NCPA Peking Opera Commission Red Cliff

- About
- Synopsis
- Creative
- Artist
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About

Red Cliff is NCPA’s first Peking Opera commission. It features a concise story, beautiful lyrics and tuneful singing. The whole opera contains six classic historical scenes: Declaring War on the Bronze Swallow Terrace, Outarguing the Civil Officials, Devise a Stratagem in Alliance, Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats, Resorting to the Wind before the War, and Setting Fire under the Red Cliff. In addition, the libretto is extraordinarily exquisite, melodious, glamorous and evocative. In the performance, electrifying visual impacts are created among such scenes as thousands of arrows shot at once, the east wind drawn with hundreds of banners, the interlinked camps blazing with fire, and the war vessels falling apart to pieces.

Credits

General Director: ZHANG Jigang

Composer: ZHU Shaoyu

Executive Director: SHI Hongtu

Set Supervisor & Set Designer: GAO Guangjian

Costume Designers: SONG Li, PENG Dinghuang

Lighting Designer: WANG Ruiguo

Cast
ZHUGE Liang: ZHANG Jianfeng
CAO Cao: WANG Yue
ZHOU Yu: LI Hongtu
Xiaoqiao: DOU Xiaoxuan

Synopsis

In the winter of the thirteenth year during the reign of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty (A.D. 208), a navy and army of 830 thousand soldiers invades the Kingdom of Wu under the command of CAO Cao (the Kingdom of Wei). Hearing the news, the ministers of the Kingdom of Wu gets into a panic, some advocating fighting back, some advising to surrender, leaving the king SUN Quan unable to make a final decision.

At this time, ZHUGE Liang (the chancellor of the Kingdom of Shu) stands out and illustrates the advantages and disadvantages; ZHOU Yu (the minister of the Kingdom of Wu), who has devised a stratagem, states that his stratagem would ensure success; ZHOU Yu’s wife Xiaoqiao, is prepared to fight to death to bless nation from any calamity…Finally SUN Quan is determined to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Shu to resist the enemy together.

Men of notable talent and bold vision fight side by side against the enemy at the Red Cliff, and of the heroes, each showcases his unique talent in the battle. Unity gathers strength, politics evolves to wisdom, and military tactics is sublimated into art.

ZHUGE Liang and ZHOU Yu "borrow" arrows from the enemy with a straw-covered ship, and then burn the enemy’s interlinked battleships, reducing the enemy to ashes in an instant.

As the allied troops celebrate the victory with great joy, ZHUGE Liang is standing alone in front of the Red Cliff, offering wine as sacrifices to the river.

So many heroes have gone with the Yangtze River, yet the land of rivers and mountains remains new.

Creative

ZHANG JigangGeneral Director

ZHANG Jigang

ZHANG Jigang is a celebrated artist and educator in China.

He ever served as the head of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, deputy head of the Publicity Department of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Political Department and head of the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art. Currently, he is the deputy director of the Political Department of the Chinese Armed Police Force, a professor and Chinese first-class director. He is also a member of the 9^th National Committee of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Chairman of China Special Art Committee, vice chairman of Chinese Dancers Association, the only one winner of the “Century Star” title in Chinese dance circle and a winner of the award of “Chinese Classical Dances in the 20^th Century”. He was the deputy head director of the Opening and Closing ceremonies of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, executive head director of the opening and closing ceremonies of 2008 Paralympic Games and the head director of the large-scale music and dance epic The Road to Revival.

He served as the head director of large-scale international and national evening parties over 70 times and created 500-plus choreographic works. He has made outstanding achievements in dance, dance drama, opera, Peking Opera, acrobatics, song and dance drama, zarzuela, dance poetry and other realms of art. His representative works include the dances Thousand-hand Bodhisattva and Yellow Loess, acrobatic work Ballet on Shoulders – Oriental Swan, dance dramas Wild Zebra, A Handful of Zizyphus Jujubes, Flower and Thousand-hand Bodhisattva, music drama White Lotus, newly adapted Peking Opera epic Red Cliff and zarzuela Liberation. Most of his works have been staged or transplanted in performance in more than 100 countries and regions. He won gold award of international competitions ten times, gold award of domestic competitions over 50 times and a number of awards of the “Top Ten Excellent Plays” of the National Excellent Stage Art Works Project.

He also serves as the part-time professor of Peking University, Tsinghua University, National Defence University and Chinese National Academy of Arts and lifetime chief art director of many domestic art troupes. He ever visited 20-odd countries and regions to give lectures.

ZHU ShaoyuComposer, Tune Designer

ZHU Shaoyu

As a Chinese first-class composer and drama musician, he currently serves as a director of China Theatre Association and Chinese Musicians Association. Over three decades, he has created a number of new common systematic tunes and types of metre for music in Chinese operas by integrating Peking Opera music with traditional folk music, modern Western music, local operas and folk songs, making remarkable contributions to inheritance and development of Peking Opera. Many works have won major Chinese national awards like Wenhua Awards, Wenhua Award for Composers, Award of Five “One” Project and awards of National Excellent Stage Art Works Project.

SHI HongtuExecutive Director

SHI Hongtu

He ever served as the head of Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing and deputy secretary-general of China Theatre Association. He became a professional Peking Opera actor after he graduated from Beijing Academy of Drama. Later, he studied at the Department of Directing, National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. Currently, he is a famous Peking Opera director.

As a director, his major works include Nezha (starring PEI Yanling and made into a colour art film), Charm of MEI School (starring MEI Baojiu), A Memorial to 1644, Turandot (created in cooperation with LIN Zhaohua), Flower Princess (Kunqu opera), Echoing to the Sky (starring PEI Yanling and winning the award of National Excellent Stage Art Works Project). He has repeatedly won the Award for Directors and Award for Excellent Directors. In 1997, he went to Japan to study Japanese traditional drama. He also published the book titled Records on Watching Operas in Japan and a number of papers including the Beautiful Appearance and Deep Love to Mysteries written for the International Symposium in Memory of Nogaku Master Zeami Motokiyo.

GAO GuangjianSet Designer

GAO Guangjian

GAO Guangjian is stage design director of NCPA, National Grade-A Choreography Designer, Outstanding Expert of Ministry of Culture, Vice President of China Stage Art Association and Visiting Professor of Shanxi Vocational Art College. His works are often awarded with Wenhua Award from Ministry of Culture, Stage Art Design Award and CSAA Award of China Stage Art Association. Many of his works have been listed among Top Ten Repertoires of National Stage Art Masterpiece Project.

His major works include opera Turandot, The Taming of the Shrew, Rigoletto, The Wilderness, La Traviata, Du Shiniang, Die Zauberflote and A Village Teacher; dance drama Moon over A Fountain, Dream of Great Dunhuang, Love and Hate of Yuanmingyuan Garden, Tibetan Antelope, Blue Sea and the Silk Road and Marco Polo; large-scale Shanxi talking and singing drama Liberation; Peking Opera Princess Turandot and Red Cliff, etc.

SONG LiCostume Designer

SONG Li

As a costume designer, he works at Chinese People's Liberation Army General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe. He designed costumes for a number of large-scale activities, theatrical performances and dance dramas and won the Award for Best Costume Design in important domestic performance competitions for many times.

PENG DinghuangCostume Designer

PENG Dinghuang

He serves as a costume design teacher and deputy professor at the Department of Stage Design, National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. He designed costumes for Prime Minister Liu the Hunchback, Turandot, Princess Wencheng, Going to Lucheng and Zheng He's Voyages, and won a number of major domestic awards.

WANG RuiguoLighting Designer

WANG Ruiguo

As a graduate from the Department of Stage Design, Shanghai Theater Academy, he is a national first-class lighting designer. He served as the chief lighting designer for the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, and lighting designer for a number of large-scale dance dramas such as A Handful of Zizyphus Jujubes and The Peony Pavilion, winning a lot of awards.

Artist

ZHANG Jianfengas ZHUGE Liang

ZHANG Jianfeng

ZHANG Jianfeng is an outstanding young actor of the Youth Troupe of Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing, playing the part of an old gentleman in Chinese operas. As a Chinese first-class actor, he graduated from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and the 5^th Postgraduate Programme for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera. He ever studied under Ouyang Zhongshi, LI Baozhang, ZHANG Rongpei, XI Yanhong, CHEN Zhiqing, ZHU Bingqian and other celebrated masters. In 2000, he formally acknowledged the well-known Peking Opera performing artist Ouyang Zhongshi as his teacher. He is good at playing a part in Silang Visits His Mother, The Red Haired Galloping Horse, White Emperor City, Losing Jieting · Empty-city Stratagem · Executing Ma Su, Battle of Taiping and Beating a Drum to Curse Cao. In 2012, he was designated as a “leading young actor” by the troupe. He was the winner of the gold award of 2005 National TV Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors, the 16^th China Theatre Festival Award for Excellent Individual Performance and the gold award of the 5^thChina Peking Opera Festival.

LI Hongtuas ZHOU Yu

LI Hongtu

LI Hongtu is a leading actor of MEI Lanfang Troupe of Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing, a Chinese first-class actor and a famous actor of YE (Shenglan) School, playing the young man's role. As a graduate from the 1^st Postgraduate Programme for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera, he won China’s Plum Performance Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Outstanding Actors in Asia. He ever studied under JIANG Shiyu, ZHANG Chunxiao, LI Jinhong, RU Yuanjun, HUANG Ding and other Peking Opera artists. In 1994, he formally acknowledged the famous Peking Opera performing artist YE Shaolan.

WANG Yueas CAO Cao

WANG Yue

As a Chinese first-class actor, WANG Yue currently acts as the assistant to the head of Shanxi Opera Theatre. He is an actor of QIU School, playing a male character with a painted face. He graduated from the 5^th Postgraduate Program for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera. He ever studied under DOU Guoqi, HE Tan, GUO Tieniu, GENG Wenchao and LI Xin. Later, he formally acknowledged the well-known Peking Opera performing artist LI Changchun. His representative plays include Five Dragons Subdued, General and Premier Make Up, Chisang Town, The Case of Killing CHEN Shimei, Encountering with the Empress ·Beating the Imperial Robe, YAO Qi, Defending the Nation · Exploring Imperial Mausoleum ·Entering the Palace a Second Time, LI Kui Visits His Mother, The Tales of the Purple Robe, Red Cliff and CHEN Tingjing. He won the first place among the gold award winners of the 7^th CCTV National Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors in September 2012, and the first prize of outstanding performance awards of the 2012 National Opera Highlights Show of Excellent Young Peking Opera Actors.

DOU Xiaoxuanas Xiaoqiao

DOU Xiaoxuan

DOU Xiaoxuan is an outstanding young actress of MEI Lanfang Troupe of Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing, playing female roles and belonging to MEI School. She graduated from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, the 6^th Postgraduate Programme for Excellent Young Actors of Chinese Peking Opera and the 1^st Peking Opera Genres Inheritance Program. She ever studied under LI Huifang, WANG Zhiyi, LIU Xiurong, LI Weikang, CAI Yinglian, MENG Xianrong and other famous masters. In 2007, she formally acknowledged the well-known Peking Opera performing artist DU Jinfang. She is good at playing a part in The Red Haired Galloping Horse, XIE Yaohuan, Silang Visits His Mother, Butterfly Lovers and Legend of the White Snake. In 2012, she was designated as a “leading young actress” by the troupe. She ever won the silver award of the 6^thNational TV Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors, the challenger award of the female role group at the 1^st Young Peking Opera Actors’ (Beijing) Arena Invitational Tournament in 2011 and the gold award of the 7^th National TV Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors.
Note

Box officeNorth Gate of NCPA, No. 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing, China

Tickets collection hours9:30-19:30 (CST) on performance day
9:30-18:00 (CST) for days without performance

Booking line+86 10 6655 0000

Booking hours9:30-18:00 (CST) Monday to Friday

Seating Chart

戏剧场

小剧场

歌剧院

音乐厅

We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information, however the hours, prices, and program details may vary due to last minute changes.
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ZHANG Jigang

ZHU Shaoyu

SHI Hongtu

GAO Guangjian

SONG Li

PENG Dinghuang

WANG Ruiguo

ZHANG Jianfeng

LI Hongtu

WANG Yue

DOU Xiaoxuan

CALENDARFull CalendarFull Calendar

GENRE OperaConcertDance & BalletTheatre Chinese Traditional Opera

Festivals & Series* NCPA Dance Festival 2024* Charm of China—Maestros of Chinese Traditional Music* NCPA Pure Classical 2024* NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024

Box Office HoursPerformance Days 9:30 AM -19:30 PMGap Days 9:30 AM -18:00 PM Tickets Info8610-66550000

Productions Repertoire Films Videos Podcast

Resident Companies China NCPA Orchestra China NCPA Chorus NCPA Resident Singers NCPA Drama Ensemble

Explore NCPA Buildings Exhibitions

Visit Info Opening Hours Guided Tours Services Getting Here

Dine&Shop Western Cuisine NCPA Café Arts Gifts

THE NCPATHE NCPA

ZHANG Jigang

ZHU Shaoyu

SHI Hongtu

GAO Guangjian

SONG Li

PENG Dinghuang

WANG Ruiguo

ZHANG Jianfeng

LI Hongtu

WANG Yue

DOU Xiaoxuan

CALENDAR
Full Calendar
Full Calendar

GENRE
Opera Concert Dance & Ballet Theatre
Chinese Traditional Opera

Festivals & Series* NCPA Dance Festival 2024 * Charm of China—Maestros of Chinese Traditional Music * NCPA Pure Classical 2024 * NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024

Box Office Hours
Performance Days 9:30 AM -19:30 PM
Gap Days 9:30 AM -18:00 PM
Tickets Info
8610-66550000

Productions
Repertoire Films Videos Podcast

Resident Companies
China NCPA Orchestra China NCPA Chorus
NCPA Resident Singers NCPA Drama Ensemble

THE NCPA THE NCPA