Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Yuan Xuefen's birth, and although she has been gone for 11 years, the host Cao Kefan still clearly remembers the moments of her interaction with the old artist.
Yue opera performance artist Yuan Xuefen
Cordial exchanges with Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao
When I first entered the industry, I often had the opportunity to perform on the same stage with the artists of Yue opera's predecessors. The founders of those genres rarely regard themselves as masters, kind and kind, and our descendants also respect them, among them, Wang Wenjuan and Bi Chunfang are particularly familiar with each other. Teacher Bi Chunfang is from Ningbo, we call her "Ammu", when we see "Sister Lin" Teacher Wang Wenjuan, she is simply called "Mu Ma". Once, when Teacher Fu Quanxiang heard about it, he pretended to be angry and asked me what to call her. In a hurry, he blurted out, "What can I call Nong 'Mommy'?" Teacher Fu immediately raised an eyebrow. However, when she saw Teacher Yuan Xuefen, she was always respectful and respectful, and never dared to make jokes, because her old man had an aura of not being angry and arrogant, which made people feel awe and awe, and a sense of affinity, however, after several close contacts, the impression of Teacher Yuan Xuefen was greatly improved.
On a sweltering and humid afternoon in July 1992, with the film crew of "Drama Stage", I came to the home of Teacher Yuan Xuefen in the "Xinkang Garden" on Middle Huaihai Road to listen to her remembrance and thoughts of Deng Yingchao, who had just passed away. According to the memory of teacher Yuan Xuefen, she and Sister Deng met in Shanghai, at that time, the establishment of new China was imminent, Sister Deng came to Shanghai to welcome Ms. Song Qingling to the north to discuss the grand plan for the founding of the country, in a busy time, she also specially went to the theater to watch the performance of the "Snow Sound Troupe", and after the performance, she had a cordial conversation with Yuan Xuefen.
In September 1949, Xue Fen, Mei Lanfang, Zhou Xinfang, and Cheng Yanqiu, as representatives of the opera circles, went to Beijing to attend the first meeting of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference. During the meeting, at the invitation of Sister Deng, he also visited the West Flower Hall in Zhongnanhai. Premier Zhou and Sister Deng talked freely about art and life, and during the exchange, Yuan Xuefen also learned for the first time that Premier Zhou had quietly entered the theater in Shanghai to enjoy his masterpiece "Bleak Liao Palace Moon". Later, Premier Zhou personally encouraged Yuan Xuefen to join the Communist Party of China and encouraged her to communicate with her in the form of letters, and Premier Zhou and Sister Deng also took time out of time to reply. Teacher Yuan Xuefen treasured dozens of handwritten letters from Premier Zhou and Sister Deng, especially from Sister Deng. Speaking of this, Teacher Yuan took out those precious handwritings from the drawer and let us shoot them one by one.
Stills of "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", Yuan Xuefen played Zhu Yingtai
Reading carefully, it can be found that Sister Deng's letters are simple and unpretentious, rich in emotion, like an elder's yin yin teachings to the younger generations, and the words flow with the warm currents of love. For example, when she learned that Yuan Xuefen was suffering from lung disease, Sister Deng advised her: "... Lung disease is a troublesome disease, but it is not terrible. I have suffered from lung disease, but I also have experience in victorious struggles. As long as you don't make an acute illness and fight against the disease with all your might, the victory must belong to you..." Sometimes, Sister Deng will also inform Premier Zhou of his work, "You care about me the most, and he can try to take a rest after returning from abroad." But I look at his job probably not much. After staying here for two days, I was also busy with meetings to write reports, and as soon as the matter was over, I left. He is in good health, but he feels tired, hairy and white. Interestingly, Sister Deng also talked about her concept of love with Premier Zhou in her letter, "The most important condition for being able to consolidate it so far is also an experience, that is, feelings and politics penetrate into each other, combine with each other, combine, and take politics as the mainstay, deal with it, and develop it..." Rubbing the yellowed letter paper, revisiting the familiar handwriting, Teacher Yuan could not help but blush and fall into infinite thoughts... After pondering for a moment, she turned from memory to reality, from Premier Deng Dajie's concern for the cause of opera, to the importance of opera to the popularization of national culture, "Where does our people's cultural knowledge come from?" They understand that Yue Fei is loyal, Qin Juniper is adulterous, and Zhuge Liang is clever by watching the opera performances on the stage..." I have heard countless experts expound on opera, but Teacher Yuan's incisive views on opera are still haunting my ears.
Ten Sisters of Yue Opera in 1947
Front row from left: Xu Tianhong, Fu Quanxiang, Yuan Xuefen, Zhu Shuizhao, Fan Ruijuan, Wu Xiaolou
Back row from left: Zhang Guifeng, Xiao Dangui, Xu Yulan, Yin Guifang
The surname is "Yuan" (yuan), but it is not round
After twelve years, when "Ke Fan Listens" was broadcast, I had the opportunity to walk into the Spanish style small building of "Xinkang Garden" again, and visited with Teacher Yuan Xuefen, the small building where Teacher Yuan lived was divided into two floors, the appearance was a pale green cement mortar wall, the roof was a red Spanish tile, and the upper and lower two houses were independently in and out of each other, and did not interfere with each other. Teacher Yuan lives on the second floor, the bottom floor resident is the oil painter Yan Wenliang, Teacher Yuan's living room hangs a Yan Wenliang oil painting, according to Teacher Yuan told, Yan Lao took several years to complete this painting, which is precious. Since the second-floor balcony of the small building is quite spacious, and two Ionic column-style spiral columns are erected, the framing effect is very good, so we sat on the balcony and talked. Teacher Yuan Xuefen has devoted her life to the reform of Yue opera, not only taking the lead in introducing the director and screenwriter system, but also drawing on the strengths of all, integrating the realistic expression methods of drama films with the aesthetic style of opera singing and dancing, and also creating a "ruler tune" that turns thousands of times and cries like a complaint, and gradually developed and improved, making it one of the main themes of Yue opera. But Teacher Yuan seems to look down on her extraordinary achievements in art, but her thoughts always return to Ma Zhanghua, who worked with her when she was young: "Ma Zhanghua and I have a tacit understanding on the stage, she is beautiful and moving, and she is also extremely intelligent, and there are countless audiences who praise her." She and her husband, Qinser and Ming, but the theater owner twists her mind from time to time in an attempt to sabotage her happy marriage. Later, the unscrupulous tabloid attacked her for no reason, and she was depressed, and her life stopped at the beautiful age of twenty-one. I was angry inside, and I was upset about her, but I was powerless to resist. After she died, I vomited blood and could hardly get on stage... To this day, I still meet her in my dreams and sing together on stage..." An elderly man, recalling his sixteen- and seventeen-year-old friends, was still full of reluctance, which was really moving. In the interview, I carefully asked two "sensitive" questions, one is about marriage, Teacher Yuan does not think wrong, in her view, married life must be mutual love, mutual respect, mutual encouragement, mutual help, mutual trust, mutual understanding, mutual comfort, mutual accommodation, but the emotional ballast stone is the outlook on life and the world, when this foundation is destroyed, marriage will go to the end. There is also the problem of "hegemony". Teacher Yuan has been a leading figure in the Yue opera industry for decades, with high prestige, so a few people will privately talk about its "hegemony", in this regard, Teacher Yuan Xuefen also said bluntly: "I have a straightforward personality, I have always spoken in a straight line, I will not turn corners, I may not respect people enough, but I have never overbeared anything for fame and fortune, some people have advised me to be 'round inside and outside', smooth may give people a good impression, but I am not willing to sacrifice principles for this, and to cater to others." I always warn myself to be a person with a clear conscience, not to be flattered, and even less to become inflamed, to cherish myself, and to cherish others. Listening to this, I didn't feel that it was good to shout, and quipped, "Teacher Yuan's surname is 'Yuan' (yuan), but being a person is not round at all"! The old man couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Indeed! Indeed! ”
Yuan Xuefen (center) with Bai Xianyong (right) and Cao Kefan
Unfulfilled Ambition: Shaping Women through the Ages
That is, in 2004, director Xu Jun deliberately put Mr. Bai Xianyong's novel "YuQing Sister-in-law" on the Stage of Yue Opera, and the actor of "Yuqing Sister-in-law" locked Yuan Pai Hua Dan Fang Yafen. To this end, Xu Jun, Fang Yafen and the three of us also went to the rehearsal site of the Suzhou Youth Edition of "Peony Pavilion". When Mr. Bai Xianyong saw Fang Yafen, he was excited: "Ah, get rid of a Yuqing sister-in-law." Hearing that Ya Fen was a disciple of the Yuan Sect, Mr. Bai spoke with great interest about his relationship with Yuan Xuefen. It turned out that the location of the Yue Theater at that time was originally the "White Mansion", and Teacher Yuan's office happened to be Mr. Bai Xianyong's bedroom. "'Yuqing Sister-in-law' should be made into Yue opera, and Yue opera itself is good at expressing the love between men and women. Fang Yafen is also a student of Teacher Yuan, which is really fate! The words said Yafen was full of confidence. However, Teacher Yuan Xuefen had doubts about the figure of "Yuqing Sister-in-law" and did not express his position for a long time. Time was not waiting for anyone, so he went to seek the opinion of He Saifei, who studied under Zhang Yunxia, and Zhang Yunxia's "Zhang Pai" was born from the "Yuan Pai". Although Sai Fei has been out of the Yue opera stage for many years, he is eager to try the role of "Yu Qing Sister-in-law" and quickly put into rehearsal, unfortunately, Sai Fei had to quit the crew due to health reasons. At this critical moment, Yafen stepped forward and expressed his willingness to save the scene, but he needed to get the approval of Teacher Yuan. Knowing the ins and outs of the matter, Teacher Yuan did not hesitate for a moment, "The drama is bigger than the sky, and saving the scene is like putting out a fire." Rehearse as soon as possible without delay. Not only that, the old man also advised Yafen to cancel the original plan to go to Ningbo to pay homage to his mother: "We must think clearly about which is more important and which is lighter." If you can create a successful character, your mother will be pleased with the Spirit of Heaven. YaFen said that the teacher's words made her feel warm, and from this incident, she could also see Teacher Yuan's bosom and character as a generation of art masters. A few days later, Xu Jun and I came to visit. At that time, Teacher Yuan was receiving treatment for abnormal blood cells, but when he talked about Yue opera, his spirit increased sharply. She said that the two Reforms of Yue Opera have solved the performance problems of plays like "West Chamber" and "Liang Zhu", but due to various obstacles, she has not been able to fulfill her ambition to shape Chinese women in the past, especially a character like Qiu Jin, and she hopes that we can help Ya Fen fulfill her unfinished wishes.
Group photo of the crew of the Yue opera "Yu Qing Sister-in-law"
The Yue opera "Yu Qing Sister-in-law" experienced various difficulties and finally premiered at the Majestic Theater on November 1, 2005. On the day of the premiere, Teacher Yuan Xuefen personally came to the scene to supervise the formation. That night, Ya Fen cooperated with other actors in tacit understanding, and performed the whole scene with a sense of tension and rhythm. However, after all, it is the first performance, all parts of the staff are nervous, but the sound is still slightly flawed, "Jin Yanfei" singing, the voice is suddenly and erratic, erratic, teacher Yuan Xuefen quickly signaled to adjust, and strive to be perfect. Mr. Bai Xianyong gave a high evaluation after watching the performance, and Yang Huishan, the star of the movie "Yuqing Sister-in-law", also praised the performance of the actors created by the script. At the end of the curtain, Teacher Yuan Xuefen walked to the center of the stage and deeply greeted Mr. Bai Xianyong: "Thank you for making a good play for our Yue opera. ”
Yuan Xuefen and ai disciple Fang Yafen
Teacher Yuan Xuefen went from Shengxian to Shanghai step by step, always remembering her father's teachings, singing seriously, and being innocent. I remember she once said to me: "I came from the Cao'e River, through the Qiantang River, and then to the Huangpu River, after a hundred years, I must scatter my ashes into the Huangpu River and flow into the sea.
Teacher Yuan Xuefen thinks so, and this is what he does! (Cao Kefan)