On February 18, the News of the Central Broadcasting Network Shanghai (reporter Yang Jing Lin Fuyu) On February 16, the Spring and Summer Performance Season of the Shanghai Opera House was officially released. The two classic plays "Turandot" and "Kingdom of Smiles", led by soprano singer He Hui and tenor Singer Shi Yijie respectively, jointly became the opening drama.
The scene of the press conference (photo provided by the interviewee issued by the Central Broadcasting Network)
The new performance season runs through the theme of "opera", and is divided into "opera classics", "classical gramophones", "dance dream theaters", "Beijing-Shanghai ultrasonic waves", "opera", "stars" and "cubes" and other sections, integrating vocal music, instrumental music, dance and other artistic disciplines to work together, presenting a very rich and diverse boutique performance for Shanghai audiences.
In the "Opera Classics" section of the new round of performance season, the Shanghai Opera House first promoted the two classic productions of "Turandot" and "Smile Kingdom" as the opening drama of the performance season, which is also the first time that the Opera House has opened with a double drama, and will be performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Oriental Art Center for two consecutive weekends. The completion of two panoramic versions of the opera of such a huge volume in such a tight time shows the strength and experience of the artists and the team behind the Shanghai Opera House. At present, both works are selling hot and one ticket is difficult to find.
"Turandot", directed by Xu Zhong, president of the Shanghai Opera House, a famous conductor and pianist, specially invited the world-renowned soprano singer and Hui to star in the Chinese princess "Turandot", which made many music fans look forward to it. This round of performances has been redesigned and produced in terms of stage, multimedia, costumes and other aspects, so that the show has been fully "upgraded". At the scene of the performance, the audience will see six huge screens on the stage moving with the plot, hinting at the changes in the relationship between the characters in the play. The three-dimensional song and dance halls in the multimedia, the intentional nebulae, the staggered sword and light sword shadows, the chaotic books and mountains, the moon shadows and pavilions in the water, etc., not only retain the "oriental world imagined by Westerners" at the beginning of the birth of opera, but also make the stage appear closer to the Chinese temperament.
"The Kingdom of Smiles", directed by Zhang Chengjie, a young conductor of the Shanghai Opera House, is played by the famous tenor Shi Yijie, who has made countless music fans look forward to, playing the prince of Sioux City, playing a love affair in a foreign country. Like Turandot, Kingdom of Smiles reveals well-designed Chinese elements. The shadow puppet play in the overture part, the scene of the Beijing Prince's Mansion in the second and third acts, the stage set, the costumes, and the use of etiquette in the court have all been carefully examined. The ingenuity contained in the two works also provides a reference case worth learning from the "World Classic Chinese Interpretation".
In addition to the two opening plays, the newly created opera "Bohemians" will also land at the Shangyin Opera House in April. In the play, the four young artists live and love full of laughter and tears. Among them, the arias "Your Cold Little Hands" and "My Name is Mimi" have become widely circulated classic passages. The play will feature Italian opera director Marco Caniti and Chinese director Yang Jingze to co-direct. In terms of Chinese national opera, the Shanghai Opera House will continue the tradition of "July 1st" and "August 1st", and stage the national opera "Sister Jiang" and "Long March Suite" with retained repertoire respectively.
In the concert section, the large-scale symphonic chorus "Bran Poetry" led by Shi Yijie will be staged at the Oriental Art Center in March, along with Sun Yan, a baritone singer who has cooperated with the Shanghai Opera House many times. Mahler's Third Symphony, conducted by Xu Zhong, will also be staged in mid-May. Yu Lu, a young conductor who has just been hired as the first principal guest conductor of the Shanghai Opera House, will cooperate for the first time with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra in May on the "Beethoven-Beethoven Special Concert", which will stage Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Fifth Piano Concerto (Emperor).
It is worth mentioning that the main "opera" concept of this year's Spring and Summer Performance Season of Shanghai Opera House will also penetrate into the new planning and cooperation with major theaters in Shanghai to launch a number of residency seasons. In March, as an important part of the "Into the Five New Cities Series of Performances", Jiukeshu Future Art Center took the lead in launching the "Song 'Gathering' New Town - Shanghai Opera Opera Popularization Public Welfare Special Residency Season", which passed on the "Beauty of Opera Art" to the public through the appreciation of classic operas such as "Carmen", "La Traviata", "Country Knight", "Jani Sskiki", "Sister Jiang", special concerts in famous opera passages, and dance collections in operas. This idea will also be successively landed in Other Shanghai New Cities such as Songjiang and Jiading, and will be adjusted and optimized for the different characteristics of the theaters in each district. The Shanghai Opera House and the Shanghai Concert Hall will also jointly launch the "Opera 'Star' Cube", which will be presented to opera lovers in the form of a sitcom.
In addition, this year's Shanghai Opera House's newly created large-scale original symphonic chorus "The Land of Revival - Symphonic Epic dedicated to the New Era" invites the famous writer Zhao Lihong to write lyrics, and will be auditioned for the piano version in May. At the same time, under the leadership of the Shanghai Grand Theatre Art Center, the Shanghai Opera House will also launch the "Beijing-Shanghai Music Season" with the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Shanghai Grand Theatre this year, promoting exchanges and cooperation between the two most powerful art institutions in the south and north of China through the exchange of visits, joint performances and joint productions of conductors, orchestras and choirs.
Xu Zhong, president of the Shanghai Opera House, said: "In the Spring and Summer Performance Season of the Shanghai Opera House in 2022, I hope to provide high-quality and high-level performances for classical music fans, and at the same time, we will also cultivate and attract more opera audiences and classical lovers to enter the theater and enjoy the beauty of music together. ”