Continuing the century-old legend of Meipai, more than 20 years of regular performances changxin, a huge production on the Peking Opera stage, will come to Pudong this spring.
From March 11 to 12, the new version of the Peking Opera "Tang Guifei", led by Shi Yihong and Li Jun, national first-class actors of the Shanghai Peking Opera House, and jointly performed by Anping, Xi Zhonglu, Yang Donghu, Guo Yi and Wang Dun, will unveil the curtain on the 2021/22 spring/summer performance season of Shanghai Oriental Art Center. At the same time, the "13th Oriental Famous Artists Famous Drama Month" with 13 sets of 17 high-quality plays was also launched, bringing spring colors to the stage in Pudong.
"Tang Guifei" was born from Mei Lanfang's Peking opera "Taizhen Waichuan" in the 1920s, and also refers to Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song", Bai Pu's "Wutong Rain", Hong Sheng's "Hall of Eternal Life" and other classical masterpieces. Mei Baojiu, together with the famous playwright Weng Sizai, director Guo Xiaonan and a number of famous Peking Opera artists, inherited the past and created a large-scale symphonic Peking Opera "Tang Guifei", which made the Meipai classics rejuvenated with new vitality. "Tang Guifei" was first performed at the opening ceremony of the 3rd Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2001, which surprised four people for a time and caused a sensation. The theme song of this drama, "Ode to pear blossoms", has become popular all over the country, and the lyrics of "pear blossoms bloom, spring brings rain, pear blossoms fall, and spring enters the mud" can be described as a household name.
The new version of "Tang Guifei" does not stop the pace of innovation, reinterpreted with the aesthetics of the new era, it condenses Mei Baojiu's last wishes, and integrates the unique charm of "Beijing School" and "Hai School". The "Cuipan Dance" in Mei Lanfang's "Tai zhen wai biao" also reappeared on the stage after the redesign, and invited the dancer Huang Doudou to design a group dance part for the "Cuipan Dance", which became a highlight of the new version.
"There was a photo of Mr. Mei Lanfang dancing on a very small jade plate, and later, based on that photo, we worked with more than two dozen dancers to find a way to make a jade plate." Li Jun, who plays Emperor Tang Ming, said. In order to perform a graceful dance on a large green plate with a height of 1.2 meters, the outer layer of rotation and beauty, Shi Yihong, who plays Yang Guifei, has made great efforts, and she once jokingly called herself a "famous dancer of the Shanghai Peking Opera House". The famous scene of Tang Xuanzong playing drums and Yang Guifei dancing will recreate the tang dynasty weather full of glory for the audience.
The new version of "Tang Guifei" also reorganizes the main line of love between Li and Yang, as well as the two double lines of the Anshi Rebellion and the Liyuan Zhaoshi, and strengthens the ink on historical events such as the Anshi Rebellion. The new version also expands the content of martial arts, restoring the martial arts scenes of Chen Yuanli and Yang Guozhong fighting in Ma Songpo; the singing voice introduces the Kun cavity, which not only returns the overall style to the Peking Opera itself, but also better interprets this historical tragedy in terms of musical emotions.
In terms of stage effects, the new version uses a large number of sound and photoelectricity and high-tech means to amplify the glory of the Tang Dynasty. The new version of the stage art cancels the physical building on the original stage, and instead uses multimedia video technology to build a performance space for opera. For example, in the "Huaqing Pond", through the projection of THE LED, the Huaqing Pool is looming in the lush greenery, and the quiet and ethereal environment enhances the beauty of the "noble concubine bathing".
Shi Yihong and Li Jun are both participants in the original 2001 "Tang Guifei", and after many years, both of them have expressed more experience in life and opera. "I am very excited to come to Dongyi in Pudong this time, and as the opening ceremony of the new performance season, Dongyi is an art temple that many actors yearn for, and this is the best platform for artistic improvement." Li Jun said that they will come up with the best level and state and present it on the stage of Dongyi.
Following the Peking Opera "Tang Guifei", the Kunqu opera "1699 Peach Blossom Fan", the novella "Lin Huiyin", the Huangmei opera "Female Horse", "Dream of the Red Chamber", etc. will be unveiled one after another, cooking a "Full Han Seat" of opera art for Shanghai opera fans.
Text: Cao Zhiguang
Editor: Zhu Yikai
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