ThecontrastbetweenPekingOperaandItalianoperaPekingOpera•PekingOperaofChinaisanationaltreasurewithahistoryof200years.Inthe55thyearofthereignofEmperorQianlongoftheQingDynasty(1790),thefourbigHuibanoperaTroupesenteredthecapitalandcombinedwithKunquopera,Yiyangopera,HanjuoperaandLuantaninPeking'stheoreticalcircleofthetime.•OveraperiodofmorethanhalfacenturyofcombinationandintegrationofvariouskindsofoperathereevolvedthepresentPekingOpera.•PekingOperaisthemostsignificantofalloperasinChina,andithasarichnessofrepertoire,greatnumberofartistsandaudiences,thatgiveitaprofoundinfluenceinChinaandplaysalargeroleinChineseculture.•京剧角色的行当划分比较严格,早期分为生、旦、净、末、丑、武行、流行(龙套)七行,以后归为生、旦、净、丑四大行,每一种行当内又有细致的进一步分工。“生”是除了花脸以及丑角以外的男性角色的统称,又分老生(须生)、小生、武生、娃娃生。“旦”是女性角色的统称,内部又分为正旦、花旦、闺门旦、武旦、老旦、彩旦(揺旦)刀马旦。“净”,俗称花脸,大多是扮演性格、品质或相貌上有些特异的男性人物,化妆用脸谱,音色洪亮,风格粗犷。“净”又分为以唱工为主的大花脸,如包拯;以做工为主的二花脸,如曹操。“丑”,扮演喜剧角色,因在鼻梁上抹一小块白粉,俗称小花脸。•PekingOperaisasynthesisofstylizedaction,singing,dialogueandmime,acrobaticfightinganddancingtorepresentastoryordepictdifferentcharactersandtheirfeelingsofgladness,anger,sorrow,happiness,surprise,fearandsadness.Thecharactersmaybeloyalortreacherous,beautifulorugly,goodorbad,theirimagesbeingvividlymanifested.•TherepertoireofPekingOperaismainlyengagedinfairytalesofprecedingdynasties,importanthistoricalevents,emperors,ministersandgenerals,geniusesandgreatbeauties,fromtheancienttimestoYao,Shun,Yu,theSpringandAutumnPeriod,theWarringStatesPeriodandthedynastiesofQin,Han,Sui,Tang,Song,Yuan,Ming,Qing.Someofthemalsowereadoptedfromtheliteratureandclassicalnovels,whicharewellknownamongthepublicbutmaynotbeanaccurateaccountofhistory.•ThemusicofPekingOperaisthatoftheplateandcavitystyle.Itsmelodywithharmoniousrhythmsisgracefulandpleasingtotheears.Themelodymaybeclassifiedintotwogroups:Xipianderhong,guidingpattern,originalpattern,slowpattern,quickpattern,desultorypatternbeingtheirchiefpatterns.Theperformanceisaccompaniedbyatuneplayedonwindinstruments,percussioninstrumentsandstringedinstruments,thechiefmusicalinstrumentsbeingjinghu(atwo-stringedbowedinstrumentwithahighregister),yueqin(afour-stringedpluckedinstrumentwithafull-moon-shapedsoundbox),Sanxian(athree-stringedpluckedinstrument),Suonahorn,flutedrum,big-gong,cymbals,small-gong,etc.•ThecostumesinPekingOperaaregraceful,magnificent,elegantandbrilliant,andmostlyaremadeinhandicraftembroidery.AsthetraditionalChinesepatternareadopted,thecostumesareofahighaestheticvalue.•Thetypesoffacialmake-upsinPekingOperaarerichandvarious,depictingdifferentcharactersandremarkableimages,thereforetheyarehighlyappreciated.Moreovertherearenumerousfixededitionsoffacialmake-up.•PekingOperaStageSet-up•Inthepast,stagesinmostChinesetheatersweresquareplatformsexposedtotheaudienceonthreesides,evenallsidessometimes.Inthelattercase,performancescouldbewatchedfromthebackalso.Anembroideredcurtainknownasashoujiuwashungovertheplatform,whichwasthusdividedintotwoparts:thebackstageandthestage.•FamousPekingOperaPlayers•Thetheatricalormusicaloccupationwasconsideredthelowestclassinthesociety.Operaperformanceusedtobeamaledominatedprofession.Mixedperformanceswereprohibited.Alltheroleswereplayedbymale.•SinceMeiLanfang,thegrandmasterofPekingOpera,visitedJapanin1919,PekingOperahasbecomemoreandmorepopularwithpeopleallovertheworld,andithasmadeanexcellentcontributiontoculturalexchangebetweenChinaandtheWest,tofriendlyassociationandtoimprovementofsolidarity•歌剧(opera)是将音乐(声乐与器乐)、戏剧(剧本与表演)、文学(诗歌)、舞蹈(民间舞与芭蕾)、舞台美术等融为一体的综合性艺术,通常由咏叹调、宣叙调、重唱、合唱、序曲、间奏曲、舞蹈场面等组成(有时也用说白和朗诵)。早在古希腊的戏剧中,就有合唱队的伴唱,有些朗诵甚至也以歌唱的形式出现;中世纪以宗教故事为题材,宣扬宗教观点的神迹剧等亦香火缭绕,持续不断。但真正称得上“音乐的戏剧”的近代西洋歌剧,却是16世纪末、17世纪初,随着文艺复兴时期音乐文化的世俗化而应运产生的•歌手所扮演的角色依照他们各自不同的音域(tessitura)、敏捷度、力量和音色(timbre)来分类。男性歌手由音域低至高分为:男低音、男中低音、男中音、男高音、假声男高音(sopranist/countertenor)。女性歌手由音域低至高分为:女低音、次女高音以及女高音。女高音也可细分为花腔女高音和抒情女高音等不同种类。基本上男声的音域皆低于所有女声,但某些假声男高音能唱到女低音的音域。而假声男高音唱多见于古代谱写的由阉伶所唱的角色。•咏叹调•咏叹调是歌剧中主角们抒发感情的主要唱段,它们的音乐很好听,结构较完整,能表现歌唱家的声乐技巧,因而我们经常也会在音乐会上听到它们,如《蝴蝶夫人》的咏叹调“晴朗的一天”,《茶花女》的咏叹调“为什么我的心这么激动”、和罗西娜的咏叹调“我的心里有一个声音”等等。•宣叙调•宣叙调是开展剧情的段落,故事往往就在宣叙调里进行,这时角色有较多对话,这种段落不适宜歌唱性太强,就用了半说半唱的方式,叫做宣叙调,它很像京剧里的韵白。•重唱就是几个不同的角色按照角色各自特定的情绪和戏剧情节同时歌唱,两个人同时唱的,叫二重唱,有时会把持赞成和反对意见的角色,组织在一个作品里;就可能是三重唱、四重唱、五重唱•还有一个形式就是群众场面的合唱,前面已经说过了,它可以根据剧情要求是男声的、女声的、男女混声的,或者童声的。•由配有音乐的戏剧文本(歌词)组成,演唱时通常用音乐伴奏。除了独唱演员、重唱演员、合唱和乐团团员外,从其一开始,歌剧演出还常常包括舞蹈演员。这种复杂的、开支庞大的音乐戏剧娱乐形式,5个世纪以来一直受到听众喜爱。它与其他戏剧形式的明显区分在于其台词用歌唱而不用语言表达;与音乐戏剧式的戏剧,如轻歌剧和音乐喜剧等的区分,则在于其作品的庄重、结构的严密和伴随音响的严肃。•卡门•歌剧魅影猫•世界上第一座歌剧院——圣卡西亚诺剧院(TeatrodiSanCassiano)于1637年在威尼斯揭幕,向一般观众开放,从而结束了歌剧由皇室和贵族垄断的时代,大大推动了歌剧的发展。法国歌剧院巴黎歌剧院•维也纳歌剧院悉尼歌剧院•ThankYou