The national local opera essence exhibition hosted by the Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other units will be held in Nanning, Guangxi in November. At present, 48 plays are being publicized, including three in Hunan, namely, the Hunan Opera "Describing the Face on the Road" of Changsha Xiangju Conservation and Inheritance Center, and the Qi Opera "Zhaojun Going out of the Frontier" of Hunan Qiju Conservation and Inheritance Center And Changsha Huagu Opera "Forging Iron" of Hunan Huagu Opera Conservation and Inheritance Center. The reporter learned from Hunan and Hunan provinces that the artists of Hunan Opera and Flower Drum Opera are busy rehearsing to show the wonderful charm of Hunan Opera on the national stage.
Popular high sounding and free flowing, honest and sincere neighbors support each other
"Describing the Face on the Road" is an important part of "The Story of Pipa", one of the "Top Ten Records" of Hunan Opera Gaoqiang. Seventy years ago, at the first National Opera Viewing and Performing Conference, famous Hunan Opera performing artists Xu Shaoqing and Peng Linong won the award and became famous throughout the country. The high tune of Hunan Opera has inherited the tradition of Yiyang tune, and has developed into a large section of free play. The free play of Zhang Guangcai and Zhao Wuniang comforting and instructing each other before leaving in "Describing the Face on the Road" has lasted for nearly 7 minutes, and still retains the performance style of singing songs without strings, which is very representative. The melody of this section of "Zhao's Daughter Leaving Home" is not only very beautiful, but also the melody of the words basically matches the tone of Changsha dialect. "Changsha dialect sounds like singing" is not a lie, and the local audience is very familiar with it. It is a well-known aria of Hunan Opera.
In addition to the beautiful music, the lyrics of "Zhao Rong On the Road" are even more soul stirring. It is a fine tradition of opera to promote truth, kindness and beauty. The play describes the simple and sincere neighborhood relationship between Zhang Guangcai and Zhao Wuniang, sharing weal and woe, and supporting each other. In particular, the warm-hearted image of Zhang Guangcai has great personality charm. "It's not too late to stay here, and the crowing of chickens must wait for the light of the sky. You must be careful when wading across the bridge, and don't hurry when sailing. Don't drink the water in the spring when you are thirsty, but you can beg for tea from others..." Zhang Guangcai's advice to Zhao Wuniang, who was on a long journey, is a small matter, but it is cautious, careful, and thorough. It exudes a strong human sentiment, which is deeply engraved in the hearts of generations of Hunan viewers.
The version of Shixiang's performance is the youth version of the 2021 rehearsal, starring Zhou Fan and Jiang Yuwang. Zhou Fan told the reporter: "The Story of Pipa is so classic! The script has a profound literary foundation, and the old artists' performance characters are full, emotional portrayal is sincere, and the music is beautiful and moving. After I entered Shixiang, the first batch of plays I learned included" Describing the Face on the Road ". At that time, the old teacher Chen Aizhu taught me." This youth version of the rehearsal was under the guidance of Wang Yongguang, Chen Aizhu, Zeng Jingui Under the careful guidance of famous artists in the provincial capital, such as Luo Zhiyong and director Wang Yangjuan, the young actors in Shixiang carefully polished their performances in all aspects of singing, reading, doing and fighting.
There are many unforgettable details in the rearrangement process. Zhou Fan recalled that Zhao Wuniang painted a portrait of her mother-in-law in the play. She felt that the one she drew for her mother-in-law was not very good. She thought that because her mother-in-law died early, she could not remember her appearance, so she imitated her mother-in-law's attitude of leaning against the door and looking at her. This performance is very delicate. While walking the "mother-in-law road", Zhao Wuniang recalls the details of her mother-in-law. "Miss Chen Aizhu imitates the old woman's posture perfectly, which is absolutely amazing! I have practiced this part for a long time, and it is very skillful. Miss Chen Aizhu said that this was taught to her by Miss Peng Linong in those years, and now she has taught me." Zhou Fan said that there are many such essences refined by artists of all ages in Hunan Opera, which would be immeasurable losses if lost. "As an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, I have taken over this play from my teacher and will perform on the national stage again. I deeply feel that it is a great responsibility and mission."
Mao Guojin, with his comedic effect, is a blacksmith in deep memory
The cool autumn weather, light wind and clear clouds, live up to the good times. Walking into the provincial flower rehearsal hall on Renmin Middle Road, I saw two famous clowns in the provincial capital Liyuanxing at a glance. In August this year, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Tourism announced the list of the national leading talent training plan for opera performance in 2022, with a total of 20 people nationwide. The only person selected in Hunan is Zhu Guibing, a young actor from Hunan Province. At present, he is under the guidance of Tang Bohua, a famous Hunan Opera performing artist, to further polish his masterpiece "Forging Iron".
"Beating the Iron" was originally a representative play of Hengzhou Flower Drum Opera. In the 1960s, it was adapted and transplanted into Changsha Flower Drum Opera by Shenghua, integrating the style of "Shenghua Road". "Forging Iron" was originally a part of "Breaking the Mountain to Save Mother", but this one revolved around Mao Guojin, who loved to brag and was not good at learning, and had a strong comedy effect. The re typesetting was jointly organized and adapted by Song Gu and Liu Zhe, starring Zhu Guibing, Lin Xinlu and Liu Tao. Liu Zhe, a young playwright, revealed that the re typesetting further strengthened Mao Guojin's bragging feature, expanded his lyrics from 4 sentences to 12 sentences, and even sang "if you talk about my craftsmanship, it is very good. It is also a big egg, which fits the background of this national stage performance.
At the same time, the second typesetting removed the scenario of the appearance of the junior brother Mao Guoyin, and the reason for making the sword was changed to that Mao's wife asked the warrior to use the name of making the treasured sword to warn Mao Guojin. After adaptation, the plot is more concise and concentrated, and the 30 minute performance duration is more consistent with the rhythm of modern audiences.
Traditional opera has a lot of beautiful routines. Flower drum opera, which grows in the folk, is especially good at drawing artistic nutrition from various labor scenes. The performance of "Forging Iron" naturally involves the action of forging iron, which is one of the highlights of the play. Especially when today's young audience has rarely seen the real scene of forging iron, it has special aesthetic significance. In the play, Mao Guojin and his wife strike iron in coordination, rise and fall orderly, and Xu's illness is restrained, which is very realistic. The action of Mao's wife pulling the bellows is also very characteristic, and various footwork are used alternately, just like dancing.
It is worth mentioning that "Beating the Iron" originated from Hengzhou Flower Drum Opera. Zhu Guibing, who plays the lead role, is also a Hengyang native and the successor of Hengzhou Flower Drum Opera. In order to give full play to Zhu Guibing's advantages and characteristics, the typesetting has more advantages of Hengzhou and Changsha Flower Drum Opera than the versions of provincial famous artists Ling Guokang and Li Xiaojia. The audience can hear Hengyang dialect and Changsha dialect intertwined. According to provincial flower, as the arrangement and adaptation of "old trees sprout new shoots", the play aims to train young performers and staff, and at the same time, it will allow the young generation to get full exercise on the stage and shine with youth.
[Editor in charge: h001]
