown sounds, nostalgia, nostalgia, and connects Chinese people around the world.
Ni Huiying said: "There is a saying that 'where there is seawater, there are Chinese, and where there are Chinese, there is Cantonese opera'. Although the audience of Cantonese opera in China has dropped sharply after the reform and opening up, when we go to the world, we find that Cantonese opera is very popular everywhere we go. For example, when she went to Singapore to perform, she and the troupe had to prepare twenty or thirty sets of plays every time, perform dozens of performances in the local area, and stay for more than a month, "often there are audiences who cook soup for us to drink, perform outside, we are not short of soup", which is the affection of blood thicker than water.
In Ni Huiying's view, traditional culture is very important: "Every generation has its own historical responsibility, and we must learn traditional culture and learn, inherit, enrich and develop it." Traditional culture is not only the historical memory of a nation, but also the cultural foundation for this nation to move towards the future with confidence. ”
The spirit of reform is the tradition of Cantonese opera
From half a century of art, Ni Huiying has made many innovations in Cantonese opera. The composer of "Liang Zhu" and the famous composer He Zhanhao once commented on her new Cantonese opera "Flower Moon Shadow": "I am glad that Cantonese opera has finally returned to tradition, for decades, Cantonese opera has been too conservative, it should be a very trendy genre. Ni Huiying admitted that He Zhanhao's evaluation brought her a great touch: "When "Flower Moon Shadow" came out, some people felt that we had gone too far on the road of innovation. But the spirit of reform is originally the tradition of Cantonese opera, and when I make reforms, to some extent, I also learn from our predecessors. ”
In Ni Huiying's view, Cantonese opera itself is an inclusive drama genre, and successive generations of Cantonese opera people have "brought" different cultures and used them for me. "There is a play in Cantonese opera called "Gandhi Hui Xi Shi", which puts the Indian leader Gandhi and the ancient Chinese beauty Xi Shi in the same play; and the Cantonese opera master Ma Shi once adapted Shakespeare's novel "The Merchant of Venice" into the Cantonese opera "A Pound of Meat". The song "Song of the Four Seasons" from the movie "Road Angel" in the 1930s was also immediately adapted and sung by Cantonese opera people at that time, and the Western song "Suzanne" even became one of the song cards of Cantonese opera - this year, "Suzanne" became the theme song of a milk tea brand and once again became a fire among young people. In addition, Western instruments such as violin and saxophone have become the standard for Cantonese opera bands a hundred years ago.
Why can Cantonese opera learn from the strengths of all and innovate? Ni Huiying believes that in the final analysis, it is because of the audience: "Lingnan is a place full of reform, and the people here are not conservative. The development of drama is inseparable from the audience, and we make innovative audiences also accept, so we have achieved a virtuous circle. ”
【Ni Huiying on Guangzhou】
Three landmarks in half a century
A. Cultural Park
"The cultural park carries so many fond memories of me. For that generation of Cantonese, it was the second classroom. We would take physical education classes and self-study classes there. At that time, in addition to various amphitheaters, the cultural park also had an aquatic museum, an ice rink, a rotating airplane, a large windmill... When I was a child, my parents took me to the cultural park to play, and I was very happy to be able to take a big windmill. The first time I saw so many marine creatures was at the Aquarium in the Cultural Park. ”
B. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
"When I was 8 years old, I stepped on the stage of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for the first time. I was selected to participate in "Dongfang Hong" as a Young Pioneer. It was the '60s of the last century, when the whole landscape of Guangzhou was very simple, and I thought the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was a palace: the outside was paved with glazed tiles, the inside was a high dome, and of course, there was a big stage. The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was the place where my dream began, and that performance made me feel the sacredness of the stage and determined to be an actor. ”
C. Guihuagang
"I joined the Cantonese Opera Troupe in Guangzhou at the age of 14. The troupe was a closed management, and at that time, whether it was a young person who had just entered the troupe or a famous family like Chen Xiaofeng, they had to live in Guihuagang and go out on time every morning at 7 o'clock for exercise training. Later, I lived in Guihuagang for more than forty years and spent the best years. ”
Edit: Popcorn