"Never have I realized that Beijing Opera would be so enchanting and compulsive .I was that insensitive with it before .Look, now I totally fall in love with it." says one of my roommates jovially.
In fact, now it is not only him who goes for the art of opera , but the rest of the dorm and other dorms of our class as well. So far at our dormitory ,Beijing Opera seems to override the pop music .See, we are immersed more in the sound of operatic selections than that of pop music . We also take time to learn how to sing .
There is a U-turn from the past, which actually derives from a selective course 每The Art of Beijing Opera ,which we have chose this semester. This is a new course established only last term in our department.
For many of us , our initial purpose of attending the course ,as is often the case, was merely to get academic marks ,not intending to nourish the ability of esthetic appreciation for Beijing Opera, the quintessence of Chinese culture .
Then there are several factors that enthrall us .For one thing, our teacher Mr Jiang is charismatic and very professional. The teacher ,now a vice-professor, was once a second-rank actor in our country. The school authorities invited him to come and teach early this year.
He has his way. In class, he teaches the common knowledge of music .And of course we also learn some knowledge about opera , like that of the setting of the stage ,the operatic properties and instruments ,the kinds of voices and the roles , etc. And we can also watch the videos ,which are more exciting for us .And he encourages us to imitate and sing .We are requested to sing a selection as the middle exam. And we have commenced singing the famous operatic selections .
Gradually, we have been captivated by the charm of opera itself.
Firstly ,there is literature in it . For many of the words and sentences are ornate and highly poetic ,like in Youyuanjingmeng ,or A Starling Dream In The Garden of Joy,from The Romance of West Chamber by Wang Shipu.
And the stories are also instructive and significant .There is an opera named Suolinnang. It tells a story like this. On the wedding day of Xue Xiangling ,a lady of a rich family in Dengzhou ,the parade encountered a unexpected torrential rain and had to go to The Spring and Autumn Pavilion for shelter . Simultaneously, there came another bridal sedan chair ,from which a poor girl called Zhao Kezhen was wailing. Xue commiserated with her and generously presented her with a bag containing treasures. Six years later ,Dengzhou was deluged with flood and Xue lost contact with her families .Then ,as luck would had it , when she went to a gentry's residence to become a servant for a living ,she chanced on meeting Zhao, who later contributed to her family reunion.
What's more ,the cadenced and exaggerated tone of opera also amuse us greatly .In our spare time , we can sing for fun, enjoyment and recreation . Most of us can sing the famous selection of The Spring And Autumn Pavilion. And we feel a sense of achievement when we can sing without following the Mp3s. Sometimes we will show off before others.
The opera craze has been aroused.Admirably,some classmates could sing and act so well that they have not long ago participated in The Vocal Performance Seminar of Beijing Opera of Universities ,in which the first ,second and third prizes were won by them for individual performances. Their performance aroused much applause due to their enthusiasm ,their deligent work and the instructions from Mr Jiang.
In fact, now it is not only him who goes for the art of opera , but the rest of the dorm and other dorms of our class as well. So far at our dormitory ,Beijing Opera seems to override the pop music .See, we are immersed more in the sound of operatic selections than that of pop music . We also take time to learn how to sing .
There is a U-turn from the past, which actually derives from a selective course 每The Art of Beijing Opera ,which we have chose this semester. This is a new course established only last term in our department.
For many of us , our initial purpose of attending the course ,as is often the case, was merely to get academic marks ,not intending to nourish the ability of esthetic appreciation for Beijing Opera, the quintessence of Chinese culture .
Then there are several factors that enthrall us .For one thing, our teacher Mr Jiang is charismatic and very professional. The teacher ,now a vice-professor, was once a second-rank actor in our country. The school authorities invited him to come and teach early this year.
He has his way. In class, he teaches the common knowledge of music .And of course we also learn some knowledge about opera , like that of the setting of the stage ,the operatic properties and instruments ,the kinds of voices and the roles , etc. And we can also watch the videos ,which are more exciting for us .And he encourages us to imitate and sing .We are requested to sing a selection as the middle exam. And we have commenced singing the famous operatic selections .
Gradually, we have been captivated by the charm of opera itself.
Firstly ,there is literature in it . For many of the words and sentences are ornate and highly poetic ,like in Youyuanjingmeng ,or A Starling Dream In The Garden of Joy,from The Romance of West Chamber by Wang Shipu.
And the stories are also instructive and significant .There is an opera named Suolinnang. It tells a story like this. On the wedding day of Xue Xiangling ,a lady of a rich family in Dengzhou ,the parade encountered a unexpected torrential rain and had to go to The Spring and Autumn Pavilion for shelter . Simultaneously, there came another bridal sedan chair ,from which a poor girl called Zhao Kezhen was wailing. Xue commiserated with her and generously presented her with a bag containing treasures. Six years later ,Dengzhou was deluged with flood and Xue lost contact with her families .Then ,as luck would had it , when she went to a gentry's residence to become a servant for a living ,she chanced on meeting Zhao, who later contributed to her family reunion.
What's more ,the cadenced and exaggerated tone of opera also amuse us greatly .In our spare time , we can sing for fun, enjoyment and recreation . Most of us can sing the famous selection of The Spring And Autumn Pavilion. And we feel a sense of achievement when we can sing without following the Mp3s. Sometimes we will show off before others.
The opera craze has been aroused.Admirably,some classmates could sing and act so well that they have not long ago participated in The Vocal Performance Seminar of Beijing Opera of Universities ,in which the first ,second and third prizes were won by them for individual performances. Their performance aroused much applause due to their enthusiasm ,their deligent work and the instructions from Mr Jiang.