中华民族歌剧的希望之星——歌剧《木雕的传说》述评

A Star of Hope for Chinese National Operas:Notes on the New Opera“The Legend of Woodcarving”

小序2007年新春之际,由中央民族大学音乐学院师生创作和排练的民族歌剧《木雕的传说》在北京民族文化宫大剧院公演。“出人意料的精彩”是许多业内人士的共同感受。美妙动人的传说能以民族歌剧的形式展示出来,特别是抒情歌剧的定位,竟使这部歌 剧像草原的春风春雨那样撒在了京城大地，伴随而来的清新空气，更使人久久难以忘怀。这种“不肥也不瘦”和“浓淡总相宜”的歌剧，

Earlier in 2007,the Chinese opera production“The Legend of Woodcarving”,presented by the teachers and students of the College of Music,Central University for Nationalities,was pre- miered at the Theatre of the Beijing Cultural Palace for Nationali- ties.“Surprisingly wonderful”was the same words of praise by many professional musicians.This lyric opera,based on a beauti- ful legend of Inner Mongolia,was like fresh air coming from the grassland,giving the citizens of the capital city unforgettable memories.The whole process of the production,from script writ- ing and music composition to vocal and instrumental music,per- formance,dance,choreography and even stage rehearsal,has been accomplished mainly by the College of Music,Central Uni- versity for Nationalities,which has fully revealed its comprehensive capacity in various fields.This production,made possible by the joint efforts of the artists of various ethnic groups from the uni- versity,proves that the opera,as part of the achievements of the university's teaching reforms,has strengthened its capacity of in- tegrating with the society.In a sense,the successful presentation of the opera has not only enriched the opera stages of the capi- tal city,but also formed a challenge to various professional per- forming groups,which would have to think about their future pro- duction,performance,and even management and administration. The opera's composer Siren Nadamide chose orchestra and bel canto singing when casting for the play.Although influence of late Western romanticism can be found in the opera's structure and artistic style,all the exotic elements have been used by the composer and the artists so accurately as to create a Chinese national opera.Therefore,we don't feel that we break away from own Chinese customs and habits.For instance,the opera singers can so naturally combine the bel canto singing with the Chinese language that the audience may understand the lyrics even with- out captions.More importantly,the actors,who are teachers and students that don't often have chances to perform on stage,can play the roles unbelievably well.The composer,when writing the vocal and instrumental parts of the opera,adopted the Western harmony,polyphony and instrumentation,as well as techniques of a musical drama structure,but nevertheless,with his many years of composing practices,he knew very well how to control the borrowed techniques and transform them into his own music,and in this way,he created the music of the opera with the key ele- ments endowed with apparent Mongolian characteristics.Although we can hear only a few Mongolian folk songs or folk instrumental pieces in this opera,we can still clearly see the typical Mongolian style from the composer's creation and from the moving melodies with typical Mongolian intervals. In terms of composing techniques,“The Legend of Wood- carving”represents the growth of Chinese operas from two- dimensioned presentation to three-dimensioned one; from purely musical presentation to a comprehensive one with both vocal and instrumental music intertwining with each other; and from tradition- al theatrical structure to one with entirely theatrical elements. These overall changes show the composer's highly professional capability of using voice,instrumental music and multi-layer music in displaying dramatic developments in this opera,and also re- veals the level of our opera developments that are keeping in pace with the huge social,economic and lifestyle changes in our country and the rising demands of our people in appreciating culture and arts. In this sense,this opera has satisfied the demand of the ma- jority in appreciating opera shows.The composer,on the one hand,employs instrumental music for the prelude,interludes and dramatic background description,and also for the mental depic- tion and theatrical conflicts; on the other hand,he presents the arias of the play's leading roles in various forms such as passion- ate interior monologues,love duet of the hero and the heroine, dramatic catharses of emotions,more appropriate stage move- ments and recitative singing.