Do you like opera? I think that the answer will not always be positive, but in the Middle Kingdom opera is very popular today.
And all thanks to the occasion when musical groups from various provinces of China came to Beijing to celebrate the emperor, who was a great admirer of all kinds of theatrical performances. The game of one of such troupes with a peculiar national style, combining opera bells, and elements of banji, was pleasant to the emperor, and he decided to develop similar musical performances throughout the country.
scene from the Peking opera
Subsequently, the actors of the troupe began to combine in their productions and various techniques of other styles, adapt and improve them. Such an unceasing process of synthesis led to the emergence of a unique and completely new form, called jing-chu , which means "the capital's theater" (better known to us as Peking opera).
Although in the Middle Kingdom there are more than 360 different styles of this art, but it is the Beijing Opera that is considered the most popular among the Chinese. It combines both drama, and musical, acrobatics and choreography, cycles of national martial arts, and a unique timbral language coloring of artists. In such opera performances there are always a lot of pantomime and massive battle actions.
However, to understand the opera, maybe, alas, not everyone, you need to learn to understand in many respects, to peer into the details, listen and observe. The knowledge of the Chinese language can not always be helpful, since all kinds of dialects and dialects are used in singing. Yes, and opera in the Middle Kingdom is radically different from the calm and refined European theatrical performance.
In the Beijing opera you need to know the meaning of the movements of the actors. So, even the entrance or exit of artists from the house, down the stairs, climbing the hill - are represented by certain gestures and movements. Each performer knows how important such figures are, pa, gestures in the staging of the plot of a particular action. But it is not at all easy to play a role and at the same time watch the facial expressions, the turn of the head, the body movements of all colleagues on the stage.
a photo
Actors who play the opera are real acrobats, they have to sing and dance and jump and sometimes take off, improvise, walk hunched and squatting, do a lot of unusual extravagant stunts to interest the audience, show them all their skills, plasticity, gestures, impressive and memorable grimaces.
The faces of all the characters are painted in different shades of color. So, here are created a variety of characters and roles for many folk heroes and historical personalities. The main role is only 4: it's sheng, tribute , hua (painted face) and chow (jester). Most often these are kind and harmless comic characters, less often cunning and cunning villains, who, after all, are punished on merit.
For example, the role of the tribute is performed only by female characters (here include the Qingyi - quiet, humble ladies, and huadan - brave and courageous girls.) Older ladies - Laodan in performances are less likely to perform complex acrobatic stunts, they only sing loudly)) But the main characters are always called - remove .
By the color of a decorated face, the viewer easily determines the character of a character. A noble and positive hero face painted in red, a warrior - in yellow, a rogue or a slacker - in white. But the green color - symbolizes quick-tempered, but, while golden is used only for makeup of gods and all kinds of mythical spirits.
Well-known opera actor Mei Lanfang played various characters. He returned popularity to women's roles, and many theater critics believe that it was he who influenced the mass development of this art form in modern China.
Mei Lanfang
And even when the Mao government banned performances, Lanfan managed to convince the inflexible elders that the Beijing opera was vital for the development of the Chinese people. Thanks to him, the traditions of opera art have not been forgotten in our days. And today in the Middle Kingdom continue to joke while talking, you want to marry successfully, look for a wife like May))
For an inexperienced viewer it is very difficult to understand the Chinese opera, it is radically different from the European one. You will see not only the actors' play, but also hear the harsh screams of vocalists, piercing unusual sounds for European listeners, sometimes the bellicose rhythms of drums or gongs are suddenly heard, which are replaced by smooth and melodic strains of stringed instruments called jingerhu .
Listen to their sound, the video is taken from the CGTN channel on YouTube.
However, in the Chinese opera the main thing is symbolism. Actors in theatrical performances are revealed not in actions, but in color design of images, makeup, costumes, used acrobatic numbers and intriguing movements. All these elements in the complex create a unique and memorable dramatic drama.
Also interesting are the plots of operas: these are stories about women-generals, a heavenly fantastic palace in which a certain Monkey King eats peaches of the immortality of the fairy god and many others. Watching them, the viewer is constantly in suspense, which at times both intrigues and pleases. The traditional operatic repertoire for today already contains about 1300 stories, in which we are introduced to the centuries-old history and culture of the country.
Look what actors have original scenic costumes, and it's not so easy to learn them easily and smoothly. This will take time and patience, an irresistible desire, and, of course, skill.
the performance of the theater of the Sizhou Opera on tour
But just a hundred years ago there were no directors in the opera, the actors decided what to play and how to sing. Their singing had its own original melodic, original, and in many ways inimitable style, which was difficult to confuse with any other kind of art: in these sounds there was expression, tenderness, inexpressible emotionality.
artists
In the opera, music is very peculiar, some artists start learning to play Chinese musical instruments from 3-4 years old. Yes, and many instruments are rather difficult to master, and the canons in opera art are very strict, go back to Confucianism.
Opera art in China is a whole world of images, colors, incredible bright costumes, gestures, fantastic and unusual scenography, inimitable mimicry, acrobatics. It is worth hearing the singing, and you can even forget where you are)) This is so unusual and strange.
The video was taken from MKAD-28 on YouTube:
Opera in China is often called a river, but it is not everyone who can enter this river. Not everyone can surrender to this art entirely: singing and playing a role, masterfully possessing facial expressions, diction, acrobatics, being flexible and plastic, beautifully moving and improvising. Nowadays, most Chinese professional opera singers, like many years ago, are called "pupils of the Pear Garden" , on behalf of the first known troupe in China.
The Peking Opera helps people develop both spiritually and physically. Today, kids from kindergarten learn this kind of art. In China, love for opera is taught to children from early childhood, from the age of 5 children are sent to special schools and they really like it.
However, in addition to the Beijing Opera, many local operas are being reformed based on the preservation of the traditional style. In recent years, the most popular are Shaoxing, Kunshan (many theatergoers consider it "the mother of Chinese musical drama"), Henan and Guangdong Opera, yes, and the famous Tibetan theater is loved not only in China, but also beyond.
This video shows many features and characteristics of the Beijing Opera in comparison with European productions. The video was taken on the RTD channel on YouTube:
Today, Chinese schools even teach a subject called "Beijing Opera". The government of the country decided to spread national traditions and art. In the Middle Kingdom there are already more than 300 such schools, and the Peking Opera is included in the list of cultural heritage of UNESCO.
I am glad that interest in this kind of art is constantly rising, but what seems strange and unacceptable for us, for the Chinese - the top of perfection and grace ...
WOW! Really?