Yu Kuizhi
In 1989, at the age of 28, Yu Kuizhi held a solo performance of Peking Opera students in Beijing, which caused a sensation in the opera industry.
After all, it is not common for such a young actor to hold a personal special performance, and Yu Kuizhi has reappeared on the stage many old plays that were banned in special years, which has satisfied the appetite of the audience, and they all want to see how the young actor's singing skills are.
With the sound of the whistle gong hitting the board, the performance officially began.
The audience gathered their spirits, Yu Kuizhi stepped onto the stage, accompanied by a glance and a singing of the mouth, which immediately won a burst of applause, and everyone's hanging hearts were put down, and the performance was very successful.
However, Yu Kuizhi was criticized by his mentor Mr. Li Mingsheng by name, and some old artists even used his performance as a negative teaching material and a false demonstration, calling on future generations not to learn, but to learn from Yu Kuizhi's lessons.
And the voice of criticism has always accompanied Yu Kuizhi's performance career, which can be described as a stone stirring up thousands of waves. Why?
In 1989, he performed stills in the special performance of Lao Sheng in Kuizhi Beijing
From a young age, Yu Kuizhi sang model plays such as "Sha Jia Pai" and "Red Lantern" with his mother playing the tune of the organ, and later learned the art with Yang Yuanyong (the son of the famous violinist Yang Baozhong) and others, and Huang Yunpeng and Yin Yueqiao taught the basic skills.
One day in May 1978, Yu Kuizhi heard the news of the resumption of enrollment in the Chinese Opera School, and he stayed up all night and was determined to study in Beijing, but could his mother agree?
Stills of Yu Kuizhi from the Shenyang Peking Opera House period
"China Academy of Performing Arts, it's too difficult!" Besides, do you let people go in the courtyard? In the face of her son's inquiry, the mother asked rhetorically.
"You, don't be hot in your head, or think clearly, and then discuss with the leaders of your hospital, they are all seniors, and they also know your ability, and they agreed to me and I have nothing to say."
With his mother's approval, Yu Kuizhi happily found the leader of the hospital, but the leader did not encourage his behavior.
Yu Kuizhi repeatedly insisted, coupled with the intercession of the teacher Yang Yuanyong, the leader agreed to release the person, and he could open a letter of introduction, but according to the regulations of the hospital: "Incumbents are not allowed to participate in the admissions examination." ”
Yu Kuizhi had no idea for a while, at this time he was in the moment of choice in life, how to fall?
The mother heard the response of the hospital, which was a little difficult to accept, and advised her son: Peking Opera can be learned anywhere, but in case you can't pass the exam, and then lose your job, it is not worth it!
His mother's concern was not unreasonable, and Yu Kuizhi played a retreat.
The idea of applying for the exam has always been in his mind, and after repeated choices, he finally made up his mind and said to his mother categorically: "I want to fight hard!" ”
However, his mother was stubborn, so she prepared him the travel expenses for Beijing and encouraged him: Let's take the exam! If you are admitted to do a good job, you don't have to worry about no job, and you must believe in your basic skills. Speaking of the first enrollment, the number should not be large.
China Academy of Performing Arts
With his mother's encouragement, Yu Kuizhi stepped on the train to Beijing.
But as soon as he arrived at the registration office, he saw a long line of registration, and he knew the meaning of "thousands of troops crossing the canoe bridge", and at this time, there were only three days left before the exam, and the surrounding hotels were already full of candidates.
Yu Kuizhi could only stay overnight at the Beijing Bus Station and run to the park to practice during the day. He knew that he had no way to retreat, only a battle on his back, and no amount of suffering could stop him from advancing.
With a bell ringing, Yu Kuizhi entered the examination room, and he performed the old student singing sections in "Forced to Go to Liangshan" and "Arrow Pole Riverside", playing well, but the principal Shi Ruoxuan and the main examination teachers were expressionless.
But because of this, it inspired his confidence in victory. He adjusted his mentality and skillfully demonstrated a set of basic skills. The examiners still had no expression and no evaluation.
Yu Kuizhi was a little discouraged, and slipped out of the examination room, with a guilty feeling, and talked to his parents and teacher Yang Yuanyong on the phone, saying that he had no hope. His mother's relief slightly eased his melancholy mood.
Yu Kuizhi took a group photo with his mentor Mr. Yang Yuanyong
But the teacher Yang Yuanyong said: I see that you should not come back for the time being, have not learned the exact result, do not lose confidence, and do not care about the expression of the main examination teacher.
Besides, the re-examination is just a few days later, you are not bad for this day or two, just prepare well in Beijing, and then practice, if you have no money, the teacher will send you a remittance.
The teacher's words made him suddenly enlightened, swept away the discouragement, and energetically threw himself into the preparation for the re-examination.
Sure enough, as expected by Mr. Yang Yuanyong, Yang Kuizhi successfully entered the re-examination.
Yu Kuizhi was full of confidence and performed well in the re-examination, winning the admission qualification of the China Drama Academy in one fell swoop, becoming the lucky one among the 1,000 applicants at that time.
The road to examination is so bumpy, Yu Kuizhi cherishes the enrollment life even more. In the early morning, when the classmates began to hang their voices, he had already finished hanging and prepared for the following homework.
After the end of the evening self-study, he had to hang his voice again, turn 100 small flips, and 100 tiger jumps forward. So he was rated as a three-good student for eight consecutive semesters, with excellent homework in each subject.
In 1982, the Xiqu School held 6 graduate debriefing performances in the Popular Theater, and Yu Kuizhi was appreciated by the leaders of the Beijing Opera House of China with a play "Playing Gold Bricks", and after the end, he asked Ye Peng (Teacher Yu Kuizhi) to ask him: This little old student, who is good at literature and martial arts, has rare talents, and we want it!
Teacher Ye Peng told the truth: the biggest advantage of being less than that is practical and hardworking. Even after the performance was successful, he was not satisfied, and still asked me to process and play for him.
After dinner, I rode from Weigong Village in Haitu District to my house on Zixin Road in Xuanwu District, and after saying the play, it was 12 midnight, and then I rode back. There are not many young actors who are willing to suffer like this, which is really rare.
Another teacher, Kong Yan, also took the opportunity to say: Take this "Playing Gold Bricks" for example, less than before each performance, he has to practice 30 times each of the difficult moves, and after practicing, it seems that all his internal organs have turned over, and he does not want to eat. We teachers are all in the eyes!
After receiving the recommendation and affirmation of the teachers of the college, Yu Kuizhi successfully entered the performance theater of the hall of Chinese Peking Opera - China Peking Opera, and obtained the opportunity to perform on the same stage with many big-name predecessors, and thus was able to learn from the strengths of all.
However, the old man who Yu Kuizhi never forgot was Mr. Li Mingsheng, but he had not had the courage to visit this high-ranking person.
In 1987, Yu Kuizhi encountered the first bottleneck in his career - "Wu Peng Ji", a play that will be lost, and no one in the Beijing Theater can teach him, and "Wu Peng Ji" is Li Mingsheng's best play.
Under the consideration of Yu Kuizhi, he decided to visit this famous industry senior. What are the conditions that may be favored by Mr. Li? The leaders pinched a handful of sweat for him, and Yu Kuizhi said two words: sincerity.
On the day of the visit, Yu Kuizhi performed all his skills in front of Mr. Li, singing for more than an hour, and stood respectfully next to Li Mingsheng, waiting for his comments.
In fact, when Kuizhi was hanging his voice, Li Mingsheng had already heard that his voice was crisp and pure, and he had both a good talent and a good foundation.
Li Mingsheng appreciates and cherishes such talents, not to mention that he is less than so eager to seek art, and the most important thing is his persistent love for Peking Opera.
Li Mingsheng began to talk about drama, one move and one style, body shape, singing method, performance, and according to the advantages of Yu Kuizhi's martial arts, he added a lot of movements, and the difficulty increased a lot.
But Yu Kuizhi could master it very well every time, which made Li Mingsheng unexpected, and when he saw that it was smaller than usual, he did not make less effort, and he taught more energetically.
After Li Mingsheng's guidance, Yu Kuizhi, who stood on the shoulders of the giants, more deeply understood the four schools of singing of Yu (Shu Yan), Ma (Lian Liang), Tan (Xin Pei), and Yang (Baosen).
On the evening of May 2, Yu Kuizhi's "Wu Peng Ji" premiered at the Beijing People's Theater, the attendance rate was quite good, the audience mood was high, Yu Kuizhi did not live up to everyone's high expectations, and the play was sung continuously.
Whether it is the erhuangyuan board of "the old man does not have to be afraid to be frightened", or the anti-erhuangyuan board of "never opened his mouth and full of tears", or even the Xipi flowing water in the public court" "did not open his mouth and tears", they all sang sincerely, the words were touching, and the charm was strong, which was full of praise.
Even when Liu Shichang found the bag announcement, the audience actually broke out into strong applause. "Wu Peng Ji" was sung, and Li Mingsheng was so excited that he almost did not close his eyes for a night, because he saw the hope of the revitalization of Peking Opera from Yu Kuizhi and decided to make him his successor.
In the process of learning, Yu Kuizhi also felt the infinite charm of the old-fashioned singing method, but he always had an impulse to integrate into his own singing style and make some changes.
But the singing method of each Peking Opera is basically fixed, and even the Peking Opera masters dare not change it at will.
Yu Kuizhi is only a young actor, naturally he does not have the guts, but just takes advantage of his spare time to change his singing method to help him have fun.
Yu Kuizhi, who has undergone the guidance of famous teachers, has made rapid progress, has won many awards, and has achieved good performance results in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other places.
In 1989, under the concern of the leaders of the Peking Opera House in China, Yu Kuizhi organized a personal special session for Lao Sheng.
Everyone knows the weight of this performance, because this is not only Yu Kuizhi's first special performance, but also the first time that many traditional tracks meet the audience.
And these repertoire are in a special era, in a state of long-term banned, and with the change of the times, today it can be performed.
So the big names gathered in the audience, and all the old performing artists, ticket holders, teachers, and classmates came to the scene.
Yu Kuizhi drank water in the background to moisten his throat
Yu Kuizhi naturally lived up to expectations, with smooth movements on stage, complex singing methods, and continuous applause from the stage.
In the face of everyone's applause, Yu Kuizhi became more and more confident, but there was always an impulse that lingered in his heart while singing, forcing him to change his singing style, and Yu Kuizhi resisted.
However, with the progress of the performance, this impulse to change the singing method became more and more intense, and when Yu Kuizhi hesitated, the brain went empty, and the new singing method flowed out unconsciously.
But the audience was still applauding, and Yu Kuizhi boldly sang until the end of the performance.
Yu Kuizhi, who returned to the background, finally breathed a sigh of relief, facing his relatives and friends, teachers and classmates also had an explanation. However, "the layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway", Yu Kuizhi's "little cleverness" has not escaped the eyes of a group of old artists such as Li Mingsheng.
Yu Kuizhi stills
Li Mingsheng walked in with a clap of his hands and congratulated Yu Kuizhi: Less than, congratulations, you played well!
Yu Kuizhi quickly stood up, helped the teacher to sit down, and while pouring tea for the teacher, he said: It is still good to be guided by the teacher.
Li Mingsheng then said: Can you be proud, you know that you haven't practiced for a day, but if you haven't practiced this month, the audience will know. Are you busy talking about love and not practicing well?
Hearing the teacher's rebuke, Yu Kuizhi was stunned in his heart and explained: What is this, I go to the practice room every day!
Then you still haven't sung in some places, ah, "Yuan Chonghuan" came out, this "sharp group word", "catchy word" you did not sing out, "big over the door" also reduced a lot, are you not fooling the audience? If this had been before, it would have blown you out of Beijing! Li Mingsheng said angrily.
Yu Kuizhi played Yue Fei stills
Yu Kuizhi knew that Mr. Li Mingsheng's words were true, because the status of singing Peking Opera in the old society was very low. Once the singing is not good, those Wang Ye and Baylor will smash the field lightly, and the heavy can blast the artists out of Beijing.
But how to explain it to the teacher? I couldn't tell the truth, so I had to answer like this: I was really negligent in the back, and I didn't have enough strength.
Li Mingsheng sighed: Alas! That is, the times are good, there is no provocation. But as an artist, you can't be short of two pounds!
Yu Kuizhi was impressed by the teacher's meticulous spirit, and quickly nodded his head and said yes, Li Mingsheng saw that he was so modest, and he said in a serious tone: Ok! Yan Shi is a high disciple, I am all for your own good, but you can't relax! Good thing overall! Keep up the good work!
Yu Kuizhi plays Zhuge Liang stills
Yu Kuizhi temporarily dodged the disaster, and also restrained his edge. But his special recordings have been circulated, and many old artists who are not on the scene have heard the change of singing style, which makes it difficult for them to accept.
Therefore, when teaching students, He took out Kuizhi's record and used it as a negative teaching material, and for a time Yu Kuizhi's "wrong" singing method caused a lot of controversy in the music and art circles.
So the original personal performance, but has become a major proposition of how to innovate peking opera, Yu Kuizhi feels nothing, because the old gentlemen are teaching students to "walk", for beginners of course to be straight.
But he has already accumulated a certain amount and can enter the "jogging" stage and make some small innovations.
And he feels that there is nothing wrong with changing the singing method, because for today's Mandarin, there is no longer a pronunciation of "sharp group characters" and "catchy characters", and removing some of them can adapt to today's audience.
Yu Kuizhi (second row left) family
Moreover, this is an era of individuality, and everyone should have their own characteristics, rather than blindly worshipping the ancients. But the old man's side was obeying the ancient principle, and he was not easy to persuade.
After thinking about it again, he decided that he could be bold in his new song and add fresh stage art to meet the needs of the new audience.
And traditional opera really should not be arbitrarily changed, original, so that it can have the best of both worlds.
Time into the 90s, Yu Kuizhi's idea finally had a place to play, he was responsible for choreographing the opera "Camel Xiangzi", so in the "foreign car dance" compromise, added multimedia lights, LED large-screen display, singing method also made some adjustments, very novel, the premiere was successful.
Is this still Peking Opera? Yu Kuizhi's approach has once again caused controversy.
Yu Kuizhi held a symposium with the new drama "Wind and Rain Apricot Yellow Flag"
In the face of the questions of the old gentlemen, Yu Kuizhi could not explain, but he did not change his original intention and insisted on his own singing style. He always believes that Peking Opera must have personal characteristics in order to have long-term development.
And with the continuous increase of Yu Kuizhi's experience, innovation is also getting bigger and bigger. The scene "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu" breaks the traditional practices of "big white light", "big face light" and "a few chairs on a table" in the lighting design.
So he continued to try, launched a series of new dramas and new singing methods such as "Chibi" and "Wind and Rain Apricot Yellow Flag", forming a unique "Yu style" style and making unique contributions to the history of the development of Peking Opera.
Stills from "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu" A change from the simple background of Peking Opera
After many years, Yu Kuizhi has been the first veteran of the Chinese Peking opera industry, and his singing style is also well known to the audience, but the controversy between the old and the new has always accompanied Yu Kuizhi's performance career.
And those who admired him will be very high in Kuizhi, and even the teacher Xue Shengzhong of the Xiqu Academy suggested that it be less than the words in the names of Yu Shuyan, Yang Baosen, and Ma Lianliang, and change their names to "Yu Baoliang", Yu Kuizhi did not dare to obey.
Because he deeply knows that his innovation still needs to pass the test of the times, after all, the river is gushing, and the merits and demerits still need to be commented on by future generations.