Wednesday 28 May 2008
Sichuan Opera
While in Chengdu we hope it will still be possible to go to see the famous Sichuan Opera. We have already booked tickets for this and are keeping our 'fingers crossed' that all will be well on 19 July when we are scheduled to see a performance. As a renowned local opera mainly prevailing in Southwestern China's Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, Sichuan Opera is characterized by unique solos, refined acting, rich percussion, and talented comedians, whose skills are unparalleled in the world. The opera's application to be enlisted as an Intangible World Heritage is currently pending.Sichuan Opera features vivid, humourous narration, singing, and acrobatics. It also boasts a system of stylized movements and its acting is both exquisite and lively. Sichuan Opera performances are always full of wit, humour, lively dialogues, and pronounced local flavours. To portray special characters, the opera incorporates a series of stunts, including the famous "face-changing." In Chinese opera, facial make-up is usually painted, but in Sichuan Opera, the performer can change his or her facial make-up in the snap of a finger right on stage.
Most Sichuan Opera repertoires are adapted from the Chinese classical novels, mythologies, legends, and folk tales. Statistics show that the total number of Sichuan Opera plays exceeds 2,000. Sichuan Opera is noted for its high-pitched tunes, accompanied only by percussion instruments and choruses, without wind or stringed instruments. In addition, this spectacular theatrical presentation features bright sets and costumes, plus a combination of music, dance, and acrobatics. Among China's current 300 local theatre traditions, Sichuan Opera has thrived and developed throughout ages as a distinct regional art form.
Its special characteristic -- one that distinguishes Sichuan Opera from other theatrical traditions -- is its immense vitality and dynamic performances that always strive to bring out an individual's artistic abilities into play to ensure fresh material, variety, and creativity. In part due to its intimate connection to a lively treasury of folk songs, Sichuan Opera reveals an extraordinary flexibility and vitality of expression in its music and movements.
The development of Sichuan Opera is intrinsically linked to the natural conditions in Sichuan. The principal agricultural products cultivated in Sichuan's extraordinarily fertile soil include rice, tea, and mulberry trees, whose leaves are used in the traditional industry of raising silkworms. Rustic songs originally sung by boatmen and tea-plantation and rice-paddy workers developed into famous local folk songs, which, in a sense, can be regarded as the precursors of the province's great operatic tradition.
One of the most fascinating, artistic charms of Sichuan Opera is "face-changing," which is achieved by quickly tearing off, rubbing, or blowing away a mask to reveal another. The performer prepares many special masks in advance made of gauze and elastic materials, such as sheep embryo membranes and rubber. After the masks are painted with different designs and assembled with a special transparent thread, they are pasted onto the performer's face.
The special masks for "changing faces" must be made to fit the performer's face to ensure that they are pasted as close as possible to the skin. Previously, the masks were discarded after a performance, but today they can be recycled with some minor repairs.
The music of Sichuan Opera
Musically, Sichuan Opera combines five different sonic systems -- gao qiang, hu qin, deng diao, tan xi, and kun qu --, all of which were still represented by their own independent troupes respectively until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Founded in the province's capital city of Chengdu in 1912, the Sanqinghui troupe officially combined all five of these systems and fused them into a unique system of acting, singing, and instrumental music, where all of the librettos were written in the Sichuan dialect. The best-known style with most distinct characteristics of southwestern China is called gao qiang, which is distinguished by solos that are usually accompanied by sparse rhythmical accentuations played with wooden clappers.
This highly ornamental vocal style is distinguished by brilliantly artful glissando links, skillfully implemented vibrato embellishments around a single tone in the form of a delicately elegant yet energetically melodic ornamentation. The simplicity of the folk songs' melodic structures is often retained. In addition, an orchestra chorus either comments on or repeats what has already been sung. A solo can also represent the chorus. In the past, members of the chorus also often doubled as percussionists and, like the percussionists, were clad in everyday garments and appeared in full view on stage.
Nowadays, they perform in the orchestral area, which is situated along one side of the stage and is concealed from the audience. The barbarian fiddle, or hu qin, was probably brought to Sichuan by the famous Peking Opera, where shrill-stringed are instruments are predominant. On the other hand, the masked theatre known as deng diao, which evolved from exorcist ceremonies practiced in the villages, is clearly of Sichuan origin. Deng diao was only accepted very gradually and with much hesitation from professional performance troupes.
Removable masks are distinct from the painted masks, which are traditionally worn by performers on stages elsewhere in China. Alongside the dominant dialogues there are also numerous old folkloric themes that were typically heard in the past at rural festivals, weddings, and funeral processions. The accompanying instruments are primarily small drums and gongs.
Itinerant troupes from northern China probably brought the clapper element, tan xi, to Sichuan. This style is characterized by cunning, emotionally fraught rhythms played on wooden clappers, accompanied by the so-called "moon guitar."
The fifth stylistic element in Sichuan Opera is called kun qu. It originated in the southern Yangtze Basin and was later imported to Sichuan as a variant of the traditional and respected Kun Opera, with its discriminating literary dramas and fluent, highly artful melodies. The dominant melodic instrument here is the bamboo flute (di zi).
A single theatre piece of Sichuan Opera usually combines two or three of the above mentioned musical styles. Only very rarely do all five systems appear together. The gao qiang style is the most frequent and its structure is most clearly developed.
Founded in the province's capital city of Chengdu in 1912, the Sanqinghui troupe officially combined all five of these systems and fused them into a unique system of acting, singing, and instrumental music, where all of the librettos were written in the Sichuan dialect. The best-known style with most distinct characteristics of southwestern China is called gao qiang, which is distinguished by solos that are usually accompanied by sparse rhythmical accentuations played with wooden clappers.
This highly ornamental vocal style is distinguished by brilliantly artful glissando links, skillfully implemented vibrato embellishments around a single tone in the form of a delicately elegant yet energetically melodic ornamentation. The simplicity of the folk songs' melodic structures is often retained. In addition, an orchestra chorus either comments on or repeats what has already been sung. A solo can also represent the chorus. In the past, members of the chorus also often doubled as percussionists and, like the percussionists, were clad in everyday garments and appeared in full view on stage.
Nowadays, they perform in the orchestral area, which is situated along one side of the stage and is concealed from the audience. The barbarian fiddle, or hu qin, was probably brought to Sichuan by the famous Peking Opera, where shrill-stringed are instruments are predominant. On the other hand, the masked theatre known as deng diao, which evolved from exorcist ceremonies practiced in the villages, is clearly of Sichuan origin. Deng diao was only accepted very gradually and with much hesitation from professional performance troupes.
Removable masks are distinct from the painted masks, which are traditionally worn by performers on stages elsewhere in China. Alongside the dominant dialogues there are also numerous old folkloric themes that were typically heard in the past at rural festivals, weddings, and funeral processions. The accompanying instruments are primarily small drums and gongs.
Itinerant troupes from northern China probably brought the clapper element, tan xi, to Sichuan. This style is characterized by cunning, emotionally fraught rhythms played on wooden clappers, accompanied by the so-called "moon guitar."
The fifth stylistic element in Sichuan Opera is called kun qu. It originated in the southern Yangtze Basin and was later imported to Sichuan as a variant of the traditional and respected Kun Opera, with its discriminating literary dramas and fluent, highly artful melodies. The dominant melodic instrument here is the bamboo flute (di zi).
A single theatre piece of Sichuan Opera usually combines two or three of the above mentioned musical styles. Only very rarely do all five systems appear together. The gao qiang style is the most frequent and its structure is most clearly developed.
....... China up-date
Chenjie and me are still in discussion about the Chengdu leg of our travels. Though it is now less than six weeks before I arrive in Wuhan, it may still be possible to stay in Chengdu and the Wenjun Hotel. I am in daily contact with the Hotel and though there are not many visitors at the moment, it seems to be functioning normally. The receptionist there, Vicky, says that though the Jiuzhaigou trip may have to be cancelled because of the difficulty of road access, there are many other short tours we can look at starting at Chengdu, which at the present are not affected much.
Monday 26 May 2008
Some of our Plans may be revised
All our travelling plans for China have been finalised ~ hotels, flights, etc.. But the tour from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou is in doubt. I have been chatting with the receptionist at the Wenjun Hotel in Chengdu today (25 May) and also been in touch with Chenjie. The recent catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan Province has all but cut the road link with the valleys of Jiuzhaigou and it is unlikely that we can travel by this method. But Chenjie and me are looking into the possibility of flying from Chengdu to Songpan Airport in Jiuzhaigou. However, we will not be able to get full confirmation one way or the other until the end of June, when I will up-date the information for you. The picture is taken in one of the valleys.
Sunday 25 May 2008
............ now the big one ~ CHINA!
... and now the big one ~ CHINA
Never did I think I would ever visit the one country in this world that has fascinated me since I was a small boy ~ CHINA. Having made friends with a student from Wuhan over the internet and helping him with an architectural research project into Gothic Architecture, I found myself propelled into planning a 'solo' visit to China. I have booked all hotels and internal flights direct, and what makes it even more exciting is that Chenjie (my student friend) is going to act as my guide and interpreter for 23 days. He is meeting me off the plane at Wuhan on 8 July and then after four nights there, we start our travels, first by overnight train to Chengdu ~ some 1300km to the west. After two nights there we go on a 'private' tour to Jiuzhaigou and stay in that area for three nights, returning to Chengdu on 18 July for a further four nights. On 22 July we fly from Chengdu to Xi'an the 'home' of the Terracotta Warriors. We stay in Xi'an until the morning of the 26 July when we take a return flight to Wuhan. We stay there until 30 July when I board a plane for Beijing and then back to UK. During my last days in Wuhan I will be meeting some of Chenjie's friends, one of whom, Luo Siwei, has painted me some pictures ~ his pictures can be seen on my photo album site:~
Never did I think I would ever visit the one country in this world that has fascinated me since I was a small boy ~ CHINA. Having made friends with a student from Wuhan over the internet and helping him with an architectural research project into Gothic Architecture, I found myself propelled into planning a 'solo' visit to China. I have booked all hotels and internal flights direct, and what makes it even more exciting is that Chenjie (my student friend) is going to act as my guide and interpreter for 23 days. He is meeting me off the plane at Wuhan on 8 July and then after four nights there, we start our travels, first by overnight train to Chengdu ~ some 1300km to the west. After two nights there we go on a 'private' tour to Jiuzhaigou and stay in that area for three nights, returning to Chengdu on 18 July for a further four nights. On 22 July we fly from Chengdu to Xi'an the 'home' of the Terracotta Warriors. We stay in Xi'an until the morning of the 26 July when we take a return flight to Wuhan. We stay there until 30 July when I board a plane for Beijing and then back to UK. During my last days in Wuhan I will be meeting some of Chenjie's friends, one of whom, Luo Siwei, has painted me some pictures ~ his pictures can be seen on my photo album site:~
Photos of the China visit will appear soon after I get back. The photo is of the Wenjun Mansion Hotel in Chengdu.
LONDON & KILKENNY, IRELAND
Tomorrow London & a Short visit to Ireland in May
Tomorrow, 17 April, I am travelling to London by train to take my application for a visa to the Chinese Embassy. I am taking the opportunity of visiting several museums as it is several years since I visited London. If all is OK, I will pick the Visa up within a few hours on Friday. I also hope to meet up with some friends for a meal and a drink, but that remains to be seen. I am returning home again on Monday.The picture is of the new British Library.
Tomorrow, 17 April, I am travelling to London by train to take my application for a visa to the Chinese Embassy. I am taking the opportunity of visiting several museums as it is several years since I visited London. If all is OK, I will pick the Visa up within a few hours on Friday. I also hope to meet up with some friends for a meal and a drink, but that remains to be seen. I am returning home again on Monday.The picture is of the new British Library.
It appears that I only go to Ireland when there is a Wedding to attend! Some years ago I was best-man at a Wedding in Mount Mellick, and now on 16 May I fly from East Midlands Airport to Dublin and then go by road south-west to attend the Wedding of my niece in Kilkenny. While there I will take advantage of the four days to explore a country I know nothing about, even though it is so close. I return home again on Tuesday 20 May.
01 March
The Earth Moved
Hi there - you may have heard of things that go bump in the night! Well at 3 minutes to one in the early morning of Wednesday, 27 February I was minding my own business sorting out photographs on my computer. At that moment everything in the house started shaking and for 10 seconds things danced around my workspace. In areas of the world used to earthquakes this would probably have passed nearly un-noticed, but we have very few in the UK - and for those of you who may have thought the title of this paragraph meant something else, it doesn't - it refers to a seismological event of 5.2 on the Richter scale!
The Earth Moved
Hi there - you may have heard of things that go bump in the night! Well at 3 minutes to one in the early morning of Wednesday, 27 February I was minding my own business sorting out photographs on my computer. At that moment everything in the house started shaking and for 10 seconds things danced around my workspace. In areas of the world used to earthquakes this would probably have passed nearly un-noticed, but we have very few in the UK - and for those of you who may have thought the title of this paragraph meant something else, it doesn't - it refers to a seismological event of 5.2 on the Richter scale!
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