On March 25, the Kunqu Opera "National Style", which premiered last year at the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, met with the audience after some careful polishing, and broadcast it online on the WeChat live broadcast room of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, the client of Beijing Youth Daily, and the official Weibo of Beijing Youth Daily.
The original Kun opera "National Style" is based on the story of Mrs. Xu Mu, a famous historical figure in the Spring and Autumn Period. Lady Xu Mu, the Princess of Weiguo, Ji Xi, was known as Lady Xu Mu because she married Xu Mugong, the prince of the State of Xu. She was the first female poet in the history of Chinese literature, and her poems "Bamboo Pole", "Spring Water" and "Zai Chi" were included in the classics of Traditional Chinese Studies, "Shijing Guofeng". These poems convey her longing for her hometown and her determination to save her motherland regardless of her personal safety.
The drama is divided into five chapters: "Going to the Country", "Crane Death", "Carrying Chi", "Asking for Help" and "Afterglow", telling the story of Wei Princess Ji Xi who married Xu Guo ten years later, Wei Guo was invaded and annexed by Di Guo, she embarked on the road to save the country alone, overcame many difficulties, awakened her compatriots with her sincere patriotic feelings to save herself, and impressed the princely states, assisted in restoring the Wei country, and finally died because she was too tired. "National Style" is tailor-made by the famous playwright Luo Huaizhen for the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, the narrative structure of the whole drama is refined, the character language is simple, its style is different from the traditional Kunqu opera, and it makes new explorations in the presentation form, seeking a new breakthrough in aesthetic taste for the Kunqu art that has developed for hundreds of years.
Cao Qijing, the general director of the play, has been associated with the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater for 25 years and witnessed the rapid progress and development of "Northern Kun". In her view, Kunqu opera "National Style" is a very poetic patriotic theme, using the "ancestor of a hundred plays" Kunqu opera to interpret this ancient Spring and Autumn story is very appropriate, this creation in the artistic pursuit of keeping right and new, seeking to return to the truth, with the purest dramatic techniques to complete, to excavate the spiritual world of the characters to show the sense of modernity, give it practical significance. When director Xu Chunlan saw the script of "National Style", she was touched by Ji Xi's sincerity and persistence, and thought that her action of standing up for the country was a feat, "This simple emotion and virtue, the noble spirit of sacrificing herself to save the country's survival, is worthy of generations of praise." ”
In the Kun opera "National Style", Madame Xu Mu is played by Hua Dan, the head of the Northern Kun Dynasty, and Wei Chunrong, a famous Kunqu opera artist. Wei Chunrong, who has portrayed many classic female characters, this time shows more of Madame Xu Mu's political height and vision as a Princess of the WeiGuo, shaping an outstanding woman with talent, ambition and pattern, and paying more attention to reflecting the style and temperament of the characters in her performance.
Yang Fengyi, president of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater, believes that the feelings of home and country embodied in the Kunqu opera "National Style" are also needed to establish cultural self-confidence, and we must not forget these outstanding figures and deeds in history, art needs to be inherited, and the spirit needs to be inherited.