Big Blog #2 Different Musical Cultures

 Chinese Opera

I wanted to do Chinese Opera because being that I am a singer, I thought I would know just the things to look for. But as soon as I started looking into this, I quickly realized that their opera is quite opposite then ours. I mean gymnastics? We do not really see that in a classic Mozart Opera! (Would be very awesome though.) The first raw reaction I had to a video of Chinese Opera, I was very taken back. I did not really know at all what was going on. Their vowels and vocal technique are very spread, heavy makeup, and very elaborate costumes. So let us take this blog to answer some questions!

Where did Chinese Opera originate?

The Tang Dynasty's Emperor  Xuanzong was the first to create the first National Opera troupe called the "Pear Garden." (712-755) Ever since, it has been a very popular entertainment in China! Now, even millennial years after Xuanzong's death, opera is enjoyed by politicians and common people. Opera singers are still referred to as "Disciples of the Pear Garden." 

There are other types of opera that is done in China, but today I want to focus on the Peking Opera. Peking Opera is one of the main opera styles in China. It includes singing, dancing, mime, dances, music, and acrobatics! This particular opera arose in Beijing in Mid- Qing dynasty (1636-1912.) It became full recognized by the Mid-19th century and know is very adored in China. 

Until we go further, here is a video of traditional Chinese Opera so your mind can get stirring! I  would love to read about your first opinions of Chinese Opera in the comments! Do you see any relation to Western Opera singing? Do you like the type of vocal technique that is used?                   

What is the Vocal technique? 

In Peking Opera, the only main focus is how the voice projects, not really on beauty of the voice. The audience being able to hear the singer is very important. They accomplish this projection by a very forward singing technique. Along with the forward singing placement, they have a very spread sound and high pitched singing. The really refined pointy sound is what carries their sound. In my word's, it reminds me of when we were children and we would sarcastically say "naa, naa, naa, naa,naa" but they sing with type of tone. Could just be me! 

This is very vastly different than the technique we learn in Western Classical Opera. We learn a very formal and open way of singing. Perfectly placed vowels are a must! We also use our support from our lower abdomen and we think as making use of the "bottom." Also a technique most singers use is we really focus on having a relaxed jaw, shoulders, and overall body. From my observations, the Chinese singer's have very precise, tight, and fixed structure. This is interesting because usually, a great and supported voice can not happen with such intentional control in the body and face.

Now, there are about four other types of Opera in China that does like to focus on the beauty of the sound. I did not choose those to speak about today because I was very drawn to this specific Opera.  I found Peking to be the most interesting one to study because I simply do not understand it. Prioritizing the volume of the voice over the quality has never been anything I have heard of. 

What about the costuming and makeup?

All of their costumes and makeup have symbolism in them. The dramatic makeup to even the meaning of the colors of what they are wearing. I have below a video of a time lapsed edited portion of a Peking singer putting on hair and make up for a show. My first observation is how much layering is going on.  The artist puts multiple layers of the pink on to get the perfect shade. I also was curious as why they use white on their face as a base, and the gorgeous head piece! 

I learned that the face paintings are exaggerated facial expressions, called "a mirror of the soul." They use the makeup to identify the personality, fate, role of a character. Also, all the colors are symbolizing personalities as well. For example, red face represents loyalty and bravery. A black face shows valor. While golden and silver faces mean mystery! 
 

Now on to those costumes! I love how every culture we have studied so far, their costumes are so beautiful and tied to their country! In Chinese Opera, the Costuming colors symbolizes character traits as well as the face paintings do! They also show a separation of age. Usually brown is kept for the elder opera singers.

The Peking Opera has many costumes with bright colors and bolded  patterns. They use these costumes for characterization and for the audience to see beauty and authenticity. I really enjoy all of the female's costumes. I think their so pretty, feminine, and tell stories in the costumes. 

What is the importance of movement's in Peking Opera? 

Just like in many other cultures, the precision in hand and body movements are very important! Their hand movements and pointing have meaning. When a man looks at a woman his eyes will light up! Verses as when a woman looks at a man, it is more indirect. She will do eye movements that portray shyness. When they point to something, they always follow their hand with their eyes. To practice eyes movement, at night they light a sparkler and move it around and follow it with their eyes! Go back to the first video of the two women and really watch their eyes and hand movements to see this in action! 

I have a video inserted that gives good information about this as well, It talks mainly about Sinchuan opera, but still good info on life also as a Chinese Opera singer. Also, towards the end, am i the only one hearing music from the Opera Carmen? Let me know! Starting to think I am hearing things! 

What Instruments are used in Chinese Peking Opera?

 The music if Peking Opera is mainly done with orchestral music and heavy percussion. The percussion instruments are used to give a strong rhythmic accompaniment. The main percussion instruments that are used are various sizes of gongs and drums. Also, they use clappers that are made out of bamboo. The stringed instrument that is mainly used is the jinghu and erhu. The plucked instruments are yueqin ( like a moonshaped mandolin), pipa ( a four stringed lute., and the xianzi ( a 3 stringed lute.) not often are the suano horn and the Chinese flute are used. The percussion is led by a drum player, which uses bamboo sticks to create the very projected sound. The drum does all sorts of dynamics to help showcase the emotions of the characters.

What is it like to be an peking opera singer?

 Now that we know about the origin, makeup, costumes, instruments, and the technique. What is like living as a Opera performer? They learn and start training as young children. They learn the movements and dialect very young because as you get older, your limbs become stiff which cause the movements to suffer. Actors have said that the training was very tiring and painful. A lot of students usually drop out, because they believe they are not good enough to perform. 

After the Chinese government reformed, actors are having to make it work. They work for at or less than minimum wage, and work long hours and many days. They all seem to have very positive attitudes about this though. In their Opera, they say that "As long as we are living, we are learning." I see a lot of relation with their performers as I do performers here in Western Opera. Always making it work, it is a hard life, but a beautiful life.

I really enjoyed just barely scratching the surface on Chinese Opera. I highly encourage you to look more into this. There are over 300 types of opera! It almost seems limitless as to what they are doing! I really felt connected to this, I am so thankful to have learned and shared this with you. I will leave some of my favorite performances linked below if you like to see more! Once again, Thank you!