Peking Opera "Xu Yunfeng" can also be said to be a kind of correction, return and rebirth that keeps pace with the times after the wind and rain. This play spans more than 30 years from the beginning of its creation to today, and its significance is significant. From "Rising Sun in Mountain City" to "Red Rock" to "Xu Yunfeng", it reflects the tremendous changes in the times, thoughts, consciousness, society, psychology, literature and art in Chinese society in the past half century, and it is the unity of this change. Putting "Xu Yunfeng" in this coordinate to understand is particularly worthy of our consideration and summary.
I have a few thoughts about paying attention to this play.
(1) About the title of the play "Xu Yunfeng". When he created the Peking opera "Red Rock" in the 1980s, the character of Jiang Jie had been removed. The name of "Xu Yunfeng" has been changed well, and it is very accurate to highlight the main characters, which is very appropriate. Among the works adapted from "Red Rock", Peking Opera, Sichuan Opera, Opera, and Flower Drum Opera have Jiang Jie, as well as Hua Ziliang of Peking Opera, and Cheng Gang and Cheng Yao of Tin Opera, and the works with Xu Yunfeng as the protagonist are relatively unique. In the works of "Red Rock", Xu Yunfeng is a too important figure with Jiang Jie, his revolutionary feelings, excellent qualities, and art of struggle, including his personality, are a very important factor in the "Red Rock" story we tell today, the "Red Rock" character, and the "Red Rock" spirit.
(2) About the Spirit of Red Rock. The novels "Red Rock" and "Red Rock" series of works not only depict a series of vivid characters, but more importantly, there is a revolutionary spirit burning in the works, which we call the "Red Rock Spirit" today. And this Red Rock Spirit is the fearless spirit of holding faith in the heart and putting life and death outside the degree; it is the chinese nation's benevolent people who have been "worried about the worries of the world before the world, and happy after the world" for thousands of years, and the so-called "establishing a heart for the heavens, establishing a destiny for the people, continuing to study for the saints, and opening up peace for all the worlds", all the way to "the rise and fall of the world, the responsibility of the puppeteer", to "to sacrifice more ambitions, dare to call the sun and the moon for a new heaven" and the great national spirit of being loyal to the country, sacrificing life for righteousness, and so on. It is a manifestation and inheritance of this spirit of modernity. I think it is very appropriate that we have used modern language this time to express that this spirit of Red Rock is patriotism, unity, dedication, and sacrifice, and I think this spirit is connected with this spirit of our Chinese nation, and is not simply expressed as a revolutionary spirit. This spirit is also embodied in today's models of the times, including Jiao Yulu, Gu Wenchang, Li Baoguo, and Liao Junbo. I think this spirit has been embodied in our healthcare workers, scientists, PLA fighters, and even volunteers in the community during this pandemic. This spirit is the soul of the Chinese nation, and this spirit is also the driving force for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, so this time when our "Xu Yunfeng" was put on the stage, this spirit was once again embodied on the stage, and I think it is very important to let this spirit shine on the stage. It will certainly give our audience a lot of teachings, it is inspiring, it is thought-provoking, and this is my personal interpretation of the spirit of "Red Rock".
(3) About the rearrangement of the repertoire. It is very important for a theater to rearrange its own repertoire, how to face its own history and traditions, and whether it can achieve creative transformation and innovative development. The creation and arrangement of "Xu Yunfeng" just reflects the beijing opera house's ability to have a reverence for historical inheritance, enterprising intention and integrity and innovation.
The second is the success of the genre. Led by Mr. Tan Yuanshou, the Peking opera "Red Rock" unites Ma Changli, Zhang Xuejin and Gao Baoxian, highlighting the artistic characteristics of the "four old students". "Xu Yunfeng" inherits the genre characteristics of "Red Rock", starring Tan Zhengyan, the seventh generation of Tanmen, and starring Du Zhenjie, Zhu Qiang and other famous artists, becoming the bright color of the inheritance and adaptation of this play. Two artists, Chi Jinsheng and Mr. Tan Yuanshou, Tan Xiaozeng and Yan Guixiang, were used as art consultants and art directors to ensure that the spirit and inheritance of the genre did not deviate. The characteristics of Tan Pai's combination of culture and martial arts, gentleness and simplicity, clear frustration and setbacks, and heroic courage and perseverance are very clearly reflected in this performance; the dashing and beautiful ma Pai, accommodating and stretching are also reflected in this play; so that the audience's aesthetics of genre art are satisfied.
Again, the success of the show. This time, the performances of several leading actors are remarkable. Tan Zhengyan embodies the characteristics of calmness, sophistication, and both culture and martial arts inherited from Mr. Tan Yuanshou, and is becoming more and more mature in art. Xu Pengfei, played by Du Zhenjie, is properly measured and full of charm, and his reading and singing voice are deeply rooted in the true biography of Mr. Ma Changli and have the style of Mr. Ma Changli. I read a lot of "Red Rock" works, and this character is a rare Xu Pengfei in the "Red Rock" series that I have seen, which is very characteristic. Zhu Qiang also acted very well, and he definitely did not pretend to be crazy and stupid. It is easy to act in a state of madness, but the performance of the character is far more important than the state of madness. Zhu Qiang played this role without replacing his performance with madness, and he had a good grasp of proportion and focus. Young actors have a fairly good performance in the play. For example, Zhou Meihui played Cheng Yao, using Peking Opera to sing Sichuan Qingyin, which is very brilliant, and her flowery singing can show the singing skills of young actors, which is a good atmosphere for young actors in Beijing Peking Opera House to continue to grow. This time the performance was generally successful.
(This article is an excerpt.) Stills courtesy of Beijing Opera House)
(The author is Li Jide, president of the Chinese Opera Performance Society, former editor-in-chief of "Script" magazine)
On December 16, the fourth edition of the "China Culture Daily" national art fund column "Brilliant Century, Magnificent Epic" published a special report
Editor-in-charge: Wu Min