Excerpts from Peking Opera "Tears of the Barren Mountains":
[Xipi slow board] Listen to the sound of the drums of the second more drum of the tanlou, and the fathers and sons went to collect medicine and did not see the return trip. Uncertain about the lone lamp, I don't know where he is in the barren mountains?
[Xipi original board] Listening to the three more real to the moon bright people quiet, suddenly heard outside the window as if someone was busy moving across the shade of the flowers to keep an eye on it, it turned out to be the sound of the autumn wind sweeping the leaves. Listening to the painting drum report four is even more miserable, and seeing that Jiao'er is sleeping soundly is afraid of being invaded by the wind.
(White) This long night is long, telling me how to wait!
(Singing) I can't help but lead the cold machine,
[Xipi 26 plate] and think and want to go more restless, the number of more planning to pay five drums empty room is colder, sure enough, Xiao Ji singing the day has dawned. I can't help but ask in front of the street,
[Sippi Rocker] Your father has not changed his family so far.
Mr. Cheng Yanqiu and his "Tears of the Desolate Mountain"
"Tears of the Barren Mountain" was written in 1929 and staged in 1931, half a year before "Spring Dream", belonging to the same genre of the same period, and the screenwriter is also Jin Zhongsun. If you are familiar with the creation and performance of Mr. Cheng Yanqiu's repertoire, you know that these two plays are not only a turning point in the creation of Cheng Pai's repertoire, but also a sublimation of the artistic spirit of Cheng Pai. The change in Cheng Yanqiu's own thinking is also evident in 1932, when he accepted Xun Lingxiang as an apprentice, Cheng changed the "Yan" in his name to "Yan".
The transformation of the theme of the play did not change the characteristics of the Cheng School known for its tragedy. To change the tragic tragedy to the fundamental, we still have to wait until the creation of "Suolin Sac", which is postponed for ten years.
However, "Tears of the Barren Mountain" has completely changed the traditional opera performance of female tragedies mostly based on the contradictions of gentry, cool officials, and corrupt officials, and also departed from the mundane feud of the father who is greedy for money and loves the rich or the uncle who has lost his humanity, but instead places the fate of the characters in the background of cruel social reality and brutal upper-class rule. The plot also borrows the excellent poetry structure that has been widely circulated, which greatly enhances the shocking power of the tragedy.
This kind of transformation and improvement of the theme, combined with comprehensive opera skills, concentrated on the artistic spirit and essence of the Cheng school, has become an important reason for the inheritance of the two dramas "Tears of the Wild Mountain" and "Spring Girl's Dream".
Casual clothes photo of Mr. Cheng Yanqiu when he was young
In 1956, Zhou Enlai proposed to make a film for the art of opera to record, and Cheng Yanqiu was of course among them. However, "Suolin Capsule", which is being criticized, failed to become Cheng Yanqiu's most ideal selected play, and in the end, "Tears of the Wild Mountain" was filmed, becoming the only complete and comprehensive art screen material he left behind. The director is Wu Zuguang, and at the same time, "Mei Lanfang's Stage Art" and "Roselle" were also filmed.
There is a difference between the film "Tears of the Wild Mountain" and Cheng Yanqiu's stage performance, which can be seen from the contrast between Zhang Huoding and Cheng's audio and video.
On March 30, 1956, "Tears of the Wild Mountain", which was re-created for filming, was rehearsed and performed in the auditorium of the North Film Actors Troupe. According to Wu Zuguang's memory, this was the last performance in Cheng Yanqiu's life. In 1958, Cheng Yanqiu died.
Mr. Zhao Rongchen's inheritance of "Tears of the Barren Mountains"
Zhao Rongchen has some records of learning and performing barren mountain tears in the article "A Little Talk about < Barren Mountain Tears > Performance Experience".
When he was a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old, Mr. Zhao Rongchen watched "Tears of the Desolate Mountain", and was suddenly fascinated, learned from the fans, and began to study this play. He studied with his friend Zeng Shijun (Cheng Paiqinshi, who should also be Mr. Zhao's brother-in-law).
When studying art in Shandong, Mr. Guan Liqing, who was familiar with the Cheng School, told Zhao Rongchen a lot of Cheng Pai dramas, and also gave guidance to "Tears of the Wild Mountain" in some aspects.
In 1940, Zhao Rongchen, who was in Chongqing, submitted a letter to his teacher, Cheng Yanqiu wrote a letter to guide his skills, and sent him many plays, including "Tears of the Wild Mountain". By studying Mr. Cheng's revised script, his understanding of the artistic instruction of the correspondence, and the review and description of the singing voice and body, Zhao Rongchen was confident that he could perform the play.
But at this stage, he never officially performed "Tears of the Wild Mountain". Zhao Rongchen was afraid of acting unauthentically, gone off the way, sorry for the master who had not yet met, and damaged Mr. Reputation.
Stills of Mr. Zhao Rongchen in the Peking Opera "Tears of the Barren Mountains"
In 1946, Zhao Rongchen officially held a ceremony in Shanghai, and Mr. Cheng taught him many unique plays of the Cheng School, including "Tears of the Barren Mountain". However, Zhao Rongchen still did not officially perform the play, because the master's housekeeper play should be reserved for the master, so as to avoid "competing with the master for the stage and audience in the same play". Around 1949, Cheng Shi often performed not many plays, and "Tears of the Barren Mountain" was one of them.
Zhao Rongchen officially performed "Tears of the Wild Mountain" in 1949. Since then, before Mr. Cheng's death, Zhao Rongchen rarely performed the play in Beijing. After liberation, during his time in the northeast, Zhao Rongchen let go of the performance of "Tears of the Barren Mountain", which he loved the most and worked hardest on.
In 1959, in the commemorative performance of the first anniversary of Cheng Yanqiu's death, Zhao Rongchen performed "Tears of the Barren Mountain"; after 1978, the old drama performance was resumed, and Mr. Zhao's first performance was also "Tears of the Barren Mountain".
All along, "Tears of the Wild Mountain" is Mr. Zhao's most appealing play.
Zhao Rongchen's stage performance is also different from that of his esteemed master Cheng Yanqiu, whether it is the deletion of the stage, the order of arrangement, or the details of the appearance and singing. These changes were also affirmed by Cheng Yanqiu. When Zhao first performed "Wild", Mr. Cheng watched the performance and said: "Although some small places are different from me, they are not bad, the feelings of the characters come out, and the singing voice and body are still regular. ”
In 1993, Zhao Rongchen taught Zhang Huoding in "Tears of the Barren Mountains" and accepted Zhang Huoding as a closed disciple.
Zhang Huoding's inheritance of "Tears of the Desolate Mountain"
How much Zhang Huoding admired Zhao Rongchen, he left it alone.
During the comrades-in-arms Peking Opera Troupe, in Li Wenmin's teaching report performance, Zhang Huoding finally had the opportunity to meet the idol in his heart. The opportunity must not be lost, the photo first, she immediately straightened out her armor, moved a hall chair with a chair curtain, respectfully asked the gentleman to sit down, standing behind her... I couldn't find this photo for a while, and I didn't post it.
Later, I finally had the opportunity to worship the teacher.
Although Zhao Rongchen agreed to worship the teacher, he did not hold the ceremony immediately, and he started by learning the drama. The way he taught was to take the play "Tears of the Barren Mountain" as the basis, take the drama as the art, and teach the art of the Cheng School in an all-round way by teaching the play of "Tears of the Barren Mountain". Zhao Rongchen's request to Zhang Huoding was to "give one example and three against three."
Therefore, "Tears of the Barren Mountain" is a play personally taught by Mr. Zhang Huoding before he formally visited Mr. Zhao Rongchen. Through the teaching of "Tears of the Desolate Mountain", the two people who are more than fifty years apart have formed a master-apprentice relationship. I think that Mr. Zhao Rongchen also saw Zhang Huoding's artistic potential in the process of teaching this play, and he made up his mind to accept him as a closed disciple.
In three months, "Tears of the Barren Mountain" was about to be completed, and Zhang Huoding officially visited Mr. Zhao Rongchen on July 10, 1993.
Mr. Zhao Rongchen's figure demonstration in his old age
Later, Mr. Zhao Rongchen wrote in his own article why Zhang Huoding was accepted as a closed disciple:
Although she (Huo Ding) is young, she does not have the general young daughter who advocates the habit of glitz and ease, is willing to seek art with hard work, and has a good voice and endowment.
……
After the fire, I did not take any more disciples.
Huo Ding worked very hard, often going to the west mountain, traveling dozens of miles back and forth to my house for advice. In the autumn of 1994, she held a solo performance with the selection of "Tears of the Desolate Mountain", "Suo Lin Nang" and "Wen Ji Gui Han", and intended to win the Plum Blossom Award, which was praised by all walks of life. At a time when Peking Opera was in decline and many people were in difficulty, it was rare that she was unmoved by her young age and was determined to achieve results, which was very rare.
Deplored. On February 18, 1996, Mr. Zhao Rongchen passed away.
Zhao Rongchen (left) and Zhang Huoding
In 2006, Zhang Huoding held a special performance to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of his mentor Zhao Rongchen with "Tears of the Wild Mountain" and "The Legend of the White Snake". At this commemorative performance, she said:
Mr. Zhao Rongchen is not only an outstanding master of Peking Opera art, but also a highly respected elder, as well as a scholar who has learned from the past and the present.
As a disciple of my husband, it is my honor to have the honor of listening to the teachings of his old man, feeling the teachings of the teacher, and experiencing the artistic life of the teacher, and it is also an important fulcrum for me to devote my life to the cause of Peking Opera art and to the promotion of the art of the Cheng School.
Today, in order to commemorate the teacher, we hold a special performance to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Mr. Zhao Rongchen. The repertoire is "Tears of the Desolate Mountain" and "The Legend of the White Snake". "Tears of the Barren Mountain" is a classic play that Enshi has been performing for a long time; "The Legend of the White Snake" is a play that I perform using the artistic characteristics of the Cheng School. These two repertoire were chosen, one was to inherit the artistic spirit of the teacher, and the other was to enrich the performance field of the Cheng School repertoire and the Cheng School art under the guidance of the mentor spirit.
I think this way, I am comforting the spirit of the teacher in heaven, but also thanking the care for the art of Peking Opera, caring for and helping my audience friends.
When Zhao Rongchen taught Huoding opera, he not only taught her to sing regularly and standardize her movements, but more importantly, to understand the charm and achieve "god-like". The reason why Zhang Huoding was able to walk in the Red Pear Garden in inheriting the art of the Cheng School is that she realized the charm of the Cheng School art and achieved "god-likeness" in her performance. This is obviously not unrelated to Zhao Rongchen's good teaching methods.
Zhang Huoding's "Tears of the Barren Mountains" is almost exactly the same as Mr. Zhao Rongchen in most places, slightly different in small places. In terms of appearance, Zhang Huoding tends to be more "beautiful", while Mr. Cheng Yanqiu and Mr. Zhao Rongchen are more "real".