Women Generals of the Yangs is a Beijing Opera by Du Mingxin to a Chinese libretto, based on the Yangju Opera ''Commanding the troops at 100 years old''. First performance: China Peking Opera Company, 1960.
It is set during the Northern Song Dynasty at a time of war with the Western Xia. When the Song commander Yang Zongbao dies, his 100-year-old grandmother She Taijun and her grand daughter-in-law Mu Guiying rally the troops.
Composer Du Mingxin produced a symphonic version for the China Philharmonic Orchestra, consisting of an overture, three and an epilogue. This was the first symphonic work commissioned for the young CPO.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The White Haired Girl
The White-Haired Girl is a Chinese opera and ballet by Yan Jinxuan to a Chinese libretto. The first opera performance was in 1945. The first ballet performance was by Shanghai Dance Academy, Shanghai in 1965.
Along with ''Red Detachment of Women'', the ballet is regarded as one of the classics of revolutionary China, and its music is familiar to almost everyone who grew up during the 1960's. It is one of the Eight model plays.
It is the eve of the Chinese . The peasant girl, Xi'er, in the village, Yanggezhuang, Hebei Province, is waiting for her father to return home to celebrate the Spring Festival together. Her girl friends come to bring her paper cuttings to decorate the windows and a kilogram of wheat flour to make jiaozis.
Yang Bailao, Xi'er's father, has been away to avoid the debt collector from the despotic landlord, Huang Shiren. He returns home at dusk, with no gift other than a red ribbon to tie to the hair of Xi'er for the festivity of the holiday.
The landlord will not let them have a peaceful and happy Spring Festival, and the debt collector comes for the farm land rent which Yang has been unable to pay. They kill Yang Bailao, and take away Xi'er by force as his concubine.
At the home of the landlord, Xi'er is forced to work day and night as a slave and is exhausted. Zhang Ershen , an elderly maid of the landlord, is very sympathetic of Xi'er. Xi'er dozes off while trying to take a short break. The mother of the landlord comes on the scene and, with her hairpin, pokes Xi'er's face to wake her up. The landlord mother then orders Xi'er to prepare her a lotus seed soup. When the soup is served, the landlord mother, displeased with the taste, pours the still-boiling soup on Xi'er's face. Outraged by the pain and anger, Xi'er picks up the whip that the landlord uses to punish her and beat the landlord mother up. The landlord mother falls and crawls on the floor attempting to flee while Xi'er continues to whip her with her utmost strength. Xi'er gets her vengeance, but she is subsequently locked up by the landlord.
One day, the landlord leaves his overcoat in the living room and in the pocket of the overcoat is the key to Xi'er's cell. Zhang Ershen is determined to help Xi'er. She takes the key and opens the door for Xi'er, and she flees. Shortly, the landlord finds Xi'er missing, and sends his accomplice, Mu Renzhi, and other men to chase her. Xi'er comes to a river that stops her. She takes off a shoe and leaves it at the river side, and then hides in the bush. Mu Renzhi and his men find the shoe and assume that Xi'er has drowned herself in the river, and they report to the landlord as such.
Xi'er escapes to the mountains, and in the following years, she lives in a cave, gathers offerings for food from a nearby temple. She fights attacking wolves and other beasts. In time, her hair turns white.
On one stormy night, the landlord, Huang Shiren, and several of his other servants come to the temple to worship and provide offerings. Their trip is stopped by the thunderstorm. It just so happens that Xi'er is now in the temple too, and by the light of a flash of lightning, the landlord sees her -- with her long white hair and shabby clothes that have been weathered to nearly white. He thinks it is the reincarnation of a goddess who has come to punish him for his mistreatment of Xi'er and other despotisms. He was so frightened that he is literally paralyzed. Xi'er recognizes that it is her arch enemy and seizes the opportunity to take further revenge. She picks up the brass incense burner and hurls it against the landlord. The landlord and his gang flee.
Meanwhile, her fiancé, Wang Dachun, has joined the Eighth Route Army and fought the Japanese invaders. Now he returns with his army to overthrew the rule of the imperialist Japanese and the landlord. They distribute his farmland to the peasants. Zhang Ershen tells the story of Xi'er, and they decide to look for her in the mountains. Wang Dachun finally finds her in the cave with her hair turned white. They reunite and emote.
Unlike other ballets, the music of ''The White-Haired Girl'' is more like that of a musical, ''i.e.'', it blends a large number of vocal passages, both solos on the part of Xi'er and choruses into the music. Because of their mellifluous melodies, these songs became very popular. The following is a partial list of these songs:
*"Looking at the World"
*"The Blowing North Wind"
*"Tying the Red Ribbon"
*"Suddenly the Day Turns to Night"
*"Join the Eighth Route Army"
*"Longing for the Rising Red Sun in the East"
*"The Sun Is Out"
*"Dear Chairman Mao"
Along with ''Red Detachment of Women'', the ballet is regarded as one of the classics of revolutionary China, and its music is familiar to almost everyone who grew up during the 1960's. It is one of the Eight model plays.
Plot
It is the eve of the Chinese . The peasant girl, Xi'er, in the village, Yanggezhuang, Hebei Province, is waiting for her father to return home to celebrate the Spring Festival together. Her girl friends come to bring her paper cuttings to decorate the windows and a kilogram of wheat flour to make jiaozis.
Yang Bailao, Xi'er's father, has been away to avoid the debt collector from the despotic landlord, Huang Shiren. He returns home at dusk, with no gift other than a red ribbon to tie to the hair of Xi'er for the festivity of the holiday.
The landlord will not let them have a peaceful and happy Spring Festival, and the debt collector comes for the farm land rent which Yang has been unable to pay. They kill Yang Bailao, and take away Xi'er by force as his concubine.
At the home of the landlord, Xi'er is forced to work day and night as a slave and is exhausted. Zhang Ershen , an elderly maid of the landlord, is very sympathetic of Xi'er. Xi'er dozes off while trying to take a short break. The mother of the landlord comes on the scene and, with her hairpin, pokes Xi'er's face to wake her up. The landlord mother then orders Xi'er to prepare her a lotus seed soup. When the soup is served, the landlord mother, displeased with the taste, pours the still-boiling soup on Xi'er's face. Outraged by the pain and anger, Xi'er picks up the whip that the landlord uses to punish her and beat the landlord mother up. The landlord mother falls and crawls on the floor attempting to flee while Xi'er continues to whip her with her utmost strength. Xi'er gets her vengeance, but she is subsequently locked up by the landlord.
One day, the landlord leaves his overcoat in the living room and in the pocket of the overcoat is the key to Xi'er's cell. Zhang Ershen is determined to help Xi'er. She takes the key and opens the door for Xi'er, and she flees. Shortly, the landlord finds Xi'er missing, and sends his accomplice, Mu Renzhi, and other men to chase her. Xi'er comes to a river that stops her. She takes off a shoe and leaves it at the river side, and then hides in the bush. Mu Renzhi and his men find the shoe and assume that Xi'er has drowned herself in the river, and they report to the landlord as such.
Xi'er escapes to the mountains, and in the following years, she lives in a cave, gathers offerings for food from a nearby temple. She fights attacking wolves and other beasts. In time, her hair turns white.
On one stormy night, the landlord, Huang Shiren, and several of his other servants come to the temple to worship and provide offerings. Their trip is stopped by the thunderstorm. It just so happens that Xi'er is now in the temple too, and by the light of a flash of lightning, the landlord sees her -- with her long white hair and shabby clothes that have been weathered to nearly white. He thinks it is the reincarnation of a goddess who has come to punish him for his mistreatment of Xi'er and other despotisms. He was so frightened that he is literally paralyzed. Xi'er recognizes that it is her arch enemy and seizes the opportunity to take further revenge. She picks up the brass incense burner and hurls it against the landlord. The landlord and his gang flee.
Meanwhile, her fiancé, Wang Dachun, has joined the Eighth Route Army and fought the Japanese invaders. Now he returns with his army to overthrew the rule of the imperialist Japanese and the landlord. They distribute his farmland to the peasants. Zhang Ershen tells the story of Xi'er, and they decide to look for her in the mountains. Wang Dachun finally finds her in the cave with her hair turned white. They reunite and emote.
Music
Unlike other ballets, the music of ''The White-Haired Girl'' is more like that of a musical, ''i.e.'', it blends a large number of vocal passages, both solos on the part of Xi'er and choruses into the music. Because of their mellifluous melodies, these songs became very popular. The following is a partial list of these songs:
*"Looking at the World"
*"The Blowing North Wind"
*"Tying the Red Ribbon"
*"Suddenly the Day Turns to Night"
*"Join the Eighth Route Army"
*"Longing for the Rising Red Sun in the East"
*"The Sun Is Out"
*"Dear Chairman Mao"
The Silver River
The Silver River is a musical theatre piece in one act composed by Bright Sheng in 1997, with libretto by playwright David Henry Hwang.
''The Silver River'' combines Western opera, drama, and dance with Chinese opera and virtuosic solo playing of the pipa . The duration of the work is approximately 75 minutes. The story is based on a 4,000-year-old Chinese folktale about the creation of day and night. The Silver River is the Milky Way which bathed heaven and earth in constant light and connected both realms together allowing earthly and celestial creatures to meet. The Jade Emperor, Lord of Heaven, dreams of a choas that plunges heaven and earth into darkness. His nightmare comes true when the mortal Cowherd falls in love with the immortal Goddess-Weaver. When love preoccupies the Goddess-Weaver from her duty to spin the stars of heaven, the skies begin to darken. The Jade Emperor turns the Silver River into a barrier separating heaven and earth. The lover's grief is so great that chaos reigns until the Jade Emperor allows the lovers to meet each other once a year on the banks of the Silver River.
*African-American Actress
*Asian Male Singer
*Baritone
*Asian Female Dancer
*2 Dancers
*Baritone
*Flute, doubling piccolo and alto flute
*Clarinet, doubling bass clarinet and percussion
*Pipa
*Percussion
*Violin, doubling percussion
*Violoncello, doubling percussion
The flutist appears onstage as a male cowherd, the pipa player appears onstage as a goddess-weaver
''The Silver River'' combines Western opera, drama, and dance with Chinese opera and virtuosic solo playing of the pipa . The duration of the work is approximately 75 minutes. The story is based on a 4,000-year-old Chinese folktale about the creation of day and night. The Silver River is the Milky Way which bathed heaven and earth in constant light and connected both realms together allowing earthly and celestial creatures to meet. The Jade Emperor, Lord of Heaven, dreams of a choas that plunges heaven and earth into darkness. His nightmare comes true when the mortal Cowherd falls in love with the immortal Goddess-Weaver. When love preoccupies the Goddess-Weaver from her duty to spin the stars of heaven, the skies begin to darken. The Jade Emperor turns the Silver River into a barrier separating heaven and earth. The lover's grief is so great that chaos reigns until the Jade Emperor allows the lovers to meet each other once a year on the banks of the Silver River.
Soloists and orchestration
Soloists
*African-American Actress
*Asian Male Singer
*Baritone
*Asian Female Dancer
*2 Dancers
*Baritone
Orchestration
*Flute, doubling piccolo and alto flute
*Clarinet, doubling bass clarinet and percussion
*Pipa
*Percussion
*Violin, doubling percussion
*Violoncello, doubling percussion
The flutist appears onstage as a male cowherd, the pipa player appears onstage as a goddess-weaver
The Qing Ding Pearl
The Qing Ding Pearl is a Chinese play. It dates back to the Song Dynasty and is still performed in adapted forms in the Beijing Opera. The play tells the story of a fisherman, his daughter, and some Robin Hood-like bandits who combat a powerful baron and his corrupt officials.
The play is a ''xi-pi'' play .
The great twentieth century Chinese actor Mei Lanfang frequently performed the role of the fisherman's daughter to great acclaim.
The play is known by many other titles:
*The Lucky Pearl
*The Fisherman's Revenge
*A Fisherman Kills a Family
*Collecting the Fishing Tax
The play is a ''xi-pi'' play .
The great twentieth century Chinese actor Mei Lanfang frequently performed the role of the fisherman's daughter to great acclaim.
The play is known by many other titles:
*The Lucky Pearl
*The Fisherman's Revenge
*A Fisherman Kills a Family
*Collecting the Fishing Tax
The Peony Pavilion
The Peony Pavilion is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and first performed in 1598 at the Pavilion of Prince Teng. One of Tang's "Four Dreams", it has traditionally been performed as a Kunqu opera, but Chuan and Gan opera versions also exist. It is by far the most popular play of the Ming Dynasty, and is the primary showcase of the guimendan role type. All Kun theatre troupes include it in their repertoire. Recent adaptations have sought to inject new life into one of China's best-loved classical operas, though such efforts have met with opposition from the Kun opera traditionalists.
The performance tradition has focused on the love story between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei , though in its original text , it has strong elements of dramatic warfare .
Du Liniang is the daughter of an important official. Her maid encourages her to abandon her dull studies and take a walk in the garden, where she falls asleep. She dreams of her lover Liu Mengmei, whom in real life she has never met, before being awoken by falling petals. Unable to recover the enchantment of her dream, she wastes away and dies.
In hell, the underworld judge determines that her marriage with Liu Mengmei is predestined, and that she cannot be retained. Instead, she is sent to haunt him, who now inhabits the garden where they had their dream. Recognising the girl he met in his dreams, he agrees to her. Du Liniang asks him to go to tell her father the news of her resurrection, but he treats Liu Mengmei as a grave robber and impostor. In the end, Liu Mengmei is only saved from death by torture by the announcement of the results of the . He has topped the list; the pardons all.
This is necessarily a very brief description of the plot of an opera which typically runs for 20 hours.
Conventional in some ways, particularly the deus ex machina ending, ''The Peony Pavilion'' is distinguished by its beautiful and largely untranslatable poetry. "Travelling in the Garden" , "The Dream Interrupted" and "Searching for the Dream" are considered masterpieces of music and craft.
Mei Lanfang was famous for his sensitive portrayal of Du Liniang. The most famous actress of recent years is likely Zhang Jiqing's traditional approach out of Nanjing's Jiangsu Province Kun Opera. In Shanghai, Jennifer Hua Wenyi was very popular in the role, and has played the role abroad several times. Chen Shizheng's 20 hour version, with Qian Yi as Du Liniang, was perhaps the first full length staging in 300 years and spurred a renewed interest in the full opera beyond a few celebrated episodes.
Bai Xianyong / Hsien-yung Pai has used ''The Peony Pavilion'' as inspiration for a short story and a television script, besides also producing and co-adapting a "Young Lovers" version out of Suzhou, which toured China and Taiwan. The production made its US premiere, the first performance outside of Asia, at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, Sept 15-17, 2006.
Recently in 1998, ''The Peony Pavilion'' was made into opera by Tan Dun, and directed by both Peter Sellars and Chen Shizheng. It played primarily abroad, often winning critical success but offending Chinese traditionalists.
In 2001, a Hong Kong movie known as ''Yóuyuán Jīngmèng'' , starring Rie Miyazawa and Joey Wong , was called ''Peony Pavilion'' in English. Though only indirectly related in terms of plot, it used the music extensively.
A Taiwanese movie ''Wǒ de měilì yǔ āichōu'' 我的美麗與哀愁 directed by Chen Guofu, with cinematography by Christopher Doyle and starring Luo Ruoying shared the same English title.
In June 2008 the Suzhou Kunqu Opera company performed ''The Peony Pavilion'' at , London, the UK premiere. It was presented in 3 parts on consecutive evenings, each lasting 3 hours, though still much shorter than the original 20 hours.
In 2007 Lisa See's novel ''Peony in Love'' was published by Random House. The story's protagonist, Peony, falls in love with a young stranger, and her life loosely parallels that of Liniang's.
Story
The performance tradition has focused on the love story between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei , though in its original text , it has strong elements of dramatic warfare .
Du Liniang is the daughter of an important official. Her maid encourages her to abandon her dull studies and take a walk in the garden, where she falls asleep. She dreams of her lover Liu Mengmei, whom in real life she has never met, before being awoken by falling petals. Unable to recover the enchantment of her dream, she wastes away and dies.
In hell, the underworld judge determines that her marriage with Liu Mengmei is predestined, and that she cannot be retained. Instead, she is sent to haunt him, who now inhabits the garden where they had their dream. Recognising the girl he met in his dreams, he agrees to her. Du Liniang asks him to go to tell her father the news of her resurrection, but he treats Liu Mengmei as a grave robber and impostor. In the end, Liu Mengmei is only saved from death by torture by the announcement of the results of the . He has topped the list; the pardons all.
This is necessarily a very brief description of the plot of an opera which typically runs for 20 hours.
Analysis
Conventional in some ways, particularly the deus ex machina ending, ''The Peony Pavilion'' is distinguished by its beautiful and largely untranslatable poetry. "Travelling in the Garden" , "The Dream Interrupted" and "Searching for the Dream" are considered masterpieces of music and craft.
Famous performances
Mei Lanfang was famous for his sensitive portrayal of Du Liniang. The most famous actress of recent years is likely Zhang Jiqing's traditional approach out of Nanjing's Jiangsu Province Kun Opera. In Shanghai, Jennifer Hua Wenyi was very popular in the role, and has played the role abroad several times. Chen Shizheng's 20 hour version, with Qian Yi as Du Liniang, was perhaps the first full length staging in 300 years and spurred a renewed interest in the full opera beyond a few celebrated episodes.
Adaptations
Bai Xianyong / Hsien-yung Pai has used ''The Peony Pavilion'' as inspiration for a short story and a television script, besides also producing and co-adapting a "Young Lovers" version out of Suzhou, which toured China and Taiwan. The production made its US premiere, the first performance outside of Asia, at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, Sept 15-17, 2006.
Recently in 1998, ''The Peony Pavilion'' was made into opera by Tan Dun, and directed by both Peter Sellars and Chen Shizheng. It played primarily abroad, often winning critical success but offending Chinese traditionalists.
In 2001, a Hong Kong movie known as ''Yóuyuán Jīngmèng'' , starring Rie Miyazawa and Joey Wong , was called ''Peony Pavilion'' in English. Though only indirectly related in terms of plot, it used the music extensively.
A Taiwanese movie ''Wǒ de měilì yǔ āichōu'' 我的美麗與哀愁 directed by Chen Guofu, with cinematography by Christopher Doyle and starring Luo Ruoying shared the same English title.
In June 2008 the Suzhou Kunqu Opera company performed ''The Peony Pavilion'' at , London, the UK premiere. It was presented in 3 parts on consecutive evenings, each lasting 3 hours, though still much shorter than the original 20 hours.
In 2007 Lisa See's novel ''Peony in Love'' was published by Random House. The story's protagonist, Peony, falls in love with a young stranger, and her life loosely parallels that of Liniang's.
Citations
The Injustice to Dou E
The Injustice to Dou E is a drama by Guan Hanqing during the Yuan Dynasty. This is one of Guan's most popular works, even in modern times.
The story describes the young widow Dou E from Chouzhou whose husband Cai died two years after marrying. Dou was wrongfully accused by Zhang Lür of the murder of his father, when Dou E refused to marry Zhang Lür. Before her , Dou E swore that her innocence would be proven by the upcoming abnormalities:
# dripping blood that never drops on the ground,
# snow in the midst of summer, and
# a three-year long drought in Chouzhou
And all those, including the eerie "Snow in June" did occur. After the ghost of Dou E revealed the injustice to her father - Dou Tianzhang , who eventually became a ''liangjunliefangshi'' inspector - Inspector Dou put the corrupt officials and Zhang Lür to justice at the end of the story.
The story has been repeatedly used and modified by later dramatists.
''See also'': Capital punishment
The story describes the young widow Dou E from Chouzhou whose husband Cai died two years after marrying. Dou was wrongfully accused by Zhang Lür of the murder of his father, when Dou E refused to marry Zhang Lür. Before her , Dou E swore that her innocence would be proven by the upcoming abnormalities:
# dripping blood that never drops on the ground,
# snow in the midst of summer, and
# a three-year long drought in Chouzhou
And all those, including the eerie "Snow in June" did occur. After the ghost of Dou E revealed the injustice to her father - Dou Tianzhang , who eventually became a ''liangjunliefangshi'' inspector - Inspector Dou put the corrupt officials and Zhang Lür to justice at the end of the story.
The story has been repeatedly used and modified by later dramatists.
''See also'': Capital punishment
Princess Chang Ping
The story of Princess Chang Ping is a legend about a princess and her lover at the end of the Ming Dynasty. It has been made into a Cantonese Opera by Tang Ti-sheng, a very prolific Cantonese opera adaptor of the early to mid-1900s. The premiere was featured in the Lee Theatre on 7 June, 1957 and the opera has achieved amazing box office results since then.
The popularity of the show was attributed partly to the fact that it featured the eminent Cantonese Opera stars Yam Kim Fai and Bak Sheut Sin of the 1950s.
A film version of the opera was released in 1975, directed by John Woo and starred Long Jin-seng and Mei Xue-si, disciples of Yam Kim Fai and Bak Sheut Sin.
There was a series about this story made by ATV in 1979 titled Princess Cheung Ping starred Damian Lau, Michelle Yim and David Chiang.
The popularity of the show was attributed partly to the fact that it featured the eminent Cantonese Opera stars Yam Kim Fai and Bak Sheut Sin of the 1950s.
A film version of the opera was released in 1975, directed by John Woo and starred Long Jin-seng and Mei Xue-si, disciples of Yam Kim Fai and Bak Sheut Sin.
There was a series about this story made by ATV in 1979 titled Princess Cheung Ping starred Damian Lau, Michelle Yim and David Chiang.
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