Another form of Chinese local opera has adopted a symphonic orchestra of classical Western instruments, following in the steps of Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Shaoxing Yueju Opera and Huangmei Opera.
A dozen of the most renowned performers of Cantonese Yueju Opera will give a "symphonic Cantonese Yueju Opera concert" with the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chorus of the Chinese Broadcasting Arts Company at the Poly Theater in Beijing this Saturday evening.
Open-minded opera
For the Yueju Opera performers from South China's Guangdong Province, there should be no problem in cooperating and experimenting with a Western-style symphonic orchestra. They believe Cantonese Yueju Opera is an all-embracing operatic form in traditional Chinese theater.
But local Yueju Opera fans in Guangzhou and professionals from music and traditional Chinese opera circles who have already seen the concert in Guangzhou have expressed different opinions over the experimental concert.
Cantonese Yueju Opera is a major opera genre in South China. It is prevalent in Guangdong Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas Chinese communities.
Originating in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Cantonese Yueju Opera has developed by drawing from a variety of art forms over the centuries.
It first borrowed from two major opera styles popular along the Yangtze River, combining those with Cantonese folk songs and tunes. One style was Nanxi Opera from Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province. The other is Kunqu Opera, a very soft and elegant form that originated in Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, also in East China.
It was not until the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that Cantonese Yueju Opera became an independent genre and that the performers started to sing in the Cantonese dialect.
With the change in dialect, the rhythm of the speech had to change, since Cantonese has nine tones while standard Chinese has four. But the local dialect pleased local audiences and the opera became more and more popular.
Peng Shouhui, a critic of Cantonese Yueju Opera, said: "Cantonese Yueju Opera is the most open-minded compared with other local operas."
This open-mindedness was born as the infant Cantonese Yueju Opera began drawing inspiration from several kinds of operatic styles, an assimilation that continues till today.
In the first half of the 20th century, Cantonese Yueju Opera could not resist the temptation of commercialism so that some foreign films and plays were adapted for the opera and some performers began to wear modern costumes, including even small light bulbs as an adornment.
Yang Miaoqing, vice-director of the Publicity Department of Guangzhou Party Committee, said: "It was partly because Canton (Guangdong) was one of the earliest provinces to have contact and trade with Western countries. Cantonese opera has always been a melting pot for Eastern and Western cultures."
The use of instruments in Cantonese Yueju Opera also exemplifies this.
Originally, Cantonese Yueju Opera was accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments such as the gaohu, a two-stringed fiddle that produces a high pitch; the pipa, a four-stringed Chinese lute; the dizi, a transverse bamboo flute; the Chinese dulcimer; and percussion instruments such as cymbals, gongs, clappers and bells.
In the 1930s, composers and accompanists of Cantonese Yueju opera started to introduce the Western violin into traditional opera.
Westernization peaked in the mid-1950s as the saxophone, the slide guitar and the xylophone joined in the accompaniment one after another.
Gradually, more Western instruments - such as the cello, double bass and even Latin American percussion instruments like the congas - were used to accompany the opera according to the needs and tastes of the composers and accompanists.
Yet these bands usually remained small in size, with 10 musicians at most.
It is only very recently that the troupes of accompanists begin to grow in size. Each troupe now has 20 to 30 members. Some grand performances have used a full Chinese orchestra with over 100 members.
Yang said: "But now, it seems we have lagged behind as other operas such as Peking Opera, Shaoxing Yueju Opera and Huangmei Opera have taken lead in using Western symphony orchestras to attract modern audiences and to meet the tastes of young people."
Daring experiment
As all the local operas are being directly challenged by films, television, computer games, performances in bars and other kinds of entertainment these days, many local opera troupes consider the solution to lie in rearranging the opera to the accompaniment of a Western symphony orchestra.
In this sense, the organizers and sponsors of the "symphonic Cantonese Yueju Opera concert" wish to promote the opera's reform and revival through this kind of experimental concert.
They believe the new style can fully display the quintessence of Cantonese Yueju Opera as well as satisfy the tastes of today's young audiences.
The concert will feature the singers' most representative and popular arias, which have been rearranged and orchestrated by some veteran Chinese composers.
Hong Xiannu (real name Kuang Jianlian), 78, the most renowned Cantonese Yueju Opera actress who started acting in films in the early 1940s, will sing "Zhaojun Crossing the Frontier" at the concert.
It is a historical story describing how Wang Zhaojun - a court lady of Emperor Yuandi during the Western Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 24) - volunteered to marry a chieftain of the Huns in order to ensure border peace.
The play depicts what she saw and felt on the journey to join the Huns, a nomadic tribe roaming the grasslands north of the Great Wall.
It is hard to tell how many times Hong has sung the role. Whenever she performs, her amazingly expressive eyes and face and her excellent singing, dancing and acting vividly express Wang's inner feelings and always move audiences to tears.
Yet, it is a real challenge for her to sing the arias to the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra.
However, believing in the dictum "no new tunes, no attraction," Hong is always willing to try new things. "Development results from innovation," she said.
She once tried to give a recital to the accompaniment of a piano. She also adapted film and modern opera for her play "Sister Xianglin." The original work "Xianglin Sao" is a famous short story by the great Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936).
"I would like to sing in any new style as long as the style can promote Cantonese Yueju Opera," Hong said.
Composer Mo Fan has rearranged "Seeing off Jing Ke at the Bank of the Yishui River" and "Meeting at Taihu Lake in a Dream" for the concert.
Mo, a graduate of the China Conservatory of Music, said: "Cantonese Yueju Opera was totally a new project for me when I agreed to orchestrate the two pieces in October 2000.
"As I studied it, I found its tunes are so complicated, varied and charming that I was not confident of doing my job well.
"During the year, I communicated with many Cantonese Yueju Opera artists, composers and accompanists to improve my work. It seems what I have learned is not only the music but the rich local culture of South China," he added.
"Seeing Off Jing Ke at the Bank of the Yishui River" tells a story about the Warring States Period (BC 475- BC 221). Dan, the crown prince of Yan state sent the famous assassin Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng, Duke of Qin state and later the founder of China's first feudal dynasty, the Qin Dynasty (BC 221-BC 207).
Mo's music mainly strengthens the tragic, stirring and heroic atmosphere when Dan sees off Jing and both of them know clearly what dangers lay ahead.
The composer has also added a female chorus to the scene. "The powerful but tragic chorus also sets off Dan's contradictory mood and Jing's boldness," he explained.
After watching the concert in Guangzhou two months ago, Chen Ziqiang - a composer and librettist of Cantonese Yueju Opera - said: "I have not been stirred so deeply by that piece until tonight, though it has been sung countless times since it was composed more than 20 years ago." Chen thought it was the best piece in the concert.
"Meeting at Taihu Lake in a Dream" is a soft and emotional piece. A love story, it portrays the unexpected and sweet meeting of two lovers in a dream.
For this piece, Mo has paid more attention to expressing the feelings and depicting the picturesque environment.
The concert will also feature some rearranged Cantonese folk songs that are known to every Cantonese person.
Controversial reviews
Before the Beijing concert, a similar performance was given in Guangzhou's Friendship Theater with the accompany of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Yet the concert incited controversial reviews from critics and audiences.
Some old fans who grew up with the traditional style and traditional instruments said the symphonic concert lost the original flavor of Cantonese Yueju Opera.
Quite a number of audience members enjoyed the concert heartily. Some said they had not heard the arias in theaters or on the radio for a long time, so the concert made them feel refreshed and they were amazed at how modern Cantonese Yueju Opera has developed.
Insiders also gave controversial comments.
Hu Bingxu, conductor of the two concerts, said: "No matter what styles and instruments we use, we try to attract and move the audiences. If the audiences like it, it is a good opera."
Hu is experienced at rearranging and orchestrating traditional Chinese opera. He worked on the modern Peking Operas during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).
Hu pointed out: "A grand symphony and powerful chorus do help to strength the atmosphere and express the characters' inner feelings."
Others, though generally accepting the reform, have been more critical. Playwright Cai Yanfen said: "Sometimes the symphony undermines the artists' singing. Fans who want to listen to the artists' lingering tunes cannot get satisfaction from the bustling accompaniment."
Critic He Jiezhang said: "The tunes of Cantonese Yueju Opera are varied and not all of them fit the symphony well."
As for the artists themselves, although they are all willing to blaze new trails, they have to face some problems.
Qiong Xia, a pupil of Hong Xiannu, said: "Pressed by rehearsal time, it is hard to sing to the symphonic accompaniment perfectly because, in the traditional style, the accompaniment follows me but now I have to pay more attention to match the accompaniment."
Liang Yao'an - who sings in "Seeing off Jing Ke at the Bank of the Yishui River" - said: "Cantonese Yueju Opera and Cantonese folk songs are folk art. To some degree, they are entertainment forms for the local community while the large classical symphony orchestra might fit the grand performances better. The style is difficult to popularize."
There is no final say on whether Western symphony rearrangements constitute the best or only way to revive Chinese local operas. However, they do result in new ideas and experimentation.
According to Yang Miaoqing, local young people have had lively discussions on the Internet about the concert.
"It doesn't matter whether they say yes or no. Anyway, it proves that young people have been attracted to traditional opera," Yang said.
(China Daily March 28, 2002)
