Banana tours in guangzhou has been putting together interesting excursions. I first met them with the pottery outing over a month ago.
When they had free tickets for the Beijing youth opera group performing Peking Opera, I jumped at a ticket. I did not know what to expect but wanted to experience Chinese culture.
Peking Opera combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It began during the Qing Dynasty (1700-1900). It was extremely popular in the Qing court and is considered a cultural treasure.
The actors have heavy makeup to accent their features as their expressions are a large part of the storytelling.
Journalist Henry Chu wrote in the Los Angeles Times;
“What turns off many Westerners and younger Chinese from Peking Opera delights its older fans: the high-pitched, almost whiny singing; the cacophony of cymbals and clappers; the heavily stylized movements; and the bountiful symbolism, by which the slightest gesture on the nearly naked stage conveys meaning and action.”
The pitch of the singing was high and took some getting used to. Think of it as very high falsetto.
However the expressions, hand and body gestures, and movements were beautiful. It takes many years to master this.
The stories that make up Peking Opera come from the history of China, and include tales from the dynasties, historical events, and stories about emperors, ministers, and beautiful women, and some not so true accounts from literature.
The opera was Farewell my concubine. There are two wives and one becomes jealous of the other and sets out to poison her, instead poisoning the husband. There is treachery as the new widow is poor and the other is able to bribe others to have her imprisoned. You can see where the story goes.
Screens along the side of the stage give the storyline but I was slow translating so missed post of the story.
Some video of the performance.
After the show, we met many of the actors. It was explained that the voice is so high as there are no microphones and they need to project their voice far. They focus the sound to come from the back of their head out from above their eyes. It is a different way to project and quite interesting.
