Chinanews.com, Beijing, March 7 (Reporter Ying Ni) "I don't know where it started, but it goes deep." As the "New Era Excellent Stage Art Repertoire Exhibition" sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe reprises its repertoire. The 55-volume "Peony Pavilion", the pinnacle of Kunqu opera released by Pound, will be staged at the Central Opera House from March 8th to 10th in the volume of three consecutive major plays, presenting the essence of Tang Weng's original work and restoring it. Kunqu Opera has a romantic and elegant rhyme.

　　The top team devoted themselves to creating the complete "The Peony Pavilion"

　　Shangkun specially invited the famous drama director Guo Xiaonan to act as the director of the play, and personally participated in the script reduction work of the whole script based on the script reduction of the late famous playwright Wang Renjie. At the same time, Yue Meiti, Cai Zhengren and Zhang Jingxian were invited , Ji Zhenhua, Liu Yilong, Zhang Mingrong, and Li Xiaoping are the inheritance guides of famous Kunqu opera artists. The late famous composer Xin Qinghua, the famous composer Zhou Xuehua, the late national first-class composer Li Liang are in charge of vocal music design, and the national first-class stage design designer Huang Haiwei is in charge. Stage design.

　　Gu Haohao, the producer of the play and the head of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, said frankly that the interpretation of the full version of "The Peony Pavilion" is a huge artistic project, which embodies the dedication and love of generations of people in Shanghai to the cause of Kunqu Opera.

Since the founding of the Shanghai Kunming Troupe for 45 years, there have been more than ten revisions, improvements and interpretations of "The Peony Pavilion", and it enjoys a high reputation on the theater stage at home and abroad.

The purpose of this whole edition is to be loyal to the spirit of the original, absorbing contemporary art elements, integrating classical connotations and modern aesthetic concepts, and realizing the contemporary succession and development of traditional classics. It is a transcendent return and creation.

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

　　A strong lineup of "Five Classes and Three Generations" from Shangkun participated in the performance. Among them, "Du Liniang" and "Liu Mengmei" were selected by Luo Chenxue and Hu Weilu from "Kunming Class 4" to complete the "Quanben", and "Kunming Class 3" plum blossom award winner Wu Shuang plays the judge and Wan Yanliang respectively in the play.

　　It is particularly worth mentioning that "Liu Mengmei" in the 55 episodes of the whole book is played by the young girl Hu Weilu.

In fact, Shangkun has the inheritance of female students, and Hu Weilu is the student of Yue Meiti, who has the reputation of "the first female student in Kunqu Opera".

Both the troupe and the director hope to continue the aesthetic tradition of "female niche" in Kunqu Opera, and not abort it.

　　Although Hu Weilu has acted in "Liu Mengmei" many times, they are usually excerpts such as "Picking Up Paintings" and "Startling Dreams", which focus on life.

In this interpretation of the whole version, apart from Jinsheng, Liu Mengmei in the next version is an official student. Unlike Jinsheng, who mainly uses false voices, official students mostly use real voices, with high pitched high notes and deep bass.

Therefore, Cai Zhengren, a master of Kunqu Opera, specially explained the details of the play to Hu Weilu, and urged her to learn "Belling the Bell" to get out of the comfort zone of acting, which benefited her a lot.

　　Exploring the source of Kunqu opera classics presents the essence of the original works

　　The whole version of "The Peony Pavilion" presents the life-and-death love of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei in a broader social background, making the whole play, especially the middle and second versions, full of love, connection and collision between ideals and society, and enhancing the social significance of the work and practical significance.

In the twists and turns of the main line of love, social reality and the background of the times become the sub-line that runs through the whole play, which vividly demonstrates the humanistic and artistic value contained in "The Peony Pavilion".

In addition, taking advantage of Shanghai Kunming's complete line of business and its advantages in both civil and military skills, it has well performed and shaped a number of supporting roles in the play, adding color and interest to the elegant Shengdan play.

　　Director Guo Xiaonan adheres to the creative concept of "seeing the new in the old, and rooting in the new", combining the essence of Kunqu Opera with modern aesthetics, and fusing the traditional opera's body formulas, science and martial arts and other expressive methods into one furnace, creating an unreal, hazy, poetic and beautiful The unique stage atmosphere, elegant, dignified, beautiful and bright performance temperament reproduce the oriental fantasy "love myth".

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

　　In his opinion, "The Peony Pavilion" is by no means just a love affair between a gifted scholar and a beautiful woman, but a grand masterpiece with rigorous and weird plots and twists and turns.

It profoundly and unimaginably covers many aspects of the Song and Ming dynasties in terms of ideology, religion, culture, history, folklore and society, and is appropriately interrelated and embedded in the overall framework of the drama structure.

The dramatic conflicts in the works are specifically manifested as the conflict between reason and emotion, reality and fantasy, confinement and freedom, ethics and human nature, life and death, yin and yang, man and ghost, patriarchal clan and secularism, resurrection and orthodoxy. , imperial power and popular support.

"In the past, "The Peony Pavilion" was often performed until Du Liniang came back to life, and the two became a husband and wife and ended successfully. The meaning of the next performance is related to the ultimate care of each character. In the seemingly happy ending, it releases love, freedom , desire, and the huge shock wave of the light of human nature. The criticism of the theory of obliterating nature and enlightenment and the admiration of "supreme love" have achieved extremely profound expressions and interpretations."

　　"Continuing to find the essence of the content of the work is an important cultural mission of our generation. It is not biased, simplified, or lost in the context of the original work, and the precious value system in the work is preserved and explored." Guo Xiaonan said.

　　It is reported that after the 55-episode "The Peony Pavilion" completes its domestic tour, it will also set off to perform overseas.

(over)

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe

The 55 stills of "The Peony Pavilion" courtesy of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe