On August 27th, 28th and 29th, Beijing opera fans ushered in a feast of horse pie. The Beijing Opera House's "Special Performance to Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Mr. Zhang Xuejin's Birth" was staged at the Chang'an Grand Theatre, and the two major plays "The Orphan of Zhao" and "Finishing Touches", as well as the "Peking Opera Famous Artists Concert commemorating the 80th Anniversary of Mr. Zhang Xuejin's Birth", appeared one after another, with Zhu Qiang, Gao Tong, Zhang Kai and other Ma Pai descendants, as well as Zhang Huifang, Li Hongtu, Zhang Xinyue, Kang Jing, Huang Yanzhong and other famous Peking Opera artists participating in the performance. Not only did the fans of the opera have enough addiction to the Ma Pai, but also to see Mr. Zhang Xuejin's former style in the performance of a group of disciples.
The veteran actors sang excerpts from "Finishing Touch"
Mr. Zhang Xuejin is the leader of the Ma Pai lineage and the first generation of Peking Opera artists trained in New China, and he has played an important role in the inheritance of the Ma Pai art. The three performances were carefully arranged. "The Orphan of Zhao" is Mr. Ma Lianliang's masterpiece, which integrates his lifelong artistic accumulation and some experiences in creating Ma Pai art into this play. This time, several third- and fourth-generation Ma Pai descendants jointly interpreted on the stage, which is not only a memorial to Mr. Zhang Xuejin, but also shows the current style of the Ma Pai in the Peking Opera circle. "Finishing Touch" is a work created by Mr. Zhang Xuejin based on the Ma School, which is his representative work, and won the Grand Prize of the China Arts Festival that year. On August 29th, the Peking Opera Masters Concert brought together many Peking Opera masters and Ma Pai descendants to perform the classic songs of Ma Pai. The three performances can be said to be wonderful, the applause and applause in the theater rise and fall, and the applause of the audience when the actors close the curtain is even more enthusiastic.
Zhu Qiang, a famous Peking Opera performance artist, was the first disciple of Mr. Zhang Xuejin, and he participated in the three-day performance. At the age of sixty this year, he has been planning for this special performance for many years, and it is not easy to finally achieve his wish on the eightieth birthday of his teacher. In Zhu Qiang's view, after so many years of insisting on planning this matter, not only to commemorate the teacher, but also to carry forward the artistic spirit of Mr. Zhang Xuejin through the performance, and pass on his persistence and rigor in art from generation to generation.
Zhu Qiang said that Ma Pai is the most comprehensive genre in the old life line of Peking Opera, Mr. Zhang Xuejin performed a lot of Ma Pai repertoire before his death, it can be said that the Ma Pai art inheritance is a great achievement, "Mr. Zhang participated in the audio and video work, for many Mr. Ma Lianliang's singing and matching, among the younger generation of actors, many people talk about Ma Pai art, what emerges in front of them is the image of Mr. Zhang, in their view, Ma Pai is Mr. Zhang. For Zhu Qiang, Mr. Zhang Xuejin's biggest influence on him is the rigor of art, "he can make up for anything in life, but on the stage, art is not at all, absolutely do not rub sand in the eyes, whether students, peers, colleagues in art can not be fooled, so some people are afraid when they cooperate with him." Zhu Qiang believes that the reason why the Beijing Opera House has been able to develop to the present, the genre style is still relatively good, and many artists like Mr. Zhang Xuejin pay attention to art.
The Orphan of Zhao
Zhang Xuejin is still the second generation of ma pai who has received the most apprentices, there are thirteen professionals alone, including actors and teachers, it is his efforts to sow fire for the ma pai inheritance, which has led to the situation of the ma pai today, "Mr. Zhang has played a very important role in the ma pai inheritance, if there is no his effort, it is difficult to imagine what the current situation of the Ma pai today will be." ”
During the epidemic period, it is not easy to perform, and Zhu Qiang has long been prepared for no audience. But what I didn't expect was that there were many audiences in several performances, most of them were young faces, "among them there were college students, there were also middle school students, and they didn't leave after the play, and they were all waiting at the backstage door to sign." Zhu Qiang said that these young people's liking and research on Master Zhang Xuejin surprised him, and their love for Peking Opera moved him even more, "They made me more confident in this line of work, and at the same time felt more pressure, we have such a good audience, there should be more good actors to perform more good plays, not to disappoint the audience." He admitted that this is not easy, it requires actors to work harder, overcome the impetuous and utilitarian mentality, and learn to perform in a down-to-earth manner, so that the audience can really like it from the heart, just like Mr. Zhang Xuejin has been dead for 9 years, and there are still so many audiences who miss his art.
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Niu Chunmei
Edited by Jin Liwei
Process Editor Wu Yue