Monday, March 3, 2008

A tale of love from the Beijing Opera

I wanted to upload this video for the longest time but there seems to be a problem with the system. At any rate, I've finally done it this morning!

The Beijing Opera is truly one of China's national treasures. That's why I insisted that we don't leave Beijing without watching a performance, even if the show was not part of the itinerary and our tour guide had to book it at the last minute.



Also called the Peking Opera, it is a rich celebration of Chinese language, mythology, costumes, music, dance and theatre. Even the shortest and simplest plot can be extended for what seems like an eternity because a mundane answer like "Yes" could be sung like "YeeeeeSSSSSssssssSSSS..." for a good five minutes. But you never get bored because the action is fast-paced and very engaging, and the set and costumes, magnificent!

This particular snippet comes from the first act that evening, the Death of Yu Ji. It talks about how an empress committed suicide so that her husband, the emperor, could go to war without thinking of her.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola viajero,

¿Dónde te hiciste la foto que sirve de cabecera a tu blog? Parece Despeñaperros (Andalucía), aunque quizá sea en Filipinas o en cualquiera de los planetas que visitas a menudo en tu nave espacial.

Es simple curiosidad.

Saludos cordiales,

Raimundo

Marlon said...

Pues, me la hice en tu tierra, concretamente en Montserrat, que de verdad me encantó!

Saludos y que conste que aquí te esperamos

M.

Juan said...

Hola Marlom!!

Saludos desde Medellín... que envidia viajar por el mundo y apreciar todos estos espectáculos... conocer culturas, lugares... gente.

Te recomiendo uina peli, muy buena, sobre las transiciones que ha sufrido chima, desde el imperialismo hasta el comunismo... basada en la Ópera de Beijing.

Se llama "Adiós a mi Concubina" (Ba wang bie ji)... es un poco larga, pero demasiado entertenida y conmovedora... y dicen que es la mejor peli China de todos los tiempos.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/

Abrazos

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