Mao Shanyu

essential information

Character experience

From the lovely and brave little Tiemei in the story of red light to the free and easy officials in Dong Meiqing, from the gentle and kind self respecting women in pomegranate skirt to the abnormal Fanyi in Thunderstorm The petite Mao Shanyu brings us vivid and full characters.

More than 20 years ago, the teacher of Shanghai Shanghai opera academy, who was in charge of recruiting students, asked Mao Shanyu, who was still a child, "do you like singing on stage?" "yes!" Mao Shanyu immediately replied. Although she didn't really know what Shanghai Opera was at that time.

On a chilly afternoon in spring, sitting in the quiet office on Tianping Road, Mao Shanyu, who has become the president of Shanghai Shanghai Opera Theater, said with emotion: "starting from the ignorance of love, so many years have passed in a flash. At that time, many of my classmates and partners had left the stage, and I was still here. I didn't expect that Shanghai Opera is so suitable for me, and I can't live without it. "

Vienna Golden Hall

Clear water out of Hibiscus, natural to carve. This is Mao Shanyu's deepest impression on the stage.

In the face of the rapid loss of traditional theatre audience and the potential crisis of Shanghai People's poor ability to speak the Shanghai dialect, Mao Shanyu still looks forward to the new year with great pride and confidence: "I am very optimistic because there is only one China in the world, only one Shanghai in China, and only one Shanghai Opera in Shanghai. As a special regional culture created by the special human and geographical environment of Shanghai, Shanghai Opera has its own characteristics and vitality. With the attention of the society and the government, this drama, which witnessed and recorded the development of Shanghai, will continue to develop with the city. "

Singing zizhudiao

Reporter: on the eve of the Spring Festival, on behalf of the Shanghai Opera circle, you just joined Shi Yihong, Qian Huili and Shan Yangping in the "charming Oriental" performance held in the Golden Hall of Vienna. What's your biggest feeling when you are on the stage of the world's top concert hall for the first time?

Mao: it's really exciting to be able to sing the beloved purple bamboo tune in Mozart's hometown. It's really symbolic to be on the stage of art palace. Accompanied by Graz Symphony Orchestra of Austria, we successfully demonstrated the unique charm of Chinese opera and Oriental Art. The golden hall is not as magnificent as it was supposed to be. The stage is not big, the space is not grand, and because of the long history, even the color is no longer new. But it is in this place that you can clearly feel the profound cultural accumulation. Standing in this classic place, I have a sacred feeling: I not only represent a drama, but also represent a country to perform.

Reporter: which track did you choose to perform at that time?

Mao: it's the "Purple Bamboo tune" in the Shanghai Opera luohanqian. Because it is widely spread and influential, and the melody is clear and beautiful, cheerful and fluent, full of strong Jiangnan characteristics. I choose to sing it on many important occasions. I remember when Reagan, the former president of the United States, visited Shanghai, I sang "Purple Bamboo tune" for him at the banquet. The American guests were very surprised and asked me, where did such a wonderful voice come from? On January 15, when I dressed in a cheongsam and presented it to the friendly Vienna audience again, I also won a long standing applause. Facts have proved that not only the Oriental people can enjoy the Western Symphony ballet, but also the Westerners can love our national opera.

Salute the predecessors with thunderstorm

Reporter: like the "Purple Bamboo tune" in "luohanqian", thunderstorm staged during the Spring Festival also has a wide influence. All along, the roles you perform are mostly fresh, sweet, tender and delicate girls. How do you view the challenge of playing Fanyi, a tragic character with morbid depression, for the first time, and several generations of famous actors?

Mao: it should be said that Fanyi is no stranger to me. When Ding shie taught me to sing opera more than ten years ago, she taught me to sing a section of Fanyi, but it was the first time that she played Fanyi in the whole book. The famous Shanghai Drama thunderstorm in 1959 has become a classic, which is still deeply remembered by the audience. For us, performing thunderstorm is a rare opportunity to learn and exercise. To rearrange thunderstorm is to use this classic play to pay homage to our predecessors. But I think that every generation playing thunderstorm should inject new vitality into this classic.

This time, in order to play Fanyi well, I specially listened to the tape of teacher Ding, who had the reputation of "living Fanyi". Her timbre, singing and speaking are very personalised. The sound alone makes you feel that she is fully integrated into the role. Of course, Fanyi in everyone's heart is not the same, I also have my understanding. In singing, I appropriately added some body language to express Fanyi's complex and contradictory feelings towards Zhou Ping. In the garden scene, from exploratory touch, conscious reliance to the final emotional outburst, this hierarchical body language and singing combination, to the audience's recognition.

Be a good actor and a good president

Reporter: "from Sifeng in the past to Fanyi now, your" seniority "on the stage is higher, and your role has changed. The role under the stage has also changed, in addition to the actor, but also more than a dean's title

Mao: Yes. I have been the president of Shanghai Opera Theater for nearly five years. I think the change in my new role is very fast. I used to be very relaxed when I was an actor. I went home after the performance and didn't want to get up until noon. As president, I have many things to consider and worry about, but I am relatively young, can accept advanced ideas, and also pay attention to team spirit and clear distinction between public and private. Even a good friend in private will point out if he makes a mistake in business. vice versa. In the past five years, the theater has been basically pushing new plays every year, rehearsing pomegranate skirt, red wedding, dragon and Phoenix, yiwenqian, Hu Jinchu's wife, home and so on. Although they are very busy, they all work very hard.

Take a picture in front of the hall

What are your plans for the new year

Mao said: "we have formulated a five-year plan for the development of Shanghai Opera, striving for breakthroughs in training and inheritance, creation and performance. At present, on the basis of rescuing the heritage and sorting out the materials of old artists, we have started a series of interviews with middle-aged artists and audio and video recordings of excellent plays. We are ready to promote and launch some new schools of Shanghai Opera art through summary, in-depth theoretical discussion. At the same time, in order to speed up the training of Shanghai Opera talents and strive for the early opening of Shanghai Opera classes in Shanghai Opera School, we are actively preparing for enrollment. There are also plans and arrangements for the planning of new dramas, the expansion of the performance market, the construction of professional theatres, the publication of Monographs on Shanghai Opera, the launching of the Shanghai Opera channel, and the production of new films and TV plays on Shanghai Opera. "

Reporter: "it's said that the newly created key play" Lu Xiang Nu "is a play tailored by Zhao Hua Nan for you. It will be officially put into public this year?"

Mao: Yes, this is the beginning of the five-year development plan of Shanghai Opera, and it's also what I'm looking forward to most in the new year. As the first gift play of the Shanghai World Expo, the setting of Lu Xiang Nu was set in 1915. At that time, the Chinese embroidery work Luo Shen Ling Bo won the gold medal at the World Expo. A young painter named Dong Yaoting, as a librarian of China Pavilion of the Expo, went to Songjiang area to visit Gu Luxiang, the embroiderer of this work, which brought out a legendary story. This is a new play reflecting the historical origin of Shanghai and the World Expo, as well as the Shanghai People's humanistic complex for the World Expo. As early as when we succeeded in applying for the Expo, we had already begun to prepare. Zhao Huanan and I went to Songjiang for interviews many times. After years of deliberation and careful preparation, we hope that this new play can be loved by the audience, and strive to sprint the national stage art project.

Shanghainese will not lose Wu dialect

Reporter: Nowadays, most children in Shanghai are used to speaking Putonghua from kindergarten. Native Shanghainese can't even speak Shanghainese when they grow up. As an actor of Shanghai Opera, do you worry about the living space of Shanghai Opera in the future?

Mao: indeed, this is a very worrying situation. There are fewer and fewer children who can speak Shanghai dialect and can speak Wu dialect well. There is a serious shortage of Shanghai Opera students. Due to geographical and dialect restrictions, they can't enroll in other provinces and cities like brother operas. But with the whole society's attention to Wu dialect, Shanghai dialect and national opera culture, I believe it will get better in the future. I don't think the smart Shanghainese will easily abandon Wu Yu. It is definitely necessary for Shanghai to speak Mandarin, which is widely used in the whole country. But don't lose your own color at the same time. Because only the language of different regions can reflect the culture of different regions. Now many "Haipiao" are enthusiastically learning Wu dialect and singing Shanghai Opera, hoping to better integrate into the city of Shanghai, so there is no reason for us to belittle ourselves.

Shanghai Opera's application for world heritage is basically successful

Reporter: I heard that Shanghai Opera is expected to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list?

Mao: Yes, from the beginning of last year to the end of this year, the general office of the Ministry of culture has published a public announcement. Shanghai Opera has basically succeeded in applying for the world heritage. In the process of collecting data for one year, we have a rational review and a clear understanding of the art of Shanghai Opera. An old man once said, "to keep the language of Shanghai is to keep the memory and history of Shanghai." I think that's appropriate. Shanghai opera originated from tanhuang can represent Shanghai. Because Shanghai Opera has witnessed the growth of Shanghai and is an inseparable part of Shanghai's cultural context. Although there are only a few Shanghai Opera groups and the performance market is sluggish, the audience who love Shanghai Opera can't afford it

Chinese PinYin : Mao Shan Yu