According to a number of media reports, at 7:00 a.m. Beijing time on April 13, the famous Kunqu performance artist Hua Wenyi died in Los Angeles, USA, at the age of 81.
The Red Star News reporter learned that Hua Wenyi not only enjoyed the reputation of "Xiaomei Lanfang" in the 1960s, but also was called "the daughter of Kunqu Opera" by Liu Housheng, former vice chairman of the China Dramatists Association.
Chinese Ripple
Hua Wenyi, born in 1941. She is the first graduate of Shanghai Xiqu School, and has been taught by Zhu Chuanming and other "chuan" character artists and famous teachers such as Yu Zhenfei and Yan Huizhu since she was a child. Hua Wenyi looks beautiful, graceful figure, elegant posture, gorgeous voice, performance is subtle and explosive, emotionally rich without losing the identity of the bridesmaid, she pursues a natural style, the program does not fall into the traces of integration in her own performance, "the song is amazing, the dance is wonderful", for the Kunqu stage to create a long, timeless beautiful image. The Chinese wenyi on the stage is always dazzlingly beautiful. In "Wall Head Horse", together with her former "golden partner" Yue Meiti, she reproduced the classic images of art masters Yu Zhenfei and Yan Huizhu.
Chinese Ripple
Hua Wenyi served as the head of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and won many awards at home and abroad. She starred in "Cai Wenji", which won the Performance Award issued by the Ministry of Culture; "Peony Pavilion" and "Chaotou Feng" won the grand prize at the Shanghai Theater Festival; the TV art film "Qingwen" won the Best TV Drama Art Film Award in China; in 1986, she played Chen Miaochang in the Kun opera "The Tale of the Jade Hairpin" and won the "Plum Blossom Award", the highest artistic award of the National Dramatists Association.
Chinese Ripple
Another breakthrough in art is that Hua Wenyi integrates Kunqu opera performances into drama performances. In 1988, the Guangzhou Repertory Theatre adapted Bai Xianyong's novel "Dream of Visiting the Garden" into a drama. Among them, the heroine Lady Qian is a singer, a complex figure who married a noble lady for a long time, but unfortunately lost her husband and lost power. The plot requires "Lady Qian" to sing a few Kunqu songs. Bai Xianyong had previously seen Hua Wenyi's Kun opera and admired it so much that he invited her to join the performance. This drama auditioned by Hua Wenyi has become a touch of brilliance in her artistic career. Bai Xianyong watched Hua Wenyi's performance and commented: "Kunqu opera actors acting in dramas is cross-cutting. She (Hua Wenyi) understands everything at once, integrates the taste, stature and gestures of Kunqu opera into the drama with ease, and is a very intelligent person. ”
Chinese Ripple
Later, Hua Wenyi settled in the United States and founded the "Huakun Research Society" in Los Angeles with her husband. In February 2001, Hua Wenyi returned to Shanghai and participated in the filming of KUNQU opera drama "Fan Li and Xi Shi" and other TELEVISION films. Since 2006, Hua Wenyi has joined the new version of the classic Kunqu opera "Jade Hairpin" curated and produced by Bai Xianyong, and served as an artistic director. In addition, Hua Wenyi was also invited to return to his alma mater, "Shanghai Opera School", to pass on his art to the students of the "Kun Fifth Class".
Red Star News reporter Ren Hongwei
Edited by Duan Xueying
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