On July 24th, Hu Wenge, the leading actor of the Beijing Peking Opera Company and a famous artist of the Mei School, who had just performed the whole drama "Mu Guiying in Charge" and "Plum Blossom Rhyme" in Nanjing, appeared on the podium of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Lecture Month" of the National Library to participate in the dialogue between the centennial development of Mei School art and the story of intangible cultural heritage, which ended this year's "Intangible Cultural Heritage Lecture Month" of the National Atlas.
The midsummer performance was soaked and heavy
The high-intensity work in the high temperature for several days made the 58-year-old Hu Wenge feel unwell, and he took the quick-acting heart-saving pill before he sat down on the podium. Even so, during the lecture, he stretched his body and sang the clip of "The Drunken Concubine" for nearly 10 minutes, shaking the fan, lowering the waist, and squatting...... Scrupulous. At the end of the conversation, he sang "Ode to Pear Blossoms" again, and instructed his apprentice Battle to sing "Farewell My Concubine" on the spot. "The popularization of Peking Opera must not be perfunctory, and you must demonstrate, sing, perform, and interact with everyone in person. When the audience and audience are moved, they will want to go into the theater and learn about it. ”
Hu Wenge said that this year marks the 130th anniversary of Mei Lanfang's birth and the 90th anniversary of Mei Baojiu's birth. In a few days, I will set off again and go to Wuhan to perform "Farewell My Concubine", "Drunken Concubine", "Mu Guiying in Charge" and so on.
"When I performed in Nanjing, I was soaking wet, and the costume master joked that 'if you wear your clothes like this, you should throw them away.'" But no matter how hot the weather is, no matter how much sweat there is, in order to have the best stage effect, Hu Wenge must also show the beauty and elegance of the characters. "That palace costume was made by the master Mr. Mei Baojiu in the 80s of the 20th century, and later passed on to me." As a male actor, Hu Wenge has to pay much more than a female actor. "How can you close the original male voice and sing a higher female soprano without working hard? Also, to play the concubine drunk, you have to lower your waist, and the male joints are harder than the women, at my age, if you want to perform the softness of the concubine, you can't sweat. ”
Meipai art is not only lazy but also "rigid"
Hu Wenge fondly recalled Mr. Mei Lanfang's career in art, and introduced the important stages and characteristics of the development of Mei School's art to readers. Compared with the development of Peking Opera a hundred years ago, he said: "I am fortunate to be the only male disciple of Mr. Mei Baojiu, and the country's protection of traditional art and the audience's love for Mei School art make me glad to catch up with the good times." We have the responsibility and obligation to pass on and carry forward the art of Meipai. Hu Wenge seized every opportunity to lead the audience to understand the beauty of Meipai art and the beauty of male dan.
Many people have the impression that the beauty of the Mei school is graceful and luxurious, lazy and relaxed, Hu Wenge said, in fact, it is not true, the beauty of the Mei school is also a combination of rigidity and softness.
"When the master taught me "Farewell My Concubine", he said that the audience often pays attention to Yu Ji's sword dance, but the most difficult part of this play is Yu Ji going out. There is no music, the actors do not have any assistance, and they all rely on their skills to show the inner depression, helplessness, frustration, worry, and expectation of the characters......" Hu Wenge said that appreciating this paragraph is to appreciate the strength of Yu Ji's singing, not the beauty of softness. "Everyone listens to Mr. May's singing on the record, and every sentence is explosive. Although Mei Pai has a sweet timbre, when the plot and characters need it, the performance should be like a steel rod knocking out a 'dang-', and the singing pays attention to the horizontal and vertical golden mean. He hopes that the audience will not solidify the impression of the Mei School art, but appreciate the multi-layered beauty created by the Mei School art.
"Men's performances can't be too feminine, neutral is their charm." Hu Wenge hopes that the audience can understand more about the beauty of male dan art, especially the Mei School male dan art, which pursues the resemblance of simulating women rather than the superficial form. “
Short videos are easy to deviate from Peking Opera
Nowadays, many Peking Opera lovers enjoy Peking Opera through short videos, and even replace the Peking Opera aesthetics on stage with the Peking Opera aesthetics in short videos, which Hu Wenge believes is not advisable. "Short videos are all shot with faces, and a slight exaggeration of the performance is not good, and the smaller the change in expression, the better. But this is not the case with stage performing arts, which requires the performance to be relaxed and powerful, and not to be blindly subtle. ”
October 22 is the 130th anniversary of Mei Lanfang's birth. On that day, Hu Wenge was going to perform the whole book "Mu Guiying in Command" at the National Center for the Performing Arts. "I'm going to retire in two and a half years, but as long as I spend one day on stage, I have to constantly improve my performance, and every scene has to be summarized after the performance to get better," Hu said. Only by doing your best can you be worthy of this art. Reporter Li Yang