The National Centre for the Performing Arts, renamed Summer Rainbow, is based on a new version of the first original realistic opera "Mountain Village Female Teacher", launched 12 years ago, and will meet the audience from September 8 to 12.
With nearly three weeks to go until the show, the show is in the midst of intense revision and rehearsal. In the rehearsal hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts on August 18, a huge blackboard reads a passage that reads , "The eagle soars beyond the clouds, and in the distance is the vast ocean." We hold hope and yearn for the light of the world. In front of the hopeful words, dozens of children were bouncing around Zhou Xiaolin, and a scene of teacher-student affection infected everyone present.
As one of the few actors who participated in the premiere 12 years ago, Zhou Xiaolin can be said to be one of the main creators most familiar with this drama. "This role is no stranger to me, and each of us can find a teacher who will have a great influence on your life." 12 years ago, "Female Teacher in a Mountain Village" was the first original opera with realistic themes at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, and the first opera performed by Zhou Xiaolin at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This role has great significance for Zhou Xiaolin. 12 years have changed a lot, and this drama is also very different from that time. "I have also recently been looking through various materials, including the interview with Zhang Guimei, the model of the times, and the story of zhang Lili, the most beautiful teacher, in these stories, I went to find and feel their way of life. I hope that through our literary and artistic works, more audiences will pay attention to these left-behind children and the situation of teachers in mountain villages. ”
The original opera "Summer Rainbow" of the National Centre for the Performing Arts was composed by Hao Wei, who had written for the Eighteen-minute sequel to the National Centre for the Performing Arts version of "Turandot", written by Liu Heng, a famous screenwriter who had created films such as "The Ballad of Yunshui", "The Gathering Number", and "Jinling Thirteen Chao", and directed by the famous director Chen Liyi again, telling the extraordinary experience of female teacher Yang Caihong in taking root in the education cause of poor mountainous areas, reflecting the choice of ideals, careers and love of this social group of rural educators, as well as valuable dedication. 12 years later, it was put on the stage again and renamed "Summer Rainbow", which has a strong sense of the times and practical significance.
In the view of Wei Lanfen, director of the Production Department of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, this work between the new creation and the rearrangement is very interesting, "There are some things that everyone has a very deep heart, and at the same time is full of more expectations for it." A good work, as long as it is modified and polished, will be more mature, closer to the appearance of the fine products that everyone wants, which is our original intention. ”
Talking about why he chose to change his name, Wei Lanfen said that the name "Female Teacher in mountain villages" is too realistic. The premiere was 12 years ago, when the appearance of the mountain village was very different from today's, "the whole musical style is completely biased towards Italian lyric opera, very elegant and romantic." And the stage presentation is also very different from 12 years ago. So the creators still want to avoid this particularly realistic name. "The name "Summer Rainbow" is the idea of screenwriter Liu Heng," the protagonist's name is Yang Caihong, and the rainbow is a particularly beautiful scenery in the world, and it is very short, very in line with the heroine's setting." "When it comes to summer, I feel that it is a very cool and warm feeling, so it is called "Summer Rainbow."" Although it is a tragedy, it needs to be as relaxed as possible to make everyone feel a spirit. ”
In order to better present the play, the composer Hao Wei polished for nearly a year, adding a lot of children's chorus parts. "This drama is probably the largest proportion of children's voices in Chinese and foreign operas." Wei Lanfen said, "This revision, the script changed about 20%, the focus is on the children, strengthen the children's voice, mainly to highlight the relationship between teachers and students." Compared to 12 years ago, the revised version is more refined and the musical structure is more compact.
"Original opera needs the originality of the actors from the shaping of the characters, including the shaping of the music, the creativity of the actors, including our music homework, which actually does a lot of details." Zhou Xiaolin had already begun to prepare her music homework a month ago. "Our original opera has a lot of languages that are different from Western music. How we can sing this sentence more fully through music, more like talking, but different from speaking, these are all things that need to be repeatedly pondered. ”
This round of performances will be conducted by conductor Zhang Yi and presented together with outstanding artists from the Opera Singers' Team, Choir and Orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Usually, the work of opera conductors is mainly in the later stage, and the early stage will not intervene too early, but in order to do a better job of this work, Zhang Yi will participate in the rehearsal a long time in advance, and these two days will also do homework for the actors, sculpt the actors' singing skills, and ensure that the works can be perfect. "All the artists are very engaged. This theme is of great practical significance, and everyone has a lot of new experiences in understanding it, which is very emotional. According to Zhang Yi, at the end of this month, the rehearsal work of the orchestra will officially begin.
Courtesy of the National Centre for the Performing Arts
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Shou Penghuan
Editor/Bow Lifang