Has the Shaanxi Opera developed now?

Taking the pulse for the survival state of Shaanxi Opera —— Interview with Chen Yan

CCTV International Channel (April 2005 1 1 09:33)

Shaanxi Opera is an ancient opera with distinctive regional characteristics, which once occupied a very important position in the history of China opera. However, with the development of various audio-visual media, Qin Opera, like most local operas, is inevitably impacted by various media and other artistic categories. So, what is the present situation and development trend of Shaanxi Opera in the new period? With this question, on April 2, the reporter visited Chen Yan, the president of the Shaanxi Opera Research Institute, the vice chairman of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the playwright.

The development of Shaanxi Opera has experienced a partial and overall decline.

Reporter: Dean Chen, as an expert in drama management and creation, what do you think of the development of Shaanxi Opera? What do you think is the main reason for this situation? How to change this situation?

Chen Yan: The art of Shaanxi Opera is developing vigorously in some areas, especially in the hometown of Shaanxi Opera-our northwest area. However, as an ancient drama and a big drama, the influence of Shaanxi opera in the whole country is insufficient, and even has a downward trend. I think the main reason for this situation is the lack of masterpieces and the strong support of top figures like Chang Xiangyu, the master of Henan Opera. At the same time, there is also a lack of mechanism to promote excellent dramas and support the sustainable development of this industry. In order to make excellent works and talents stand out, I think one must rely on a good mechanism; Second, we must rely on effective investment; Third, we must rely on a benign ecological environment, especially the benign spread of tasteful modern media.

Reporter: Can you explain in detail what is a benign ecological environment and what is a benign and tasty spread?

Chen Yan: There are two aspects. First, the internal environment of employees. We expect the upcoming cultural system reform to be solved. The second is the external environment, including standardized market, correct public opinion guidance, social and cultural responsibilities and so on. The so-called good communication with taste is to promote high-quality products that can represent the development level of Shaanxi Opera and leave a good impression on the outside world, just like Beijing Opera, Sichuan Opera, Yue Opera and Huangmei Opera. This is very important. Bottom line: caring for this cultural heritage cannot achieve immediate short-term results.

Reporter: How do you think that Chang Xiangyu-style masters can be born in the field of Shaanxi Opera? Chen Yan: Simply put, put on a good show and perform more. When Chang Xiangyu became famous, the media was not developed. Chang Xiangyu is famous for his Henan Opera Mulan and more than 300 performances every year. This kind of professionalism and fighting spirit is hard to reach today. Of course, we should also see that the diversification of cultural and entertainment methods dominates the dilution factor of national opera art today, but in any case, other operas have produced masters, and the Qin opera community should not forgive itself.

Paying close attention to creation is an urgent task to enhance the influence of Shaanxi Opera.

Reporter: What do you think is the most urgent task to enhance the influence of Shaanxi Opera? Chen Yan: Pay attention to creation. The lag of creation has become a bottleneck restricting the development of Shaanxi Opera. We have a group of actors with good foundation, but due to the lack of a large number of outstanding chivalrous dramas at the national level, Shaanxi Opera has gradually lost its traditional historical position in the country, which is out of proportion to the internal and external voices of a cultural province. Shang Chang Rong, a master of Peking Opera who went out from Shaanxi, is famous all over the world, basically because of the continuous efforts of excellent repertoires. First, Cao Cao and Yang Xiu shocked the world, then Zhenguan Shi Sheng was selected as an "excellent project on the national stage", and now, the birth of an honest official, Yu Chenglong, shows the struggle course of a performing artist who won the Plum Blossom Award for three times. Mao's fame in Zhejiang is also closely related to the artistic creation of outstanding plays such as The West Chamber, Kong Yiji, Lu You and Tang Wan. The success of Yuan Xuefen and Wang, the old artists of Yue Opera, is the result of the popularity of A Dream of Red Mansions. Therefore, if you want to launch your own master of art, you can say that there is no shortcut except to seize the brand repertoire to make this "bull nose". Reporter: How can we create well?

Chen Yan: This is an old topic, and the core is team building. We should build this team according to the laws of the socialist market economy. Basically, it is to attract senior creative talents with a good benefit distribution mechanism. Now the direction of talents is diverted by the thickness of interests, and we must admit this reality. Judging from the present situation of the national drama creation team, where this problem is solved well, senior screenwriters will naturally emerge, otherwise it is futile to shout again. When a playwright mobilizes years of creative accumulation to create a good script, and the remuneration is disproportionate to other creative labor distribution, I am afraid that ideological work alone will not play much role. Of course, there are other problems in creative team building, but the core is the incentive mechanism. Only with a good incentive mechanism can we attract all kinds of talents. Sometimes the cost of "borrowing chickens to lay eggs" may be more cost-effective than "raising chickens and other eggs" From this point of view, emancipating the mind and renewing ideas are still not empty words for us.

Persistence and innovation are very important in the development of Shaanxi opera music.

Reporter: We have noticed that there is a great controversy about the development of Shaanxi opera music. Can you talk about your thoughts and opinions in this regard?

Chen Yan: This kind of controversy is normal. One way is to stick to tradition, and the other is to seek new ways of reform and development. Both of these roads are reasonable and conform to the laws of art, depending on the responsibilities and missions of specific practitioners. Personally, I think persistence and innovation are essential, and it is not unreasonable to insist on distinction, that is, walking on two legs, one leg sticking to the past and the other advancing. It should be said that the art of Shaanxi Opera has developed to a relatively high stage, and the design of many plates, qupai and music has reached a perfect level. Some vocals are even more exquisite and well-known, and even become a part of Qin people's life. If you don't hum a few words every day, you will feel uncomfortable and moisturize. For this heritage, any change will dismember and destroy beauty. In this sense, observation is necessary. However, for the newly created drama, if the old program is mechanically copied and the lyrics are completely cooked, the content may be hurt by the form, so creation is also necessary. It is simply to adhere to the spiritual temperament of Shaanxi opera, not anything else. Today, Yue Opera still proposes to learn from us, and I think we should also have the courage and determination to learn from others. Some things that are too extensive are polished and carved, which may not make Shaanxi opera lose its personality. Exploration and innovation may sometimes take detours, but without exploration and innovation, existing channels will be blocked. We should strengthen the responsibility of stabilizing the old audience and have the consciousness of attracting the new generation audience. Adhering to the spirit of Shaanxi Opera must strengthen the genre inheritance of Shaanxi Opera.

Reporter: What do you think is the most important thing to stick to the spiritual temperament of Shaanxi Opera? Chen Yan: We are not as good as Beijing Opera, Yue Opera, Henan Opera and even other operas in strengthening the sense of genre inheritance of Shaanxi Opera. Actors always play their own trumpet, but they can't sing their own songs. We should strengthen the awareness of inheriting the recognized schools of Shaanxi Opera, which is the fundamental guarantee to adhere to the spiritual temperament of Shaanxi Opera. This inheritance is also conducive to the birth of the master of Shaanxi opera, because generations are fighting for a common goal, and the chances of success are bound to be great. The reason why Yuan Xuefen and Wang, the masters of Yue Opera, have not left the stage for so many years is that their art is evergreen with the unremitting promotion of later generations, and they have also created several generations of new stars of Yue Opera with market appeal. As the old artists leave the stage, everything will gradually disappear, which is a great regret of Shaanxi opera art.

Shaanxi opera needs to cultivate a benign performance market.

Reporter: On the one hand, Shaanxi Opera is a hot tea garden cultural phenomenon, on the other hand, it is a deserted stage. What do you think of this problem?

Chen Yan: The cultural phenomenon of tea garden in Shaanxi Opera is worth studying. It is an attack and pursuit of life for the ancient traditional art to adapt to the new consumption demand under the market economy. In a positive sense, it has the value of exploring traditional art into modern cultural consumption life, but it should not be the mainstream successful example of Shaanxi opera going to the market. Shaanxi Opera is a kind of stage art, which exists with the aesthetic characteristics of "singing, dancing and telling stories". It is not the proper performance of a mature cultural market to earn a few mouthfuls just by a few vocals and performance fragments. From the perspective of the popularization of Shaanxi Opera, Shaanxi Opera Tea Garden is a good distribution point, but Qin people should have higher cultural enjoyment and pursuit, which has the relationship between popularization and improvement. Professional academies and troupes should shoulder the development mission of representing the artistic direction of Shaanxi Opera. Without this mission, the life inheritance of Shaanxi Opera will eventually pay a heavy price. Regarding the performance market of professional literary and art groups, the rural market is very good now. I think the "cold and cheerless" you said is probably the problem of city performances. As long as you don't need money, most of them can be packed. This is a question of how to cultivate a benign performance market. Many cities have accumulated successful experience, and Lanzhou next door is much better than us. The audience is completely used to the iron law that people should pay for the theater. In short, when talking about the market, we should not only look at the present, but also have a long-term vision. This vision is to unswervingly engage in high-quality dramas with market appeal, support the performing arts talents with market appeal, and occupy the broad stage under the conditions of market economy with greater influence and radiation. (Reporter Wang Xiaoyang Intern Huang Xinxin)