Back in 1930, renowned Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang took a journey to the United States. Through his artistry, western audiences witnessed the quintessence of Chinese art.
Mei Baojiu (central) is leading a troupe to Canada. His performance puts the pinnacle of Chinese Peking Opera back on a western stage.
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Now eighty years later, his son Mei Baojiu is leading a troupe to north America once again, this time to Canada. His performance puts the pinnacle of Chinese Peking Opera back on a western stage.
Woman General of Yang Family, Beauty Diao Chan and the Wailing Concubine of the King of Chu, some of the most renowned female characters of Peking Opera were presented to Canadian audiences, in evening galas held in two cities -- Edmonton and Calgary.
Also, there will be symphonic arrangements of excerpts from traditional Peking Opera including Boar Forest, Judge Bao and the Qin Xianglian Case and more recent classics like Cuckoo Mountains and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
The highlights belonged to the five versions of the Tang dynasty Concubine, played by five different actors, with Mei Lanfang's son Mei Baojiu's portrayal gained the most applause. The seventy-six-year-old veteran mesmerized audiences with his mellow singing and graceful postures.
The combination of the Peking Opera and western music instruments has pushed the aesthetic boundaries of the art form further.
Mei Baojiu, Peking Opera performer, said, "I think it's a good merging. All these measures can be used by Peking Opera. The symphony music can help climb the tune of Peking Opera to somewhere it hasn't been before. It can strengthen the beauty of rhythm of Peking Opera even better. But the singing, dubbing and narration all follow the tradition, which makes the flavor authentic."
The mixture of the age old opera and symphonic sounds represents the idea that music is without boundary, and Peking Opera transcends boundaries too.