Author: Ma Mingjie
I have not studied the Cheng Pai art created by Master Cheng Yanqiu, and watching Cheng Pai drama is like reading Li Shangyin's "Untitled" poem, which is not very easy to understand. In the theater, I only watched the Cheng Pai plays sung by Chi Xiaoqiu in Shenyang, Fan Jinqiu in Dalian, Zhang Huoding in Beijing, and Li Haiyan when he was still in Tangshan, and some of the plays of young actors were either seen on TV or only heard color singing and cappella at some "opening and closing ceremonies". Therefore, I can only say a few words about my sporadic experience and views on Cheng Pai opera and Cheng Pai Dan angle.
After Master Cheng, among the sages of the second generation of the Cheng Sect, I most appreciate Zhao Rongchen, if you compare Cheng to the most holy Confucius of Confucianism, Zhao is Yasheng Mencius. Although the timbre of Cheng and Zhao's voices is not exactly the same, Cheng is stuffy and Zhao Liang, Cheng is thick and Zhao is light. However, in the singing sections of "Suolin Capsule", "The Seven Emotions have been exhausted in a flash", and in "Tears of the Desolate Mountain", "Listening to the Drum Sound of the Second More Drum of the Pavilion", Zhao Rongchen put away the bright tone and sang it, listening to it is also relatively muffled, and the thickness of the voice has been strengthened. I think that only by singing in this way can Xue Xiangling's feelings for life and Zhang Huizhu's pain and despair be deeply and accurately reflected.
Zhao Rongchen's "Tears of the Desolate Mountain"
The best course of study from Zhao Rongchen is Lu Dongming of Shenyang Peking Theater, and then there are several fire dings. In fact, I have only seen Zhang Huoding's play once, and I have seen it once. It was 1996, when the China Peking Opera Art Foundation held the "Second Recommended Performance of Chinese Peking Opera Stars" in Beijing, and as a new star recommended, she performed "Suolin Capsule". Tall, well-dressed, tall and dignified, enough material for Cheng Pai Qingyi (I always think that petite and pretty girls are not suitable for The Cheng School). Of course, the voice is not as generous as Master Cheng, but it is still rare among actresses, singing, reading, acting, and stating are quite regular and generous.
I have always paid attention to two places when I watch "Lock" drama: singing, listening to the paragraph [two yellow and three eyes] "The seven emotions have been exhausted in a flash"; doing, watching the "Zhu Lou" go upstairs, looking for the ball, looking for the footsteps of the bag, water sleeves, body, and expression. In that day's performance, Zhang Huoding was not ambiguous in both places, and he saw Zhao Rongchen's teaching. The difference between the [Two Yellows and Three Eyes] singing and the "Spring and Autumn Pavilion" of "Xipi Erliu" and [Flowing Water] is obvious, and it can be heard that the technique controls the sound, singing the deepest complex feelings in Xue Xiangling's heart in a stuffy, thick, and bitter way. "Zhu Lou" used a skill in place, without showing off. Compared with the "ideal model" performed by Zhao Rongchen in my memory, I can't fault it.
Zhao Rongchen and Zhang Huoding took a group photo
I watched Li Haiyan's play in 1987, at the North China Theater in Tianjin, and I only watched one play of "June Snow". Li Haiyan was just over twenty years old, but she sang popular in Tianjin, and the fans praised her, and there were "good meetings" and "two yellow slow plates" on the scene, and the theater sang steaming. At that time, my impression was that in addition to his appearance and good voice, this little Cheng Pai Dan horn was also full of spirituality on the stage, although it was still a little immature.
Later, Li Haiyan entered the Beijing Opera House in China, and I watched her "BMW Round Love" based on "Flame Colt" on TV, which obviously showed her maturity and improvement. The scene of "hitting the road" is very difficult to perform, but she plays it quite accurately. In particular, there is a singing without a huqin, only accompanied by plucked instruments, which is very chic and very sober, and Li Haiyan sings well. However, watching "BMW Round Love" I also have dissatisfaction, I always feel that although Li Haiyan sings is Cheng Cavity, the taste is not strong enough, the love is not deep enough, where is the problem? Still on the timbre.
Cheng Yanqiu's "Tears of the Desolate Mountain"
In the 8th issue of "Chinese Drama" in 1998, there was an article about Li Haiyan, in which there was a passage that said: "She (Li Haiyan) believes that the founder of Cheng Pai is a male Dan, and That Mr. Cheng Yanqiu is a life after a bad voice." The things of the ancestors cannot be copied, and the idea that the singing school must sing with a muffled voice is actually a misunderstanding. This is said to be rash and biased. The Cheng Pai drama sung by Li Haiyan and several other Cheng Pai rookies always owes a little meaning to listening, not enough relief, and the reason why it is not enjoyable enough is probably here.
The repertoire choreographed by Master Cheng, the creation of Cheng Cavity, the character personality in Cheng Pai's plays and his voice characteristics are integrated, and not all kinds of voices can sing Cheng Pai. It is not difficult to learn to sing Cheng, and it is not easy to sing cheng flavor. Zhao Rongchen's control of the voice and makeup have opened up a broad road for people who have learned the course and whose voice is different from the course, and the success of Lu Dongming and Zhang Huoding is a good proof, and the more they learn to sing the cheng school and sing more and more brightly, I am afraid that it is really "walking into the wrong area".
There are still many young Cheng Pai Dan angles, each with its own advantages in art, but also its own deficiencies, and the limitations of knowledge and level, I can't say them one by one, so I will stop here.
(Drama film newspaper, Liyuan Weekly, May 10, 1999)