(picture courtesy of http://appletravel.cn/news-10032.html)
The Chinese Opera Festival was one of the performing arts highlights of the Calgary Chinatown Centennial celebration. With the unique collaboration of traditional BeiJing Opera artists and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jubilee Auditorium was filled with lively Eastern music. It was certainly a rare treat for Calgarians to see this redefined style, since it has only been performed in a few countries around the international stage like Germany and China. As a promotion of Chinese culture among youth, people under the age of 18 were given free admission.
The performances of the evening were put on by the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera Troupe, one of the top-ranked BeiJing Opera groups in China with 80 years of history. The troupe is named in honour of none other than the opera master Mei Lanfang himself, who was an internationally renowned artist in BeiJing Opera. The Director and leading actor of the troupe is Mei Lanfang’s son, Mei Baojiu, who has inherited his father’s legacy of continuing the mastery and performance of this ancient Chinese art. Mr. Mei Baijiu, who is 76 as of 2010, has been performing and training among world class artists since the age of 10. In 1989, he received the “Asia’s best Artist Award” from New York Lincoln Art. It was a real treat to see him perform his dan (female) character on stage.
The evening of performance began with the singing of the Canadian national anthem (probably the best I have heard in years) by the CPO (Calgary philharmonic orchestra) and the Mount Royal Kantorei. The rhythmic Chinese national anthem performed by the Zhiyin-Yin choir followed. Then, the audience was taken slowly back in time through the thousand years of legacy of the BeiJing Opera.
From contemporary operas of the 1950s and 1960s, detailing the accounts of brave soldiers sacrificing their lives to protect their country, to operas of ancient China about a bride lamenting over her uncertain future, the performance expanded the cultural heritage that tied so many generations of Chinese people together. The second half of the show was dedicated to the tragic love story of Yang Guifei, a famous imperial concubine of the Tang Dynasty, and the Emperor. In each act, the story of their encounters, emotions, and grievances are woven into a beautiful melody. The final act of the night, The Pear Flower Song of Praise, ended with the couple finally reunited in heaven, and garnered enthusiastic applause from the audience not only because of the fulfilling ending, but also because the act was sung by Mr. Mei Baijiu himself. The audience was absolutely delighted. The evening ended with Mr. Mei Baojiu receiving an honourary citizenship (symbolized in the form of a cowboy hat) from the citizens of Calgary.
All in all, the BeiJing Opera Festival was one of highlights of performing arts in Calgary this season. I feel very lucky to have had to opportunity to attend it.