■Our reporter Wang Xiaoli
4.145 million!
"Mei Pai" Tsing Yi Shi Yihong recently held the first online Peking Opera holographic sound concert, and the number of online viewers was fixed at this considerable number.
In more than 100 minutes, Shi Yihong sang and talked, and brought classic arias from many masterpieces such as "Drunken Concubine", "Yutangchun" and "Feng Returning to the Nest".
Between singing, she also shared her experience of "learning plum" along the way, and popularized a number of Peking Opera instruments for the audience.
With the rise of live broadcast platforms and the rapid growth of the number of users, more and more opera performers have entered the live broadcast room, performed loudly on the other end of the small screen, and interacted with the audience.
Taking Douyin as an example, according to the recently released online live broadcast literature and art ecology report, in 2021, the platform’s traditional cultural live broadcasts will increase by more than 1 million year-on-year, and listening to operas and watching performances in the live broadcast room has become a new trend.
Among them, the data of classic Quyi is particularly eye-catching. The viewing time of live broadcasts has increased by 278% year-on-year, and the viewing time of non-heritage cultural live broadcasts has increased by 264% year-on-year.
"With the acceleration of globalization and urbanization, the sense of identity with national culture and local culture will be rapidly enhanced. People find their own identity by connecting with traditional arts such as local drama." Pan, Deputy Director of the Information and Communication Research Center of Fudan University Professor Ji said that the unique concept of inheritance of traditional art forms such as Peking Opera makes netizens more willing to obtain cultural experiences with historical precipitation.
With strength and feelings, high-quality live broadcast "drains" Peking Opera
"I originally expected about 200,000, and some friends around me said that it might reach 500,000. The current number is completely beyond my expectations." Shi Yihong was shocked when the live broadcast data of the first online Peking Opera holographic concert came out.
Before this performance, she also tried live broadcast, and it started broadcasting with a mobile phone and a lamp.
Shi Yihong admitted that he was a little nervous at first: "For stage actors, because they can't see the feedback from the audience, they feel uncomfortable." However, after seeing the supportive messages from audiences all over the country and even around the world, Shi Yihong was determined to do something to let the audience feel at ease. More fans can hear the good show.
But this time, be more refined.
For this holographic concert, Shi Yihong and her team have been preparing for several months.
The selection of arias, the programming of the program, and the selection of guests have all been carefully considered.
In the performance, Shi Yihong started with "Island Ice Wheel", followed by "Yutang Spring with Tears of Sadness", "Su San left Hongdong County", "Looking at the King", "Yang Yuhuan bowed deeply in front of the hall", "Rolling Cui Sleeves", and finally It ended with "The family is excited by the news of the news".
Immediate interactivity and high-intensity sense of participation are a major advantage of live performances.
When the popular aria sounded, the applause in the comment area immediately swiped.
Since there are no subtitles, fanciers who know the show, in order to facilitate the appreciation of new audiences, will follow Shi Yihong's singing and type out the lyrics sentence by sentence, which has become a unique landscape.
During the performance, Shi Yihong sang a paragraph and said a paragraph, and his mental journey of carefully figuring out the "Mei School" singing for many years has aroused the admiration of many netizens.
The way of singing while speaking seems to be easy, but it is not a small challenge for actors.
"Speaking is actually a lot of voice, and when I sing, I will soon switch to a small voice, but this way will be more down-to-earth, so we still insist on doing it, and want to see if everyone likes this effect and accepts it. Now It seems to be quite popular.”
In the message, viewers who are still in the mood suggested that Shi Yihong have a live broadcast once a month or even once a week.
Shi Yihong does not reject these possibilities, "but I still hope that every time I will bring you something different, it is carefully prepared, not rough."
Online and offline linkage, let the beauty of opera reach more people
What makes Shi Yihong gratified is that a considerable part of the audience who watched the live broadcast online this time had no or little exposure to opera before, and this result coincides with her original intention to promote Peking Opera.
During the live broadcast, she invited ten musicians from the Second Troupe of the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre, including drummers, pianists, Jingerhu, Yueqin, Sanxian, Daruan, Zhongruan, Xiaoluo, Daluo, and cymbals, to the stage one by one, and introduced each instrument in detail.
In addition, guest Chai Junwei also brought old Peking Opera records, and played Mei Lanfang's "Taizhen Gaiden: Listening to the Palace" on the spot, echoing Shi Yihong's learning experience of learning the master's recordings word by word.
The huge user base of the live broadcast platform has brought opera to a wider field.
In this upsurge, opera people have created a variety of "new ways of playing" to break the circle of opera.
For example, in the first half of this year, Peking Opera veteran actor Wang Peiyu, who has always had the courage to break boundaries, opened a new series of "Boss Yu accompanies you to watch operas".
"Wuben Ji", "Wen Tuhui", "Drumming and Cursing Cao"... At the top of the screen, Wang Peiyu's classic plays are playing, and on the small screen below, she is "explaining" for fans in real time: the difficulties and viewing of the drama Points, the origins of actors and works, and anecdotes in rehearsal, Wang Peiyu all talked about.
After watching a performance, the audience not only enjoyed the authentic old drama, but also gained a lot of "dry goods".
More and more professional troupes have also entered the venue, striving to maximize the charm and vitality of opera outside the stage.
"You're done, it's my job." A few days ago, "Liang Shanbo" Si Yulin and "Zhu Yingtai" Deng Huawei completed a "handover" before the official performance of the resident Yue Opera "Liang Zhu" at the Shanghai Yue Theater. The two, who wore heavy opera makeup, walked into the live broadcast room one after another, and talked about the history of Liang Zhu in Yue Opera to their personal experience in art.
An hour later, they were on stage, allowing fans who entered the theater to experience a seamless transition.
Backstage visits, pre-show interviews, popular science by famous artists... In Pan Ji's view, diverse live broadcast content is becoming an extension and supplement to the original performance, feeding back the popularity and prosperity of the industry.
"For most audiences who are interested in traditional culture but are new to this field, webcasting can accelerate the dissemination of relevant knowledge, thereby attracting more fans to the theater and further in-depth contact with traditional art."
The beauty of Chinese opera is taking advantage of the online platform to reach more people.