At the invitation of the Art Division of Ministry of Culture Suzhou
Ballad-singing (known in Chinese as "Suzhou Pingtan") Art Troupe
came again to stage in Beijing's Zhongshan Music Hall from Nov. 22
to 24 with some excerpts sung and told there.
This may be deemed as a sequel to that staged by the troupe in
1963, which once roused a great excitement in Beijing. According to
the schedule, another performance of a medium-length storytelling
(known as "Tanci" to the accompaniment of a three-stringed fiddle,
known as "Sanxian") will be on show for Beijing people on the
evening of the 24th of November.
This is the second time for Suzhou Pingtan to make its appearance
in front of Beijing people. Surely it will make those
ballad-singing fanciers to muse face-to-face on the sentiments the
performers offer them in Gusu local twang and lull in the melodious
rhythm of a lute.
Among those artists invited, there are four actors and actresses
known as the first-rate in China, such as Xing Yanzhi, Xing
Yanchun, Jin Lisheng and Zhao Huilan and other young performers
renowned far and near across the Straits are Zheng Xiaoyun, Yuan
Xiaoliang, Wang Jin etc.
What have been brought onto the stage by the artists are some
programs selected from the awarded ones at the contest of the Sixth
China Art Festival. They include medium-length Tanci entitled
Big-Feet Queen, Yang Naiwu, Wu Song, and some long Excerpts of
suchlike asKangxi, Huangtaiji, and To Date, a short excerpt of
contemporary times as well as Tanci prelude Beautiful Landscape of
Gusu etc.
The Suzhou Pingtan was originated from storytelling. Whatever it
is, important as a story of wars or insignificant as a grandma's
tale, the storyteller can always put them in the telling in a vivid
and lifelike way. Three to five minutes singing is just a prelude
of an evening party for drawing the attention of the audience.
Suzhou Pingtan is very popular in the Yangtze River Delta of
Suzhou, Zhejiang and Shanghai. To appreciate a storytelling in some
snack bars, costing only three to five yuan for a round of
ballad-singing has now become part of the daily life of the people
living in the area.
(People’s Daily 11/23/2000)