From "the bitter and barren world, ten years and nine droughts" to "the mountains and the mountains are all good homes", "Mountains and Seas" uses a strong northwest flavor to tell the magnificent picture of China's contemporary social and historical changes and vicissitudes. From March 6th to 9th, the National Centre for the Performing Arts' original national opera "Mountains and Seas" will usher in the fourth round of performances.
The opera "Mountains and Seas" is adapted from the hit TV series of the same name in 2021, co-created by composer Meng Weidong, screenwriter Yi Ming, director Wang Xiaodi and other first-line artists, and premiered in 2022. The script creation of the opera "Mountains and Seas" fully integrates the characteristics of opera art on the basis of TV dramas. In the original play, the enthusiastic young cadre Ma Defu, the beautiful and stubborn rural girl Li Shuihua, the witty poverty alleviation cadre Chen Jinshan, and the affectionate and righteous Debao, as well as the classic storylines such as Shui Hua running away from home, difficult persuasion to relocate, encountering sandstorms, and solving electricity, are all put on the opera stage, depicting a historical picture of contemporary human migration with ordinary and vivid group portraits.
The national opera "Mountains and Seas" was written by Meng Weidong, and the composer fully absorbed the folk elements such as Ningxia "flowers", northern Shaanxi folk songs, Shanxi folk songs, etc., and the whole opera had a beautiful melody and a large number of catchy singing segments, with distinctive regional characteristics and national style. Since the premiere, the singing segments such as "The Bitter Barren World", "There is a Ga Sister in My Heart", "Shouting the Sky on the Liangliang" and "Three Flowers Singing" have received a lot of praise. In addition, the opera "Mountains and Seas" adopts the form of "drama and singing", and the characters use dialects in the dialogue, colliding with the sense of humor where different regional cultures meet.
In terms of stage presentation, different from the realistic technique of TV dramas, the opera adopts a freehand style, in line with the stage vision of contemporary aesthetics, depicting the real style of the northwest region and the temperament of the sky and the earth, showing the unique aesthetics of the opera stage.
This round of performance is led by conductor Zhang Jiemin of the National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, Wang Hongwei, Ma Xiaoming, Xu Jingjing, Jin Zhengjian, Chen Dashuai, Liang Yufeng, Ma Teng, Wu Mengxue, Chen Yingzhu, Liu Shan, Guan Zhijing and other outstanding artists starring.
Text: Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Wanting.
Edited by Gong Lifang.