Recently, the newly created opera "Zhou Enlai" produced by Jiangsu Performing Arts Group under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee was successfully repeated at the Jiangsu Grand Theater.

This literary masterpiece dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China is the first operatic expression of Premier Zhou's image, and it is also a brand-new achievement of Jiangsu opera in recent years.

Superimposition of touching details

  "The biggest difficulty in creating the opera "Zhou Enlai" is that the prime minister has too many important deeds." The opera "Zhou Enlai" screenwriters Feng Baiming and Feng Bilie told reporters, "The opera itself is not suitable for expressing too complicated stories. Therefore, we decided to select Premier Zhou in the" The Xiangjiang Campaign, the Zunyi Conference, the Bandung Conference, and other important junctures in Chinese history, several historical scenes of'turning crises into opportunities' have used fragmentary shots to interpret the demeanor and demeanor of the prime ministers of major powers."

  The classic red theme, well-known characters, and familiar stories, Huang Zongquan, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music Research Center, believes that each of these three elements will increase the difficulty of creation, and the large number of details in the opera "Zhou Enlai" make the play full of artistic refinement. A sense of intimacy with life.

  Each detail creates the image of a prime minister who is meticulous, far-sighted, and determined.

"A lot of stage shots have deep meaning." Feng Bilie explained that during the creative process, the creative team made great efforts to study historical materials and went to the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall, Zhou Enlai's former residence in Huai'an City, and the memorial hall of Meiyuan New Village in Nanjing City several times to collect scenes. In search of the footprints of great men, the script alone has been revised more than ten times.

  What moved people's hearts was not only the image of the great and glorious prime minister, but also the feelings between Premier Zhou and his wife Deng Yingchao.

At the desk in the middle of the night, he was working at his desk under the lamp. She brought a bowl of millet porridge to ask for warmth. In the simple living room, he encouraged the scientists to overcome difficulties. She was busy and enthusiastic to the guests; on the sick bed, he couldn't do anything. Stopped, worried about the people of the old district in her heart, she was distressed but silently supported...At the end of the play, the prime minister bids farewell to Sister Deng in the blossoms of begonias, and drifts away. As stated, it is a metaphor for the farewell between Premier Zhou and Sister Deng in reality, and the great tension contained in this true feeling also pushes the atmosphere of the theater to its peak.

  "Prime Minister Zhou is a great man loved and very familiar to the people of the whole country. In more than two hours, the opera could not list and tell all the events, but it was able to fully mobilize language, music, and choreography to show Premier Zhou's devotion to home and country. , A gentle and romantic personality and an image of a gentle and considerate husband.” said Tang Jianping, a composer, professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, and composer of the opera "Zhou Enlai", “the so-called red is a manifestation of the shining points in human nature, and it is the greatness that mankind itself yearns for. Love. Premier Zhou’s red story itself has a unique artistic charm."

"Chinese flavor" melody on the international stage

  Tang Jianping devoted himself to composing the opera "Zhou Enlai".

"Overall, the opera music is based on lyrical rather than narrative, and conveys the Premier’s love for the motherland and the people through a warm and inherently tense melody." Tang Jianping said that every note must be touched by the Premier. The image is pushed to the audience vividly.

  "There are red classic melody in this work, as well as familiar folk tunes, which makes us feel very cordial." As the actor of the female scientist in the opera "Zhou Enlai", Xu Shanshan, deputy director of the Opera Troupe of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, said that the opera The tune of "Zhou Enlai" has an internal expression of Chinese flavor in the international expression of opera.

  In the play, the protagonist's arias almost run through the entire play.

In the same space, the melody is staggered, so that multiple passages in the opera "Zhou Enlai" can simultaneously depict tragic and warm, grand and detailed, and quickly show the contradictory changes in different time and space, showing the great life of Premier Zhou Enlai and driving The mood and emotion of the audience was ups and downs.

  "The dawn is slightly..." "The dawn is slightly..." Zhou Enlai's Wu Pan and Deng Yingchao's Zhang Jiayu continued to sing, with crystal tears shining in their eyes.

In the sonorous and melodious aria, there is a force that strikes people's hearts directly.

"Whether it is a rehearsal or a formal performance, I am full of piety." Wu Pan said.

  Respect and piety, this is the state of mind mentioned by several masters.

They devote themselves to their emotions, pursue the emotional supremacy in music, express the prime minister's true feelings with their true feelings, and impress the audience.

Explore the Chinese expression of opera

  Before the opera "Zhou Enlai", Jiangsu successively launched 4 original operas, "The River of Luck", "Zheng He", "Jianzhen Dongdu" and "Rabe's Diary", and promoted domestic and overseas tours.

Among them, "Rabe's Diary" was successfully performed at the Berlin State Opera in 2019, becoming the first Chinese original opera to appear on the stage of this ancient European opera.

  Opera has a history of more than 400 years. What path should the Chinese expression of opera take?

Jiangsu's exploration has given the answer to a certain extent.

Through composing five opera works in Jiangsu, Tang Jianping has accumulated a certain amount of creative experience.

"If you listen carefully to the "Beginning Heart" in the opera "Zhou Enlai", it is different from "Rabe's Diary" and "The River of Fortune". It is full of national melody and great country melody. The emotional resonance brought by this melody is shocking. Powerful." Tang Jianping introduced.

  "Chinese audiences can actually accept this form of'music + drama', especially the original Jiangsu opera "Rabe's Diary" was shortlisted for the 2018 International Opera Awards, which strengthened my confidence that Chinese opera can be loved by the audience." Zeng Yu Feng, who was the director of the Central Opera House and the conductor of the opera "Zhou Enlai", said.

  On the other hand, the Chinese language is completely different from the European language system. How to organically integrate the Chinese national culture with the western opera form?

How to create a Chinese opera?

As a niche art in China, where is the market for opera?

These are still problems that Chinese opera needs to solve urgently.

  "It is true that opera is still a niche art in China, and the cultivation of the Chinese opera market is not enough. The large investment in opera production and slow returns have also put a certain pressure on professional institutions. However, there is absolutely no shortage of top opera creation and production talents in China. "Zheng Zeyun, the producer of five original operas including the opera "Zhou Enlai" and the party secretary of the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, said, "We are working hard to build an opera creation platform with Jiangsu as the center, and use big data and other new media methods to gather more The creative power of the company continues to bring more high-quality Chinese operas to audiences at home and abroad."

  (Our reporter Liu Jican and Su Yan)