The Paper
The large-scale musical epic "Long March Suite Song".
Putting on the Red Army uniform, wearing the Red Army hat and raising the Red Army flag, on the night of the Founding Day on August 1, the Shanghai Opera House moved the large-scale musical epic "Long March Suite" to the Shanghai Concert Hall with a huge lineup of nearly 170 people.
The Long March was a major strategic shift by the Chinese Communist Party, and there was a series of musical works on the theme of the Long March in history, and the "Long March Suite" premiered in 1965 was one of the best. The work uses the epic lyrics of General Xiao Hua, and the composers of Chen Geng, ShengMao, Tang Hao and Yu Qiu combine the folk tunes and Red Army military songs on the Long March into a vocal suite, which is performed forever.
This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 85th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Red Army, and "Long March Suite" has once again become a popular play on the stage.
The Predecessor of the Shanghai Opera House, the Xin'an Tour Group, was the "little good guys" who had traveled 50,000 miles to promote the anti-Japanese resistance for 17 years. For more than 60 years since its establishment, the red gene has been flowing in the blood of the Shanghai Opera House, and "Long March Song" is a reserved play of the Shanghai Opera House for decades.
This re-arrangement of "Long March Suite" is based on the lyrics of the 1965 version, and the music of the chorus and band is based on the 1975 version, and the length of the 1995 version is also taken. At the same time, the chorus actors' formation changes, movements, and settings on stage in passages such as Breaking through the Blockade Line and Crossing the Snowy Mountain Meadow strive to follow the 1965 version.
This round of rehearsal, more "post-90s" young actors joined in. In addition to the specially invited mezzo-soprano singer Dong Fang, Shanghai Opera House baritone singer Zhang Feng, lead singer Zhou Chen, He Xiaonan, Zheng Yao, Li Xinyu, Shen Jiayu, recitation of Chen Chaobin and other "post-80s" have become the "old people" in the crew.
A few months ago, hundreds of artists at the Shanghai Opera House began preparations and rehearsals.
Art director Zhang Qingxin and physical director Chen Han participated in the rehearsal throughout the process, always paying close attention to every breath, every sentence, every look, every set of movements in the singing, every accent and every tone in the recitation. From the red armband to every detail of the Red Army flag, the actors also carefully examined and compared with the classic version of the video data, and strived to present an original "Long March Suite Song" for the audience.
The allegro, which is not exposed to the usual days, has also become a "compulsory course" for the actors, from the rehearsal field to the piano room, canteen, and leisure area, you can see the actors pondering the action and communicating the essentials.
"Every time a classic work is rehearsed, the spirit will be passed on to new actors and new audiences, and old actors and audiences will also inspire new emotions in each different performance experience." Lin Yousheng has been directing "Long March Suite Song" for 20 years, and he still remembers the outdoor performance of the 2016 Shanghai International Arts Festival, "The stage was set up but encountered heavy rain, the actors braved the wind and rain, could not open their eyes and still sang, the audience also braved the wind and rain, wearing rain ponchos to insist on watching, which was a special spiritual baptism for everyone on the scene." ”
On the night of the performance, a pair of special young people came to the scene - because of the disaster in Henan, their best friend, an active soldier, went to the front line of the disaster, and when they could not come to the scene, they came for him, feeling the difficulties and dangers on the march of the Red Army in the music, learning the spirit of the Long March, "We also sincerely thank the People's Liberation Army in the new era, they always bravely go forward again and again when the people need help the most." ”
After the end of the "August 1st" performance, from August 5 to 6, "Long March Suite Song" will be performed twice in Shanghai Cultural Square.
Editor-in-Charge: Liang Jia
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang