Xu Zhong: Let opera become a cultural name card of Shanghai
Opera is known as "a jewel in the crown of art" and is also called the "art aircraft carrier" because of its large size and precise operation. On June 18, conductor, pianist, and director of Shanghai Opera House Xu Zhong was invited to the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences to share a unique art lecture with experts and scholars - "How Opera is Made".
Xu Zhong introduced that opera has a history of more than 400 years since its birth in Florence, Italy.
"From the Renaissance to the Baroque, from classicism to romanticism, from Italy to France, from Germany to Britain, from Monteverdi to Gluck, from Mozart to Bizet, from Verdi to Wagner, from Rossini to Puccini... in every era and every country that opera has passed through, it has adhered to the principle of 'promoting drama through music', boldly explored, innovated, and accumulated many classic artistic treasures for future generations." Xu Zhong said.
Talking about the development of Chinese opera, Xu Zhong used Li Jinhui's children's musical and dance drama and Tian Han and Nie Er's "Storm on the Yangtze River" as examples to illustrate the important role of Shanghai in the budding and development of Chinese opera. In 1942, after Mao Zedong's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art" was published, a series of red-themed national operas such as "White Haired Girl" and "Jiang Jie" were born under the purpose of literature and art serving the masses. After General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on literature and art in 2014, Shanghai Opera House adhered to the creative orientation of "people-centered", actively created and staged opera works such as "March of the Volunteers", "Morning Bell", "Tian Han", "Heaven and Earth Shennong", etc., pursuing ideological spirit, exquisite performance, and excellent production, forming a unique Shanghai style.
Opera is huge and complicated, how is it "made"? Xu Zhong introduced that the composition of music and the creation of scripts require the tacit cooperation of composers and screenwriters; the conductor's interpretation of music, the artistic control of singers and performers, and the director's scheduling of the stage, lighting and costumes also require full communication and close cooperation; and when a series of rehearsal processes such as language guidance, vocal guidance, music homework, drama rehearsal, all-round music, stage synthesis, etc. are carried out, the production of stage design, costumes, and the design and debugging of lighting also require detailed planning and effective promotion.
Since 2016, Shanghai Opera House has deepened its international cooperation in Aida, Nabucco, Falstaff, Turandot, The Flying Dutchman, Kingdom of Smiles, Lohengrin, and Madame Butterfly which will be staged in August this year. The company has invited outstanding foreign teams from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries to participate in rehearsals, and has carried out in-depth cooperation with outstanding foreign art institutions, and then has jointly produced and shared copyrights with outstanding international theaters such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House, and the Grand Palace of Arts in Budapest, Hungary.
Xu Zhong said: "These classic opera productions, which have attracted much attention and heated discussions, have witnessed the friendly exchanges and in-depth cooperation between Chinese and foreign opera art, as well as the common growth of Chinese artists and audiences."
In addition to the vivid explanations, Shanghai Opera House soprano singer Song Qian, soprano singer Francesca Manzo and baritone singer Luca Grassi also performed wonderful opera excerpts accompanied by the piano of Shanghai Opera House young pianist Yang Song.
"Comfort Me, God of Love" from The Marriage of Figaro, "Love, Glory" from Macbeth, "A Sunny Day" from Madame Butterfly, "My Dear Father" from Gianni Schicchi, "She Came With Joy" from La Boheme, "The Noble Hall" from Tannhauser, these famous arias showed unique live charm under the artists' interpretation.
"As an imported product, opera has inherited and borrowed from various national folk music art forms such as opera and folk songs in the process of localization in China, thus forming Chinese opera with drama as the foundation, music as the leading factor and national culture as the core. With its unique artistic charm and profound cultural heritage, it integrates Chinese and Western cultural elements and demonstrates the creativity and inclusiveness of Chinese culture." Quan Heng, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said, "President Xu Zhong and the Shanghai Opera House have invested a lot of time and energy in the 'Shanghai style exploration' of Chinese opera, integrating the characteristics and spirit of Shanghai culture into opera creation and performance, which not only enriches the contemporary connotation of Shanghai culture, but also has a positive role in promoting the prosperity and development of Chinese opera."
In Xu Zhong's view, opera is an important manifestation of a city's soft power. As an international cultural metropolis, Shanghai already has a very good opera market environment. He believes that in the near future, the completion of the Shanghai Grand Opera House will help Shanghai become an important exchange platform and display window for global opera art, and take the development of Chinese opera and its global influence to a higher level.
Xu Zhong said: "As a business card of Shanghai's cultural brand, Shanghai Opera House should not only strive to consolidate and enhance its artistic strength and accumulate more original and classic repertoires, but also need more attention and wisdom from experts and scholars, and more academic research and theoretical support, to provide advice for the innovation and development of opera, the cultivation of opera talents, and the international exchange and cooperation of Chinese opera."
