At the Beijing Opera - Beijing, China - April 24th, 2012
The final place we would be going was to the Beijing Opera. It was a private show our guide organized for us that we paid for, since it wasn't part of the package. It was well worth the price.
The performances took place in fancy hotel (which I noticed is pretty common in China. Hotels are where there are some of the nicest restaurants, and usually also can act as performance venues).
The costumes, masks and music of the Opera are beautiful! The Emperor's beards and the nobles hats are extravagant and the masks have such stark detail, truly making them a second face. Beijing Opera has an all male cast, though many of the males do such a good job its hard to tell that they are guys.
There were four stories that were acted. "Farewell my Concubine," in which a King sings to his concubine about how the Han are closing in and how they were crushed and the Han people are clearly blessed by heaven. She then sings and dances to cheer him up while he drinks tea and watches before the Han forces arrive. She then tricks him and kills herself so that he has time escape (though it probably backfired, the guy was in shock).
The second was called "Night Battle" or "Inn at the Crossroads," it was here that a man is coming to kill an inn owner and then they proceed to fight in the dark. It's almost vaudvillish due to all the misfighting that goes on, before the assassin retreats. I got a big kick out of this one. It was quite hilarious with all the body humor going on.
The third performance was "The Mother and the Concubine" in which a man admits to the kingdom he is with that he is a Song general who changed his name to survive after his brothers were killed by the kingdom he is now a part of. He tells his wife how he wants to see his mother who is the Song camp. She gives him his blessing and he claims to be her servant in the next life. This one was much more real than "Farewell my Concubine," in which the characters were much more detached and could be taken a few different ways (was the concubine working for the Han?)
The fourth performance was "Blossoms and Wine" where some unics watch as a concubine get drunk because she misses the Emperor who has chosen a new favorite. This one was depressing...
So ended the first day in Beijing. What an experience it was.
The performances took place in fancy hotel (which I noticed is pretty common in China. Hotels are where there are some of the nicest restaurants, and usually also can act as performance venues).
The costumes, masks and music of the Opera are beautiful! The Emperor's beards and the nobles hats are extravagant and the masks have such stark detail, truly making them a second face. Beijing Opera has an all male cast, though many of the males do such a good job its hard to tell that they are guys.
There were four stories that were acted. "Farewell my Concubine," in which a King sings to his concubine about how the Han are closing in and how they were crushed and the Han people are clearly blessed by heaven. She then sings and dances to cheer him up while he drinks tea and watches before the Han forces arrive. She then tricks him and kills herself so that he has time escape (though it probably backfired, the guy was in shock).
The second was called "Night Battle" or "Inn at the Crossroads," it was here that a man is coming to kill an inn owner and then they proceed to fight in the dark. It's almost vaudvillish due to all the misfighting that goes on, before the assassin retreats. I got a big kick out of this one. It was quite hilarious with all the body humor going on.
The third performance was "The Mother and the Concubine" in which a man admits to the kingdom he is with that he is a Song general who changed his name to survive after his brothers were killed by the kingdom he is now a part of. He tells his wife how he wants to see his mother who is the Song camp. She gives him his blessing and he claims to be her servant in the next life. This one was much more real than "Farewell my Concubine," in which the characters were much more detached and could be taken a few different ways (was the concubine working for the Han?)
The fourth performance was "Blossoms and Wine" where some unics watch as a concubine get drunk because she misses the Emperor who has chosen a new favorite. This one was depressing...
So ended the first day in Beijing. What an experience it was.