Photo courtesy of the interviewee of Zhang Jiachun’s “Spring Grass Breaking into the Hall”
On the evening of July 2, near 11:00, on the stage of Beijing Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, the performance of Peking Opera “Spring Grass Breaking into the Hall” came to a successful conclusion. The audience who had enjoyed the performance for more than 3 hours did not leave the stage. The audience on the first floor gathered in front of the stage, and the audience upstairs stood up one after another. Everyone kept applauding and applauding. In such a warm atmosphere, Liu Changyu, a Peking Opera performing artist and the first performer of “Spring Grass”, and Zhang Jiachun, who played “Spring Grass” that night and a national first-class actor of the National Peking Opera Theater, sang the classic aria “Red Lantern” impromptuly. All have a bright heart.” The applause and cheers slowly subsided as the actors continued to bow and call the curtain.
The “Beautiful Woman in the North – Leading Talent Cultivation · Zhang Jiachun Special” ended with applause and cheers from the audience. “It has been exactly 10 years since my first special performance. In the past 10 years, it was the help of the teachers and the support of the audience that kept me growing.” Looking at his teacher and the audience, Zhang Jiachun had tears in his eyes.
“Good News in Spring”: The First Blossoms
In April 2012, on that spring day when all things grow, Zhang Jiachun held her first special performance since her career in art at the New Tsinghua Academy in Beijing.
In this performance titled “Good Sound and Spring”, Zhang Jiachun took three plays of different themes and styles for himself, the modern Peking Opera “Red Lantern”, the famous Xun school “Matchmaker” and the newly written historical drama “Zhuo Wenjun”. The 5th China Peking Opera Outstanding Young Actors Postgraduate Class has come to a successful conclusion. Before the performance of “Zhuo Wenjun”, Zhang Jiachun, in the presence of the audience, paid respects to three teachers by himself, and bowed affectionately to the three teachers, Song Changrong, Liu Changyu and Shen Jianjin. As Liu Changyu said, “Every actor has his own limitations, and as far as I am concerned, there are limitations. Jiachun worships three teachers and learns from others, which also reflects her unremitting pursuit of art.”
It is worth mentioning that the three repertoires performed in “Good Music Spring” benefited from the respective teachings of the three teachers. Under the guidance of Liu Changyu, Zhang Jiachun portrayed Li Tiemei, who inherited his father’s will to send intelligence to the anti-Japanese troops in “Red Lantern”, with both toughness and softness. For the rehearsal of “Zhuo Wenjun”, which was rarely seen on the stage at that time, Shen Jianjin personally went to the door to ask the old artist Dong Guangtian to help organize the script, and then found Xun Huisheng and Sun Xunhao as the rehearsal director, and as an art director, he helped Zhang Jiachun to choreograph the singing and the body. .
The careful guidance of the three teachers and Zhang Jiachun’s hard work made Zhang Jiachun stand out. In the following years, under the guidance of three teachers, Zhang Jiachun completed the audio-visual recording of several plays, including “Peach Blossom Village”, “Huo Xiaoyu”, “Matchmaker”, “Zhuo Wenjun” and “Chaitoufeng”. Inheritance leaves behind precious information. In particular, the repertoires of Zhuo Wenjun and Chai Tou Feng have been excavated, organized and reproduced on the stage. From the perspective of enriching the treasure house of Xun school art, they are of extraordinary significance.
“There are beautiful women in the north”: breaking through “imitation”
This year, the National Peking Opera Company launched the “Hundred Days Training” activity with the purpose of strengthening the talent echelon building. Zhang Jiachun became one of the six leading talent training objects in this activity. In order to show the results of the “100-day training camp”, Zhang Jiachun chose two classic traditional plays, “Spring Grass Breaking the Hall” and “Huo Xiaoyu” in “There is a Beautiful Woman in the North-Leading Talent Training · Zhang Jiachun Special Session”.
“Before deciding on the drama, everyone suggested that I act in “Chun Cao Tang” and “Matchmaker”, both of which are lovable dramas, and the box office is guaranteed. But I still want to challenge myself. “Spring Grass” and “Huo Xiaoyu” The two big plays are also my good performances on the stage, but one is happy and the other sad, the contrast is strong, and they are both kung fu dramas that combine singing, reading, and dancing. Performing two consecutive nights is indeed a big test.” Zhang Jiachun introduced that, as a classic repertoire of the National Peking Opera House, “Chuncao Chuangtang” was created in 1963 with a lively rhythm, showing the bravery, integrity and astuteness of Chuncao, the maid of the prime minister’s house; “Huo Xiaoyu” is one of the six major works of the Xun faction. One of the tragedies is a collection of all kinds of classic arias of the Xun School, telling the tragic story of Huo Xiaoyu being abandoned by the heartless man Li Yi and becoming ill with longing.
As the instructor of this special session, Liu Changyu also put forward new requirements for his disciples: “From imitating the teacher’s tricks at the beginning of learning opera to gradually integrating his own understanding of the characters and forming his own unique stage performance style, this is the A step-by-step process is also the only way for an actor to grow. Now that you have passed the imitation stage, you need to think about how to perform your own characteristics.”
It has been 10 years since the “Good News Spring” in 2012 to today’s “Beautiful Woman in the North”. During this period, Zhang Jiachun got married and had children. His life experience continued to be enriched, his stage skills became more and more proficient, and he also thought more about the art of Peking Opera. “We have to go to the world of characters to feel the characters, we must appreciate the emotions of the characters, and then through expressions, movements, singing, etc., we can naturally reveal the emotions of the characters and convey them to the hearts of the audience.” Zhang Jiachun said that the teacher hoped that she would Performing the “spring grass” in her mind is her encouragement, trust and hope. “I started from the character of Chuncao, and took this special performance as a new starting point for my profession.”
On July 2nd, in the performance of “Spring Grass Breaking into the Hall”, Zhang Jiachun had a sweet appearance, a clear voice, and a graceful figure. Between looking forward to flying, and being graceful, she vividly displayed the image of a cute, wise, and upright girl. On the stage, in stark contrast to the cunning, confused and flamboyant prefect played by Xu Mengke, it depicts a witty comedy picture, conveying a high-spirited, enterprising spirit of optimism that is not afraid of power.
In “Huo Xiaoyu” on July 3, Zhang Jiachun’s performance is delicate and agile, and the singing is full of charm. During the period of love, she vividly expressed the girl’s affection and shyness; in the farewell at the long pavilion, she fully interpreted the affection and reluctance at the time of parting; after being abandoned, her performance was mournful and mournful, with blood and tears.
The two performances not only won the applause of the audience, but also won the affirmation of experts. Zhang Jiachun said that the success of the performance is due to the teaching of teachers and the help of colleagues. “Mr. Liu Changyu is 82 years old and Mr. Kou Chunhua is 87 years old. They helped us improve and polish the repertoire in the rehearsal field despite the sweltering heat. In addition, in the spirit of ‘one vegetable’, all the actors in the theater cooperated sincerely. Thanks to everyone’s joint efforts I have this achievement.” Zhang Jiachun said, “I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I am also grateful to the theater for its trust and training in me. As Peking Opera actors born in the 1980s, we have to shoulder our responsibilities even more. He has shown his responsibility in casting Bacon’s soul, and has made great achievements in maintaining integrity and innovation, so that more people can understand the beauty of Peking Opera, and let the quintessence of the country continue to flourish.” (Liu Miao)
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责编：张诗奇 ]