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Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre performed in Hong Kong

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

On the seventh day of the seventh month, when no one whispered in the middle of the night. The Palace of Eternal Life is a witness to the love between Emperor Tang Ming and Emperor Yang Guifei, and it is also a symbol of the love of the hairpin box. "The Palace of Eternal Life", known as one of the four major classical dramas in China, is even more touching and eternal. On July 19th, the classic traditional repertoire "Palace of Eternal Life" of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater was staged in the Auditorium of the Kwai Tsing Theater in Hong Kong, kicking off the prelude to the "Yan Zhao Fenghua - Famous Opera Exhibition of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater". This is the first time in 10 years that the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater has sung the vowels of the prosperous era on the banks of the Xiangjiang River.

The grand lineup of famous actors such as Plum Blossom Award winners, national first-class actors Wei Chunrong, Wang Zhenyi (specially invited), Liu Wei, and national first-class actors Yuan Guoliang, Weng Jiahui, Yang Fan, Zhang Yuanyuan and other famous actors will reproduce the classics, highlighting the unique charm of northern Kunyi, interpreting the artistic charm of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and celebrating the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. As an important platform for showcasing the art of Chinese opera, the Chinese Opera Festival not only helps to enrich the cultural life of Chinese opera in Hong Kong, but also serves as an important measure to promote Chinese opera culture. The performance of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater not only showcased the unique charm of Kunqu art, but also injected new impetus into promoting traditional culture to go global, telling Chinese stories well, and promoting cultural exchanges and integration between Beijing and Hong Kong.

Inheritance and popularization are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

On July 18th, Yang Fengyi, director of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, together with Plum Blossom Award winners and national first-class actors Wei Chunrong and Wang Zhenyi (specially invited) and national first-class actor Yang Fan came to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to participate in the "Artist Talk" sharing session before the performance. Face-to-face and up-close communication with Hong Kong audiences. Dean Yang Fengyi introduced in detail the history of Beikun in the past 67 years, as well as the remarkable achievements made by Beikun in talent training and repertoire construction in recent years.

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage
Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

The three artists, Wei Chunrong, Wang Zhenyi and Yang Fan, respectively talked about their artistic experience and the process of learning and inheriting from their teachers, and presented wonderful singing segments for the audience and friends.

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

In the interactive session, Dean Yang Fengyi answered the questions raised by the audience one by one, and said that Beikun's performance in Hong Kong this time is also to practice the concept of "Great Kunqu Opera", with the beautiful expectation of "each is beautiful, the United States is the same, and the world is the same", and jointly promotes the inheritance and development of Kunqu Opera in the new era.

Director Yang Fengyi and his entourage brought a lively and wonderful lecture on Kunqu Opera to the Hong Kong audience, which not only enhanced Hong Kong people's appreciation and sense of identity with traditional Chinese culture, classical literature and Kunqu opera performing arts, but also gave them a more intuitive understanding of Northern Kunqu Opera and the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, which was warmly welcomed.

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

The beauty of Kunqu opera is shocking

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

The arrival of Beikun made many Hong Kong audiences arrive at the theater early before the performance. There are also theater fans and audiences who have traveled thousands of miles from Beijing to Hong Kong, just to see the style of Beikun here.

"The Palace of Eternal Life" is a classic traditional repertoire of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater, with the artistic orientation of "the old is not old, the new is not detached from the original", presenting a classic work with strong Beikun characteristics. At the performance site, the beautiful presentation and meticulous performance, the unique and heavy artistic charm of Kunqu Opera jumped in front of you, showing the beauty of Kunqu Opera's singing, lyrics and performance.

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage
Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

The audience was even more immersed in it and was moved by the profound artistic heritage and aesthetic artistic characteristics of Kunqu Opera. After the performance, the audience gave a standing ovation and was reluctant to leave for a long time, saying that the performance was a rare cultural feast.

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage
Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

Next, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater will also perform in Hong Kong the traditional excerpts of the Beikun family, "The Legend of the Comic Strip · the Detective", "Shengping Treasure Raft · Bei Ran", "The Merchant Dan · the Female Bullet", "The Legend of the Green Mound· Zhaojun Out of the Stopper", "The Single Knife Society· "The Knife Society", "The World Music· Zhong Kui's Marrying Sister", "The Story of the White Rabbit · Hunting", "The Legend of the Shepherd· Wangxiang", "The Story of the Sword· Running at Night", "The Iron Crown· Thorn Tiger", recreating the classics with a grand lineup, highlighting the unique charm of northern Kunyi, interpreting the artistic charm of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and deepening the awareness and recognition of traditional culture by Hong Kong citizens. Stay tuned!

Chinese Opera Festival 2024 | The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre made a wonderful appearance, and the vowels of the prosperous era shined on the Hong Kong stage

Northern Kunqu Opera Theater

On May 18, 2001, Kunqu Opera, which has a history of more than 600 years, was inscribed on the first UNESCO Representative List of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Northern Kunqu Opera Theater is the only professional Kunqu Opera performance group north of the Yangtze River, founded on June 22, 1957, and the current president is Yang Fengyi, vice chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association, winner of the Plum Blossom Award, national first-class actor, and famous Kunqu Opera performance artist.

Source: Northern Kunqu Opera Theater

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