On March 28th, the Fifth National Commendation Conference for Young and Middle-Aged Literary and Artistic Workers sponsored by the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles was held in Beijing, and 44 people, including Chen Xiaoduo, a soprano singer and a first-class actor of the China Opera and Dance Theatre, were awarded the title of "National Young and Middle-Aged Literary and Art Workers".
Chen Xiaoduo read out the proposal on behalf of all the delegates of the Fifth National Commendation Conference for Young and Middle-Aged Literary and Art Workers. The proposal calls on literary and art workers across the country to consciously practice the core values of socialism, vigorously carry forward the Chinese spirit, and unite China's strength; Strive to adhere to the people-centered creative orientation, and always share the joy and happiness with the people, breathe and share the fate; Actively open up new horizons of literary and artistic creation, and strive to create excellent works with bones, morality and temperature; Earnestly fulfill the sacred duty of the engineer of the human soul, and be committed to pursuing the lofty spirit of advocating virtue and art, virtue and art.
Chen Xiaoduo is a famous lyrical soprano singer, a cutting-edge opera producer, a national first-class actor, a director of the Chinese Dramatists Association, the chief soprano of the China Opera and Dance Theatre, who has won the Vocal Performance Award of the "Wenhua Award" and the highest award of the Chinese Stage Arts Government, the "Plum Blossom Award", the highest award of Chinese theater performing arts, was named "China's Top Ten Soprano Singers", and twice won the "Excellent Performance Award" of the National Fine Repertoire Exhibition.
"I and you, heart to heart, live in the same global village..." In 2008, Chen Xiaoduo and Chang Shilei sang the original song "Me and You" at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Although the final singers were Sarah Braman and Liu Huan, at this moment, she seemed to see her own hard work shining.
The soft and timeless melody opened the curtain for this world-renowned sports event. "It's not just a song, it's a transmission of a blended and inclusive mindset." It is also this song "Me and You" that made me realize that culture can also be presented in a humble and gentle posture. Chen Xiaoduo said.
Through "Me and You" and a series of excellent works, Chen Xiaoduo integrated cultural self-confidence into the song and sang the Chinese spirit to the world.
Carry forward the Chinese spirit: "Every generation of artists should have their own inheritance and development"
Music is an emotional art, good music performance itself is also a kind of creation, through the comprehensive use of rhythm, singing, interpretation, etc., can make the work have a natural empathy ability.
Chen Xiaoduo truly appreciates the artistic charm of music, which is felt when the opera "Lin Huiyin" went abroad for the first time in 2019 - when she performed at the "Big Durian" Esplanade in Singapore. The opera "Lin Huiyin" is produced by the China Opera and Dance Theatre, with Chen Xiaoduo as producer and lead actor. Behind the performance abroad is 6 years of polishing and cultivation.
"When I first heard the name Lin Huiyin, I was about the same age as when she met Xu Zhimo, about 16 years old. This woman has a beautiful and good face, and her family is so good, and she has learned both Chinese and Western, which is really enviable. Chen Xiaoduo recalled that with the increase of experience, she found that Lin Huiyin was very talented in addition to her external charm, and she had a strong sense of home and country. When he knew that the ancient city wall of Beijing was about to be demolished, Lin Hui, even if he was sick to the bone marrow, had to get out of bed and angrily rebuked: "You really demolished the antiques, and you will regret it in the future!" Even if it is restored and rebuilt in the future, it is a fake antique!" Lin Huiyin is sad because he has the foresight of a scholar, and knowing that some things have been lost, there is no way to start again.
Chen Xiaoduo's creative inspiration comes from Western operas such as "Carmen" and "La Traviata", Western opera has created a lot of female images with ups and downs in fate and great opening, in Chen Xiaoduo's view, Lin Huiyin's life is not lacking in ups and downs, this ups and downs are not in the appearance, and in her inner world, into this psychological space, her choices, persistence, pride in each life node, the truth of her personality, the inner waves, are very suitable for the opera genre to be expressed. In terms of singing, the flower cavity soprano is extremely expressive and passionate, especially in the highlight moment of Lin Huiyin's life, when she and Liang Sicheng discovered the Foguang Temple more than 1500 years ago, the flower cavity soprano was apt at expressing that surprise and great pride. "At that time, although Chinese architecture had a long history, due to its weak national strength, Chinese architecture had no place in the history of world architecture. In order to prove to the world, they actively seek these corroborations, which also reflects their deep affection for the country. Chen Xiaoduo said.
Since 2013, Chen Xiaoduo and other main creators have gone from determining the content framework to filling in the detail effects, from repeatedly studying details such as Fu Hua Dao, to integrating the spirit of the characters into each story... Solid efforts, in exchange for a masterpiece that can stand the test of the times, "Lin Huiyin" broke ground in 2017.
"I have always believed that each generation of artists should have their own inheritance of the past, and they should make works that are in line with the characteristics of the times and the original intention of their own creations. I admire Lin Huiyin and have a great desire to create this opera character. I think the reason why the opera "Lin Huiyin" is very popular with the audience in the end is also because it just fits the law of artistic creation - the artist's heartfelt creative impulse. She said.
In the two years after its successful premiere, the show toured the country for about forty times, almost fully populated. There were elderly people in the audience who had listened to Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin's lectures, as well as primary and secondary school students, many of whom were in contact with opera for the first time. Some people rushed to Lin Huiyin's story, but they were pleasantly surprised to reacquaint themselves with Lin Huiyin. As the play's slogan says: "What the opera "Lin Huiyin" is looking for is not the protracted sound of the previous era, but the spiritual resonance of this era." Lin Huiyin in the play shouted out that "architecture, together with thousands of other cultures, makes China China China." If our history is gone, who are we?" This shocking expression is the content that the audience has left the most messages, and the Chinese spirit has gained a wide range of spiritual resonance on and off the stage.
After the performance in Singapore, Singaporean experts and audiences praised that "Lin Huiyin" gave them a glimpse into the future of contemporary Chinese opera. This also makes Chen Xiaoduo more certain of the criteria of contemporary opera creation - stylistically, the national is the world; In terms of content, the more human, the more worldly.
"In the opera 'Lin Huiyin', I seem to see that the audience has no borders, only mutual sympathy." Chen Xiaoduo believes that Chinese opera, which can be understood by the world, must be a work that can convey the deepest and most persistent national feelings, the most valuable humanistic feelings, and the most brilliant sincerity of human nature in this land.
"Me and You" sings the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, flashing the humanistic feelings of the Chinese people across racial time and space; "Lin Huiyin"'s interpretation of a generation of young people who love the motherland and have a high degree of cultural consciousness highlights the national feelings of the sons and daughters of China. Chen Xiaoduo has always carried forward the Chinese spirit in his own way. "Through music, I know what 'you have me, I have you'. Especially under the current epidemic situation, no one person or any country is an island, and everyone is living and dying together. Chen Xiaoduo said, "But I am very relieved, from the song that crosses the border, we feel the light and warmth." ”
Create excellent works with bones, morality and temperature:
"Take the pulse of the times, listen to the voice of the times"
Chen Xiaoduo, who has long been immersed in the field of opera, knows that "the aroma of wine cannot be hidden in the alley", and constant innovation can continuously inject fresh blood into opera, so she often tries different stage performance forms.
Recalling the first starring work, Chen Xiaoduo also remembers that it was the musical "Mulan". "Musicals and operas have different ways of using sound: musicals cannot be sung with a high and cold voice like opera, but need a popular, contemporary, warm, intimate voice, so that it is more natural. This experience made me start to think about and combine the different ways of presenting singing, and also formed a more open aesthetic mentality to music. ”
Later, Chen Xiaoduo came into contact with some outstanding artists in her work, and found that they also did not set aesthetic formal rules, such as the famous composer Chen Qigang invited Chen Xiaoduo to participate in the recording of "Me and You", which greatly encouraged her to combine classical and popular vocal and musical sense.
In the process of creating the opera "Lin Huiyin", she put into practice many of her innovative ideas, such as breaking the boundaries between opera and musicals, dramas, operas, etc., using the advantages of multimedia in stage presentation, absorbing the body language of contemporary drama and dance performances, strengthening the inherent modernity of drama conflicts, and using amplification equipment according to changes in venues and audiences' audiovisual needs... On the other hand, her persistence is also very clear: the opera bel canto singing method and the symphony orchestra must combine kimono, chemistry, Taoism, and beauty to create dramatic tension.
"Chinese opera, localization and contemporaneity are propositions that need to be urgently considered. How to make the theme and form closer to the spiritual core of the times under the premise of not affecting the overall opera temperament, so that the singing and performance styles are more in line with the aesthetics of the current audience, so that the opera can live in the present and glow with new vitality? This should be the homework of every Chinese opera singer. In 2020, Chen Xiaoduo began to study for a doctorate at the China Conservatory of Music, and his doctoral project was "Exploration of the Contemporaryization of Chinese Opera Performance". In the contemporaryization of opera performance, in her opinion, the important point is that it should be eclectic and let all the elements that can be fused "for my use".
Not only in the presentation method, performance means to innovate, but also in the content of innovation.
Opening Chen Xiaoduo's notes, such a passage is impressive: "A really good opera should 'live in the moment' and be linked with the lives of contemporary people." It is no longer possible to simply cover the European classical music of hundreds of years ago, the illusory historical myths. The classic literary and artistic works of any era should be the spiritual portrayal of the social life of the times. The creative core of Chinese opera has gradually focused on the theme of realism, and the content of opera has also shifted from historical themes and traditional folk themes to themes that are more closely related to the current current events and hot spots in society. Take the pulse of the times and listen to the voices of the times. ”
As Chen Xiaoduo said at the Fifth National Commendation Conference for Young and Middle-Aged Moral and Artistic Workers, "We must meet the growing aesthetic needs of the people." Chen Xiaoduo's recently cooperating with the Shenzhen Opera and Dance Theatre's opera "Forerunner" is such an original work of "grounding gas" and "fashion", which vividly shows the story of entrepreneurs' hard work.
"In the early stage of creation, after in-depth communication with the main creator and famous director of the play, Huang Dingshan, the screenwriter Zhu Hai, the composer Laozai and other teachers, I focused my performance on how to express the protagonist's spiritual world and spiritual trajectory, focusing on the growth of his personality, the improvement of his realm and the tempering of his spirit, and tried to depict the leaders of Shenzhen's 'post-reform and opening up era' experiencing entrepreneurial setbacks, life grinding, the bitterness of their careers after soul purification, and the transformation and sublimation of the ideological realm. Reflecting their true spiritual journey of growing into the forerunners of the new era, it is expected to unify the truth of art with the truth of life, so that the audience can feel that these characters are respectable, touchable, and learnable. Chen Xiaoduo said when talking about the creative process, "Their story is not a 'castle in the air', but comes from a practical case - the epitome of Shenzhen's strivers: this is Shenzhen, our work, our life, there are crying and laughing, there are pain and tears." ”
Facts have proved that Chen Xiaoduo's efforts have not been disappointed. In the proportion of "Lin Huiyin", the proportion of young people is very impressive, and "Forerunner" is also "hot before acting". Chen Xiaoduo was pleased to find that in the past, the opera house was mostly "white overhead" when he went in, but now, on various social platforms such as Weibo, Douban and WeChat Circle of Friends, many young people have begun to share their perceptions and thoughts on the opera "Lin Huiyin", and their predictions and expectations for "Forerunner".
Advocating Virtue and Shangyi, Virtue and Art:
"Only those who pursue truth, goodness and beauty are called artists"
In addition to teaching at the China Conservatory of Music, Chen Xiaoduo is also committed to cultivating "opera audiences". "I spread and popularized opera in the Peking University undergraduate public selection course 'The Charm of Opera', like 'holding your hand, taking you to my back garden'." There are many students who have fallen in love with opera because of this course, and they know how to taste opera and how to feel the beauty of opera.
"The influence of art is subtle, it is a very high-level influence." In Chen Xiaoduo's eyes, the most wonderful energy transmission is "moisturizing and silent". For the cultivation of opera talents, Chen Xiaoduo also has her own worries. "The times have provided us with a good platform, and there is no lack of a mature training system for singing talents, but there is a lack of training of professional choreographers and directors." Good works are based on once-created, and with a good one-time creation, it is possible to germinate and blossom a second-degree creation. In the future, we must pay more attention to the reserve of professional talents such as opera writers and opera directors. ”
Sinking down and overcoming impetuosity is also what Chen Xiaoduo believes that young opera singers should do. "The characteristics of opera art have created its highlights and difficulties. If it is well integrated, it will shine, and if it is not good, it will be scattered. I have not been immersed in the opera career for ten years and eight years, and I cannot understand its professionalism and comprehensiveness. A professional stage actor needs a long period of accumulation and training, and must accumulate strength with a humble attitude. Old artists often said that drama is bigger than the sky. The process of learning high art will naturally penetrate the character will of man. This is also chen Xiaoduo's feeling of many years of experience, as she said in the "Proposal" read out this time: "Literary and art workers should be able to withstand boring training and get rid of impetuous mentality." ”
Some people say that "fame should be early", but in Chen Xiaoduo's dictionary, "any laziness or opportunistic trick you have ever stolen will be a pit that you can't get past in the future." Behind anything in the world is its price. Because of this vanity, you will lose your awareness of yourself and pay the price. The artists who took the lead in setting an example, their steadfastness in humility, illuminated the inheritance path of future generations. ”
"Only those who pursue truth, goodness, and beauty are called artists." In Chen Xiaoduo's eyes, this time winning the title of "National Young and Middle-Aged Moral and Artistic Double Xin Literary and Art Worker" is both an encouragement and a spur to her. "Virtue comes first, art is the root." In the process of climbing the peak of life and art, I will strive to achieve self-cultivation and creation, and cultivate character and art. ”
Planner: Yang Yue, Mou Haokun
Reporter: Mou Haokun, Yang Yue, Yang Jingtong (Intern)
Feifei Song (Intern) Wang Xing Liu (Intern)
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network
Constructive Journalism Workshop, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Qingdao Agricultural University Animation and Media College Integrated Media Workshop
Co-produced