Text | Wang Can
In the first month of 2022, two masters in the traditional opera industry have already passed away: on January 6, Kunqu performance artist Zhang Jiqing died in Nanjing at the age of 83. On January 10, Jin Caifeng, a Yue opera performance artist and founder of the Yue opera Golden School, passed away in Shanghai at the age of 92.
Zhang Jiqing is the famous "Queen of Kunqu". In 1983, she won the first plum blossom award with "Peony Pavilion , Frightening Dream , Dream Seeking" and "Zhu Maichen Divorced Wife Dream " , and had the nickname "Zhang Sanmeng". In 1986, zhang Jiqing starred in the Kunqu opera movie "Peony Pavilion" was released. Tang Xianzu's expressive and artistic words, and the costumed Tao, which is rich in classical Chinese aesthetics, complement Zhang Jiqing's gentle singing voice and delicate and evocative performance. It is worth mentioning that the movie stops at the fold of "Leaving the Soul", that is, Du Liniang is worried and sick, and the incense disappears on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the reunion plot behind is omitted. This tragic treatment is extremely clever and has a unique appeal: not only makes the audience infinitely sad and reverie, but also allows the theme of the film to rise to the philosophical height of life and life, no longer limited to the praise of love and rebellion against etiquette.
Zhang Jiqing
In 1962, Jin Caifeng played the role of Wang Xifeng in Xu Yulan Wang Wenjuan's version of the Yue opera film "Dream of the Red Chamber". Her role is not much, but her colorful and gentle singing voice and vivid and flexible performance are impressive. In the same year, the Yue opera movie "Jade Hairpin" starring her was released, and Jin Caifeng interpreted the kind, gentle, tenacious and introverted heroine Li Xiuying to the fullest. In addition, she is also yan Lanzhen, a hot and spicy alternative bridesmaid in "Panfusov". "Live Lan Zhen, Shen Xiuying", has become a classic image.
Gold Mining Wind
Some netizens who love opera have counted that in the past 2021, there have been a number of famous opera performance artists who have left us, including but not limited to Du Jinfang and Huang Shaohua of Peking Opera, Zhang Huiyun of Hebei Zizi, Wang Wenjuan of Yue Opera, Huang Zongyi of Huangmei Opera, Liu Lanfang of Yu Opera, etc. Most of these masters died in their eighties and nineties, but people still regret it. On the one hand, it is because they have left too many classic works and made great contributions to the cause of opera. On the other hand, it is concerned about the current situation and future of the development of traditional opera, and is worried that after the gradual disappearance of the nascent generation of masters, opera will decline at both the inheritor and the recipient. This is indeed a real problem that needs to be confronted.
To answer this question, I think the first thing to clarify is, how do we understand the inheritance and innovation of opera today?
A typical controversy is that the singing voices and performances of some Mesozoic and neonastic representative performers today are different from the styles of the founders of their genres. So the question arises: between the inheritor and the originator, should "like not be" as the standard, or should personal style and innovation be tolerated? Where is the scale of this inclusion?
In "Jade Hairpin", Jin Caifeng plays Li Xiuying
Among opera lovers, there are some who firmly believe that the first generation is "the best in everything", and the latecomers only need to copy the performance programs of the masters, and do not need to have innovation and personal characteristics. Some people even attribute the fact that opera is no longer the glory of the past because the inheritors did not fully grasp the skills of the masters, but rushed to innovate first.
This sentiment of "thick past and thin present" contains a high degree of affirmation for the newcomers - not only artistic achievements, but also admiration for their character, character, etc., but often ignore some objective laws. For example, the attainment of "supreme purity" by the masters has a lot to do with their living circumstances. Today's inheritors no longer have to learn art in order to make a living, and have more choices in life, which is a good thing. Simply using the success path and artistic standards of the nascent generation to evaluate the Mesozoic generation and even the new generation as "can't suffer hardships, no wonder they can't learn at home", which is not harsh.
Mei Lanfang
More importantly, the artistic heritage itself needs to be individual and innovative. In this regard, the nascent generation set an example. Peking opera master Mei Lanfang's performance of the Kunqu opera "Peony Pavilion" is also stunning, and the Huangmei opera master Yan Fengying has integrated the kunqu opera "Sifan" into the Huangmei opera "Tianxian Match"; the classic Yue opera repertoire "Chunxiang Biography" is derived from the local legend that Xu Yulan Wang Wenjuan heard when she comforted the volunteer army in North Korea. More than 30 years ago, when Zhang Jiqing performed "Leaving the Soul", the band joined the bass accompaniment. In 2003, Bai Xianyong produced the youth version of "Peony Pavilion", and Zhang Jiqing served as the art director, which also shows his positive attitude towards opera innovation. From 2013 to 2014, Shanghai Yue Theatre launched the newly written Yue opera "Zhen Huan", which is a successful innovation of popular TV dramas, allowing many young people to admire the new life and tolerance of traditional opera. These cases show that opera should be innovative and can also be innovative.
The key is how to innovate, not only without losing the character, temperament and spirit of the original opera, but also "silky" into the spirit of the times and personal characteristics. Many people still remember that on the stage of the 2021 Henan Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala, the opera performance artists and representatives of advanced anti-epidemic figures sang "White Armor", directly using the old drama "keep up with current events", singing a new spirit, and brushing a wave of praise.
At the Spring Festival Gala in Henan, Yu opera performance artists and representatives of advanced anti-epidemic figures sang "White Armor", which made many audiences burst into tears.
In recent years, there are two types of "innovations" that are easy to turn over. First, in some new dramas, the lyrics are too straightforward, and they are spat on as "water words" and "water plays". The second is the pursuit of luxurious and exquisite costumes and lighting and dancing, such as a performance of "Peony Pavilion • Garden Tour", which obviously sings "Not to the garden, how to know the spring color is as promised", but there are lotus flowers on the stage. This makes an obvious common sense mistake, and the "no heart" is exposed.
On the audience side, an important proposition is how to make opera go down the altar and go to young people, so that more and more young people like opera?
There are many efforts in this regard, such as "theater/opera masters entering the university campus activities", many universities have set up opera appreciation classes, there are opera lovers clubs, opera art festivals, etc. In recent years, the content of opera common sense and appreciation has also sunk into primary and secondary school textbooks. These are good practices. However, considering that the traditional opera repertoire is far from the era and society in which young people live today, the launch of a number of new repertoire of life, thought, artistry and interest may also be a necessary attempt to narrow the distance between opera and young people.
Interestingly, on the platform where young people gather, many opera fans have emerged. In a large number of classic songs and film and television dramas, many people wrote in the bullet screen and comments: When I was a child, I was pulled by my grandparents to watch the drama, and I didn't know where to look good. Now I am watching dramas on the Internet by myself, and the bigger I get, the more I understand the beauty of opera. Many netizens frankly said that their preference for opera has changed from "feeling embarrassed" and "needing to wear headphones to listen" at the beginning to watching calmly and taking the initiative to amway to others.
After Zhang Jiqing "picked plums" in 1983, his performances covered the United States, Europe and Japan. It is probably difficult for people today to imagine that Kunqu opera, which is so elegant that Chinese cannot be understood, has once amazed the world. In October last year, I listened to a Yue yue "Dream of the Red Chamber" in Shanghai, and the audience was full of foreigners in addition to Shanghai's aunts and uncles. This shows that the charm of art knows no borders. In today's emphasis on cultural export, how to further polish the national cultural treasure of opera and let the world feel its brilliance, we should have this self-confidence, but also constantly strengthen its ability.
Text: Wang Can
Image: Network
Column moderator: Zhang Yongqun
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yongqun
Editors: Zhang Xueyu, Sun Xiaoting, Sun Dai