Beginning with "The Legend of He Wenxiu, Visiting His Wife in Sangyuan", the special performance of Yue opera master Xiao Ya will land at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on December 1 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Yuetan Grandmaster Yin Guifang.
Xiao Ya graduated from the Shanghai Opera School in 1982, and after entering the Hongkou Yue Opera Troupe at that time, she was accepted as a disciple by Yin Guifang, a master of Yue opera and the founder of the Yin Sect, specializing in the Yin School. "Teacher Yin's influence on me is not only in the performance method, but also in the obsessive attachment to the art of Yue opera." At that time, Xiao Ya "Xiao He showed sharp horns", Yin Guifang discovered her artistic aura, let her eat and live in her own home, morning and evening carefully taught. Yin Guifang hopes that Xiao Ya can be more culturally literate than the previous generation of actors. To this end, she invited the Kunqu opera performance artist Yue Meiti to her home, let Xiao Ya learn the art from her teacher, and invited Huang Zumo, the director of the movie "Lushan Love", to teach Xiao Ya literary and artistic theory. When Xiao Ya held a personal concert, Yin Guifang, who was immobile, came with crutches to encourage her.
Yue Meiti, an art consultant of "Gui Tu FenFang Xiao Sheng Ya Yun", recalled that she was a fan of Yin Pai since she was a child, "I have not yet learned to play, Yin Guifang is my idol, and her rounded and elegant performance style deeply fascinated me." Entrusted by Yin Guifang to guide Xiao Ya, Yue Meiti witnessed Xiao Ya's growth, "She is especially able to endure hardships and go all out during rehearsals." We have known each other for more than thirty years, and she still insists on dozens of performances every year and loves art very much. The stage is a sacred place for actors, and it is necessary to be reborn on stage, which requires a lot of self-discipline, and it is not easy for Xiao Ya to persist to this day. ”
In 2002, Xiao Ya set up her own art performance company, for which she gave up the leisurely life in the United States, gave up more profitable singing specialties, and devoted herself to the cause of establishing the opera brand and promoting the culture of Yue opera. Xiao Ya's singing voice inherits the characteristics of the Yin School, and has made valuable explorations to pioneer and innovate the traditional singing methods of Yue opera. She integrates the soft voice, qi sound and Western bel canto singing method of popular songs into the Yin Pai singing voice, enriching the expression of Yue opera. After the successful premiere of the original Yue opera "Unfinished Love" led by her, she entered Beijing to participate in the first Beijing International Drama Performance Season after the successful premiere of the 4th Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the response was enthusiastic. In 2004, Xiao Ya won the 21st Chinese Drama "Plum Blossom Award" for the role of Yang Xuejun in "Unmeasured Love".
In the following years, Xiao Ya rehearsed the famous Yin Pai drama "Pan Wife Suo Wife". Taking into account the appreciation habits of modern audiences, she accelerated the pace of the performance, and the performance time was reduced by one hour, but the classic passages and singing voices such as "Cave Room", "Moon Viewing" and "Lu Zhen" were all retained, making the classics shine again in the present. Xiao Ya rehearsed the modern Yue opera "Begonia", not only using the humorous Cheng Pai singing voice to play the Peking Opera male Dan Begonia, but also using the original Yin Pai singing voice to show the tough character of this iron-boned Zhengzheng man, adding a bright color to the image of modern xiaosheng on the Yue opera stage. After 2007, Xiao Ya rearranged the proud work of that year, "The Strange Edge of the Green Forest", and the costume drama "Patrolling the Father", which has practical educational significance, and everywhere she went, she was warmly welcomed by the fans.
Yin Guifang widely absorbed the nutrition of the brothers' dramas and innovatively integrated them into her own performing arts, forming a unique Yin Pai singing voice. Xiao Ya learned from the teacher, in line with the view that the genre is not divided into families, and the opera is one, "Gui Tu Fenfang Xiao Sheng Ya Yun" not only invites the famous Yue opera masters of other genres, but also invites the leaders of other genres to pay tribute to the teacher. The guests of the performance include Huang Xinde, Liang Weiping, Wang Hangjuan, Zhang Lin, Zhang Yufeng, Chen Xin, etc., and the program covers the classic singing sections of "Pan Wife", "Desert Prince", "Mountain and River Love", "Liang Zhu" and "Begonia". In order to inherit the artistic spirit of Yin Guifang, Xiao Ya searched for many years to find suitable students. She revealed that on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the mentor, she will bring her 19-year-old apprentice Mei Lirui to the stage of the Grand Theater to present the report card of many years of artistic research and education to the teacher.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu