Stills of PEI Shaojun and LI Qianjun from Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe.


Stills of The Lion’s Roar from Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe.

Kunqu Opera represents elegant taste in the field of ancient traditional Chinese opera. Mr. Pai Hsien-yung once gave comments on Kunqu Opera as follows: “Kunqu Opera features beautiful arias, body movements and lines. It combines the beauty of music, dance and literature in one, which is thoroughly refined with high degree of professional proficiency. Kunqu Opera is one of the most exquisite and perfect forms in the Chinese performing arts”. In 2001, Kunqu Opera was appraised by the UNESCO in the first batch of “Oral and Intangible Heritages of the Mankind”. During the 15 days, the 2^nd NCPA Kunqu Opera Arts Week will bring together eight performances of four Kunqu Opera classics offered by three major theatres, and re-interpret the literary works, such as A Dream of Red Mansions, Returning Home on a Snowy Night, etc.

Stills of A Dream of Red Mansions from Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre.

 

A Dream of Red Mansions which will kick off the Arts Week on March 1^st-2^nd, was created by Northern Kunqu Opera. This work describes true love between JIA Baoyu and LIN Daiyu and ups and downs of RONG Mansion. When it was premiered in 2011, it filled the gap for no unabridged version of A Dream of Red Mansions in the history of Kunqu Opera. After continuous improvements over the many years, this masterpiece has won numerous traditional Chinese opera awards up to now. Unabridged version of A Dream of Red Mansions intends to highlight the authentic spirit of the original work, and reveals the moving and tragic beauty. WENG Jiahui, ZHANG Yuanyuan, SHAO Tianshuai and other Kunqu opera performers will portray the love story in original work through Kunqu Opera. On March 12^th-13^th, Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province will present Kunqu Opera version of Returning Home on a Snowy Night. Adapted and edited from a drama of the same title authored by Mr. WU Zuguang, this work manifests the sorrows and joys of several roles around renowned actor WEI Liansheng swaying in the midst of turbulent times, The work united efforts from Director CHEN Jianli, ZHOU Xuefeng (winner of “Plum Blossom Prize”) and Kunqu Opera performer LIU Yu. On March 15^th-16^th, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe will present in the 2^nd NCPA Kunqu Opera Arts Week with two classical repertoires, namely PEI Shaojun and LI Qianjun and The Lion’s Roar. Adapted from the drama by BAI Pu (a famous playwright in the Yuan Dynasty), PEI Shaojun and LI Qianjun with intertwined love and hatred will be presented by HU Weilu and LUO Chenxue, two outstanding Kunqu Opera performers. The Lion’s Roar is adapted from Kneeling beside the Pool by WANG Tingne (a traditional Chinese opera writer in the Ming Dynasty). LI An, YU Bin and other famous Kunqu Opera performers will interpret elegant Kunqu Opera in a comedic approach.