Chinese contemporary classical opera () is a Chinese-language musical art form drawing on western opera traditions - distinct from modern developments of traditional

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

. One of the first western-style operas was ''

The White Haired Girl ''The White-Haired Girl'' () is a Chinese contemporary classical opera by Yan Jinxuan to a Chinese libretto by He Jingzhi and Ding Yi. It was later adapted to a ballet, a Peking opera, and a film. The ballet adaptation was regarded as a revo ...

'' (1940). Chinese-language western-style opera is to be distinguished the

Revolutionary opera In mainland China, revolutionary operas or model operas () were a series of shows planned and engineered during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) by Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong. They were considered revolutionary and modern ...

s of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

such as ''

Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy ''Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy'' ( Chinese: 智取威虎山; pinyin: Zhì Qǔ Wēi Hǔ Shān) is a Peking opera play and one of the eight model plays allowed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The plot is based on parts of the popul ...

'' which were mainly an adaption of

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

with

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

text and subjects, with some influence from

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

. The 1950s-70s saw several patriotic socialist operas, such as '' Red Guards on Honghu Lake'' (1956). Modern operas with a continuation of "realist" socialist elements include '' A Village Teacher'' (2009). China has several separate ''geju'' companies under the Ministry of Culture, parallel with the traditional Chinese opera companies. The most prestigious are the Beijing-based central ''geju-yuan'' China National Opera House troupe (CNOH), and the Shanghai-based Shanghai Opera House company. In each case the term "Opera House," ''geju-yuan'', refers to the institute or company, not to a fixed building or theatre. The street addresses of both companies are merely administrative offices and rehearsal rooms. Other notable geju companies around China include the Liaoning geju yuan, based in Shenyang and others. The status of ''geju'' has been boosted by availability of new world-class venues such as the China's National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing ("The Big Egg" on Tiananmen Square East) and the new

Shanghai Grand Theatre The Shanghai Grand Theatre () is a complex located at the intersection of Renmin Avenue and Huangpi North Road in the northern part of the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese ...

. Since its opening in 2009

CHNCPA The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) (), colloquially described as The Giant Egg (巨蛋), is an arts centre containing an opera house in Xicheng, Beijing, China. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the NCPA opened in 2007 and ...

has staged operas such as ''

Xi Shi Xi Shi (Hsi Shih; , ), also known by the nickname Xizi, was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived in a small Yue village (today part of Zhuji, a county-level city in Shaoxing, Zhejiang) during the end of ...

'' and '' A Village Teacher'' in 2009, '' The Chinese Orphan'' in 2011, and the folk-opera '' The Ballad of Canal'' in 2012. The Shanghai Grand Theatre has similarly staged Chinese-language ''geju'' of the Shanghai Opera House company along with Italian, French and German-language operas.

List of works

The following includes some operas which are considered closer to the

traditional model than ''geju'' or western opera.

Experimental period, 1945-1956

* 1945 - Ma Ke et al. '' White-Haired Girl'' at

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

Lu Xun Art Academy After founding of the PRC, 1949: * 1954 - Chen Zi, Mao Yuan and Ge Guangrui: ''

Liu Hulan Liu Hulan (刘胡兰, October 8, 1932 – January 12, 1947) was a young female revolutionary during the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China, Communist Party. She was born in Yunzhou District, Yunzhouxi v ...

'' 《刘胡兰》 Central Experimental Xin-geju Academy, Beijing * - Ma Ke: ''Xiao'erhei jiehun'' * 1955 - Luo Zongxian: '' Caoyuan zhi ge'' 《草原之歌》 "Song of the Prairies"

Second wave, 1956-1966

A second wave followed National Music Week, 1956, which lasted till the last geju ''Ayiguli'' in 1966 on the eve of the Cultural Revolution. * 1956 - Chen Zi and Liang Kexiang: '' Spring Blossoms'' ''Yingchunhua kaile'' (libretto by Lu Cang, Wang Lie) * 1956 -

Du Yu Du Yu (223 – January or February 285), courtesy name Yuankai, was a Chinese classicist, military general, and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty. Life Du Yu was from Duling County ...

: Mongolian themed folk opera '' The Gada plum blossoms'' based on the Mongolian folk song ''Gada meilin'' * 1958 - Zhang Rui: '' Rosy Clouds'' ''Hong xia'' (libretto by Shi Han) * 1958 - Shu Tiemin and Ceng Fangke: '' The Red-cloud Cliff'' ''Hongyun ya'' (libretto by Liang Shangquan, Lu Peng, Jiang Shengtao, Su Mei) * 1958 - Zhang Dinghe: '' The Tale of Huai Yin'' ''Huai Yin ji'' (libretto by Lu Su, Huang Cengjiu, Guan Taiping) * 1959 -

Zhang Jing'an Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

: '' Honghu Chiweidui'' "Red Guards of Lake Hong Hu",

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

* 1959 - Shi Lemeng: ''

Two Women of the Red Army 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...

'' ''Liangge nv hongjun'' (libretto by Chen Qitong) * 1959 - Zhuang Ying and Lu Ming: '' Keshan hong ri'' "Red Sun over Mount Ke" PLA Opera Troupe * 1960 - Wang Xiren and Hu Shiping: '' Hong Shanhu'' "Red Coral" libretto by Zhao Zhong, PLA Opera Troupe - also filmed by Wang Shaoyan director of the film ''Red Coral'' (1961) * 1960 - Chen Zi and

: ''Dou E Yuan'' based on the play '' The Grievances of Dou E'', also known as "Snow in Summer" * 1960 - Zhang Dinghe and

: Doushi Ting "The Poem Contest Pavilion" * 1961 - Chen Zi and

: '' Chun Lei'' "Spring Thunder" * 1962 -

Zheng Lücheng Zheng Lücheng or Chong Ryul-song (; , 27 August 1914 – 7 December 1976) was a Korean-born Chinese composer of Korean ethnicity. He is most notable for having composed the music to the Military Anthem of the People's Liberation Army, to w ...

: '' Longing for Husband Cloud'' (libretto by Xu Jiarui) * 1962 - Collective work: ''

Liu Sanjie Liu Sanjie () was a Chinese folk music singer, who is the Liu family's third daughter, with an original name of Liu Shanhua. Liu is a legendary figure of Zhuang people in Guangxi and her songs were melodious and touching, therefore she was dub ...

'', filmed as "Third Sister Liu" the same year. * 1964 - Ge Guangrui: '' Zi you houlai ren "We have our own successors"'' * 1964 - Zhang Yu: '' Red Plum-Blossom Ridge'' ''Hongmei Ling'', film version 1965 * 1964 - Chen Zi: '' Chunfeng yangliu'' "Willows in the spring breeze" * 1964 -

Yang Ming Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration pr ...

and Jiang Chunyang: '' Jiang Jie'' "Sister Jiang" - libretto by Yan Su * 1965 -

: '' Ren huan ma jiao'' "A busy country scene" * 1966 - Shi Fu and Wusi Manjiang: '' Ayiguli'' * 1966 - Mao Yuan and Ma Fei: '' Nanhai Changcheng "The Great Wall of the South Seas"

1966-1976 Cultural Revolution

1977 onward

* ''Flower-Guardian'' (1979) * ''Peng Dehuai Sits on the Sedan Chair'' (1980) * 1980 - Wang Shiguang and Cai Kexiang: '' Di yibai ge xinniang'' "The Hundredth Bride" * 1981 -

Shi Guangnan Shi Guangnan ( Chinese: 施光南; August 22, 1940 in Chongqing Municipality, China – May 2, 1990) was a Chinese composer, best known for his patriotic and nationalistic songs from the Cultural Revolution era that combined traditional mel ...

: ''Shangshi'' "Mourning" - a folk opera based on a story by

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

*The Youth of Today (1982) *The Wedding Sonata (1983) *The Homeland (1984) * 1983 - Wang Zujie and Zhang Zhuoya: '' Fangcaoxin'' "Fangfang, heart of grass", first performance Nanjing, Frontline Song and Dance Troupe. * 1987 - Jin Xiang: 原野 '' The Savage Land'' based on the play by

Cao Yu Cao Yu (, September 24, 1910 – December 13, 1996) was a Chinese playwright, often regarded as one of China's most important playwrights of the 20th century. His best-known works are ''Thunderstorm'' (1933), ''Sunrise'' (1936) and ''Peking Man' ...

. * 1995 - Xu Zhanhai (徐占海 b.1945): '' Cangyuan'' "broad grasslands" Liaoning Geju Yuan, Shenyang production * 2006 - Mo Fan: 雷雨 '' Thunderstorm (opera)'' - based on Cao Yu's play ''

Thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

'' * 2008 - Xiao Bai: '' Farewell My Concubine'' * 2009 - Lei Lei: 《西施》''

'' to a libretto by Zou Jingzhi * 2009 - Hao Weiya: 《山村女教师》'' A Village Teacher'' * 2011 - Lei Lei:《赵氏孤儿》'' The Chinese Orphan'' * 2012 - Yin Qing: 《运河谣》'' Yunheyao'' "Ballad of Canal" * 2012 - Xu Zhanhai and others, '' Diaoyucheng'' - based on the story of

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Diaoyu Fortress The Diaoyucheng (), or Diaoyu Fortress, is a fortress located on the Diaoyu Mountain in Hechuan District, Chongqing, across the Jialing River from the city center of Hechuan. It is known for its resistance to the Mongol armies in the latter h ...

* 2014 -

Guo Wenjing Guo Wenjing (born 1 February 1956, in Chongqing) is a Chinese composer and educator. Guo Wenjing is a contemporary Chinese composer. Unlike many Chinese composers who have studied and lived in other countries, he has only studied in Beijing. He ...

:《骆驼祥子》''

Rickshaw Boy ''Rickshaw Boy'' or ''Camel Xiangzi'' () is a novel by the Chinese author Lao She about the life of a fictional Beijing Pulled rickshaw, rickshaw man. It is considered a classic of 20th-century Chinese literature. History Lao She began the no ...

'' * 2014 - Lei Lei: 《冰山上的来客》'' Visitors on the Icy Mountain'' after the 1963 film * 2015 - Jin Xiang: 《日出》''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' after the 1936 play by

* 2017 -

Zhang Qianyi Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

: ''

Lan Huahua "Lan Huahua" ( zh, t=藍花花/蘭花花, s=蓝花花/兰花花, p=Lán Huāhuā) is a folk song from northern Shaanxi in China. The song tells of a rebellious woman named Lan Huahua who, forced into an arranged marriage, chooses to break with conv ...

'' * 2017 - Lei Lei: ''

Jinsha River (opera) The Jinsha River (, Classical Tibetan, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ, ) or Lu river, is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of the PRC, provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yu ...

'' * 2022 -

Minning Town Minning () is a Towns of the People's Republic of China, town under the administration of Yongning County, Ningxia, China. , it administers Funing Community () and the following six villages: *Funing Village () *Mulan Village () *Wuhe Village () * ...

Taiwan

Tenor William Wu (吴文修) directed 《万里长城》The Great Wall with music by Yang Yao-chang (楊耀章) and a libretto by Pi Kuo (碧果). Premiered by the Taiwan Metropolitan Opera (首都歌劇團) 1993, cross-straits production 1995. Republic of China Yearbook 1999 - Page 366 Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group - 2000 "And the Taiwan Metropolitan Opera has introduced local audiences to such works as Madame Butterfly. Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. One of its biggest sensations has been The Great Wall, a Western-style opera sung in Chinese and telling a Chinese story, performed in 1993. Wu is working on a second historical Chinese opera, based on the story of Liao Tien-ting..."

References

{{Opera topics * Opera in China