Let’s see this whopping amount of six performers. The comparatively low scores prove xiaosheng profession is not easy.

1. Jiao Pengfei. The xiaosheng in Tianjin. At least I haven’t seen else lately. A well-executed Gathering of Heroes under the guidance of Ye Shaolan, commented by Song Xiaochuan. This play live is on my bucket list. I like the style and movements of Jiao Pengfei, it’s only that I prefer performers with a more “killer” voice, I can’t help it.
2. Wang Ming. Guess what, another well-executed Gathering of Heroes under the guidance of Ye Shaolan and commented by Song Xiaochuan (who has much better manicure than I have)…
3. Yang Nan. The story of Zhou Ren always brings tears to my eyes. Only Wu Fenghua’s yueju version is more heart-wrenching! Right after Jin Xiquan, Yang Nan comes on my contemporary to-die-for xiaosheng list.

4. Li Chun. He’s cute, he’s good, I’m not his fan.
5. Hao Shipeng. 35 years old performer of CNPOC appears as unbearded Zhuge Liang! However the interesting role was enough for the fifth place only. :(
6. Yue Feng. Listen to his introduction! What an adorable speaking voice! :D I really start to like the Dalian troupe. Maybe it wasn’t the most memorable Ba Da Chui in the history of Beijing Opera, but I think he’s a very lovable performer, moreover he chose this hardcore wuxiaosheng play; future is bright, traditional gemstones are carried on, bravo Yue Feng!
(In the audience you can see the enthusiastically applauding Yang Chi – he’s of Dalian origin.)

Interesting tidbit: The Italian girl below is Hao Shipeng’s girlfriend. And look, she sits right next to Wang Ping! Can you imagine the monster creeping under my desk right now? He has big, green eyes. 

Event’s main page: [2012 CCTV Jingju Contest]
Video page: http://tv.cntv.cn/videoset/C38372

Xiaosheng semifinals, both days: [PART1] | [PART2] | [PART3]

Xiaosheng profession is HARD! Only 13 of these hard-working young men managed to navigate themselves into the semi-finals. However, we could see a fair amount of wuxiaosheng, that’s a good sign.

Miao Hairong (缪海容), Yang Nan (杨楠), these two are married IRL? I didn’t know that. Hopefully they won’t end up as Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo.
Zhang Jilei also got domestic support: his jinghu accompanist was his wife.

Also I found new faves:  I’ll certainly will keep my eyes open for Wang Ming (王铭) and Zhang qingyi Han Jinmei (韩金梅) from Hubei! For a change, they’re man and wife too. I really enjoyed their “Good-bye, Pinggui!” scene! Here it is:  [DOWNLOAD] 104MB

Day 1, 2012-07-09

Day 2, 2012-07-10

Jury:

Song Xiaochuan (宋小川), Zhu Shihui (朱世慧),  Xu Xingjie (徐幸捷), Zhao Jingbo (赵景勃), Niu Piao (钮骠), Xiao Runde (萧润德), Kuo Chunhua (寇春华), Zhang Guanzheng (张关正), Shi Xiaoliang (石晓亮)

Results:

Wang Kai 96.33 96.33 96.31 96.31 96.34 96.37 96.35 96.30 96.33 T:96.329
Yue Feng 96.67 96.67 96.60 96.39 96.66 96.86 96.64 96.62 96.89 T:96.674
Wu Jialei 96.39 96.38 96.33 96.37 96.26 96.33 96.27 96.29 96.31 T:96.326
Yang Nan 96.89 96.89 96.96 96.96 96.79 96.83 96.79 96.86 96.77 T:96.859
Hao Shipeng 96.76 96.73 96.70 96.61 96.38 96.66 96.67 96.33 96.70 T:96.636
Jiao Pengfei 96.93 96.93 96.89 .96.89 96.86 96.93 96.73 96.93 96.93 T:96.909
Zhang Jilei 96.37 96.36 96.38 96.33 96.29 96.31 96.31 96.37 96.37 T:96.346
Wang Ming 96.97 96.97 96.77 96.83 96.77 96.73 96.77 96.76 96.97 T:96.834
Jiang Zhenyu 96.31 96.31 96.37 96.29 96.30 96.29 96.29 96.27 96.27 T:96.294
Gao Xiang 96.35 96.35 96.35 96.63 96.62 96.35 96.37 96.64 96.39 T:96.437
Gu Xufeng 96.29 96.29 96.27 96.35 96.32 96.39 96.39 96.39 96.35 T:96.340
Li Chun 96.73 96.76 96.83 96.64 96.93 96.97 96.93 96.79 96.79 T:96.823
Li Junbo 96.27 96.26 96.28 96.27 96.36 96.27 96.33 96.34 96.29 T:96.293

Leaderboard:

Shanghai’s Yang Nan, Tianjin’s Jiao Pengfei chose the same excerpt. The jury honored their efforts with second and first place, respectively. Thrilling finals ahead!

(updated) Yeah! CCTV11 Theater in the Air will broadcast the performance on 23 June (this Saturday)!

…..

Title: 京剧全部《吕布》- Full edition classic Ye school Beijing Opera Lü Bu
[辕门射戟 Yuanmen She Ji (The Magic Shot) + 战濮阳 Zhan Puyang (Battle of Puyang)]
Date: 2012/03/23 19:15 (China time)
Place: Tianchan Yifu Theater
Performers: Jin Xiquan (金喜全), Xi Zhonglu (奚中路), Yang Donghu (杨东虎), Liu Shaojun (刘少军), Xu Jianzhong (徐建忠), Ren Guangping (任广平)
Details: Watch HERE live. (how-to)

First day of rehearsals today. Jin Xiquan loves this play very much. Credible source (Xiong Mingxia) confirms he lost weight in the last few days. :P
Photo: 秦钟wzl

Jin Xiquan, Ye Shaolan, Xi Zhonglu – illustrious!

(edit) I’m just watching. They fixed the microphone issue! Sounds perfect! Xiquan is terrific! The best thing that happened to me in this year.
I have to add that while the audio is nice, the video is unusable. I’ll have to rip it to an mp3 file.

Eye candy (clickety for many more: [lvbu20120223.rar])

Oh poor boy, I see only now his kao fell apart… Y.Y

Shanghai Morning Post

Can you believe that I’ve never seen a Jin-Xiong edition Jin Yunu? I have numerous pictures from several performances, but I’ve never seen a video.
The douzhi bowl part is one of my favorite opera scenes, so funny! I can’t get bored of those face expressions.

The photos below were made on the 13th in Yifu Theater by music_photo and 退休人好快活. Beware, long post! And very full of Xiquan. :P

I can’t stop to listen to this gramo recording of Jiang Miaoxiang (姜妙香).

Somehow I didn’t really like Liu Mingzhe’s version of the same aria yesterday and I started to play this mp3 again, although I knew I can’t stop and my dog will go bonkers. (Whenever Jin Xiquan starts to sing, he leaves the room.)

Mei Baojiu, Mei Lanfang, Jiang Miaoxiang

京剧《辕门射戟》某家今日设琼浆+将军休要逞刚强 - The Magic Shot (2 arias, 2nd starts at 3:40)
[DOWNLOAD the MP3] (1931)

You can buy the CD here, don’t let fool yourself, it is a CD, not DVD.

For some reason when it comes to xiaosheng role, always Ye school is discussed, it’s easier to recognize and well-equipped with performers, however, my attempts to recruit non-Chinese Ye fans failed so far. Maybe the voice and style of Jiang Miaoxiang will be more appealing (dare I say less scary?) for Western ears?

I know it’s hard to decide it from a single mp3 file, so here are some related Google searches to discover Jiang school: Liu Xuetao, Yu Wanzeng, Zhang Wei

Rumors spreading on social networks about the early death of the well-known 49 years old jingju xiaosheng, Jin Xuebin (靳学斌) finally proved to be true.

The sad news were confirmed by Zhang Ping several hours ago, they’ve been working together in Beijing Military Region Comrade-in-Arms Jingju Troupe for more than 20 years. Friends and colleagues feel deeply sorrowful, just like opera fans.

According to his will, his remains will be cremated on the 23rd without any funeral and farewell ceremony. The theater will hold a memorial meeting around the 7th next year.

Yuan Huiqin’s ex-husband had a pleasant voice and those who knew him well say he was a sincere and kind person. I found his Luo Cheng at the City Gates (ref), you can download it below.

 [DOWNLOAD VIDEO] | [BUY CD]

Recently I found a video of the full 130min long staging of Beijing Opera《罗成》Luo Cheng with Jin Xiquan in the title role. This typical Ye school play requires great vocal abilities, expressive acting and fine martial skills. Unfortunately the video is ultimately crappy quality, but the sound is tolerable.

Today is the 97th birthday of Ye Shenglan (叶盛兰，1914.12.10-1978.6.15), also the role deserves a little research, so I’ll post a couple of videos with the most famous aria from the most famous part of the play, Luo Cheng Jiao Guan (Luo Cheng Crying At the City Gate).

Warning: If you are afraid of male falsetto you possibly won’t like it. (Since Bertrand “appointed” me at operabeijing.com, this blog more and more reflects my own interest, and less biased material goes there. ^^)

(1) Standard setter Ye Shenglan’s Luo Cheng is available only as audio recording, obviously. Fortunately it was included in the Sound Essence of China’s Beijing Opera project (the “lip-synching series” to save old Beijing Opera records), with Ye Shenglan’s voice and Ye Shaolan’s acting. Since the son is carbon copy of his daddy in appearance, this video has a really nice “exactly as if …” feeling.
 [DOWNLOAD] 35MB

(You can watch the whole scene here and here on YouTube.)

(2) From the 1million copies I have with Ye Shaolan I decided to post a version that’s possibly not the highest quality video, but this is the only one where he’s wearing costume. Sound is from one of his own earlier recordings, so it has sort of an “archaic” feeling as well.
 [DOWNLOAD] 43MB

(3) The Li Hongtu’s excerpt is one year old, from a highlights performance in Chang’an Grand Theatre on 1 October 2010. Note his one-sleeved archer riding jacket, very practical. The accompanist is very good too.
 [DOWNLOAD] 35MB

(4) The young new star, Zhu Fu (朱福) performed a full version a few months ago in Mei Lanfang Theater, and his troupe just got an award for outstanding performance for this play at the 6th Beijing Opera Festival in Wuhan.
 [DOWNLOAD] 35MB

Here’s the Wuhan award:

The video with Jin Xiquan’s version is really too bad quality to post it. I tried to extract the sound to mp3 but I failed so far.
Do you believe me if I just tell you it’s very precise (and high-pitched :P)? But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t paste a picture at least, so here it goes:

I don’t remember who made this shot, sorry…

Photos, dates: bbs.cntv.cn, mask9.com

Yesterday’s Appreciating Famous Excerpts was worth to download. It was about the role of Lü Bu, and contained two jingju, a beilu bangzi and a kunqu excerpt. Fortunately the editor of the program also considered Jin Xiquan’s Xiao Yan unavoidable, and included a nice recording, that wasn’t symphonic this time. :)

Download:
: [《名段欣赏》  20111025.mp4] 158MB

– 京剧《小宴》 上海京剧院 金喜全
Jingju Xiao Yan (The Small Feast) – Jin Xiquan (Shanghai Jingju Troupe)
– 北路梆子《小宴》 山西忻州市北路梆子剧团 成凤英
Hebei opera Xiao Yan (The Small Feast) - Cheng Fengying (Beilu Bangzi Troupe of Xinzhou, Shanxi)
– 昆曲《梳妆掷戟》 北方昆曲剧院 王振义
Kunqu Shuzhuang·Zhi Ji (Preparations – Casting the Lance) - Wang Zhenyi (Northern Kunqu Theater)
– 京剧《辕门射戟》 北京京剧院 仉志斌
Jingju Yuanmen She Ji (The Magical Arrow Shot) - Zhang Zhibin (Jingju Theater of Beijing)

Hey, I’ve been hunting for this for a while!

I’ve seen in CCTV news before that at this year’s Meet in Beijing Arts Festival on 27 April, besides Yu Kuizhi, Li Shengsu, Meng Guanglu and other “must-be-there” artists Jin Xiquan also occupied the stage for a few minutes. That’s just natural I wanted to know what was he singing!

Well, he was performing Xiao Yan, “The Small Dinner” from Lü Bu and Diaochan, a scene that starts to become his “trademark excerpt”. I found the video a few days ago, but I was so excited about downloading it quickly that I forgot where it was. It sounds so different (and strange) with Western instruments!

→ 京剧《小宴》Xiao Yan (The Small Dinner)  [DOWNLOAD] 40MB
Performed by Jin Xiquan.

Additionally, check out the short news video about the festival. I love Yu Kuizhi interviewed.

→ CCTV News – “Meet In Beijing 2011″  [DOWNLOAD] 22MB

“I love Western opera.” 

(This post went through some major rewamping with longer and better quality videos and more detailed bios after posted first.)

→ 京剧 《赤壁之战·壮别》Zhuang Bie – a snippet from Chibi Zhi Zhan (Battle of Redcliff)

1. Ye Shaolan (叶少兰) as Zhou Yu (周瑜), Shang Changrong (尚长荣) as Huang Ge (黄盖)
    [DOWNLOAD] 63MB
2. Li Hongtu (李宏图) as Zhou Yu, Meng Guanglu (孟广禄) as Huang Ge
    [DOWNLOAD] 39MB
3. Jin Xiquan (金喜全) as Zhou Yu
    [DOWNLOAD] 33MB

Ye Shaolan, wenwu xiaosheng, Beijing opera director was born in 1943 into a remarkable opera family: his father was Ye Shenglan (叶盛兰), his paternal uncle Ru Fulan (茹富兰), his grandfather Ye Chunshan (叶春善), founder of Fu Lian Cheng (富连成), China’s largest and longest-running Beijing opera school.
Barely at the age of 15 he was admitted to the National Chinese Opera Academy. After graduation in 1962, he pursued his studies in Kunqu under the guidance of Yu Zhenfei. In the 60s he entered the Central Academy of Drama for additional studies.
He got the Plum Blossom in its very first year, 1984. In 1988 at the China National Theater Festival his performance of Zhuang Bie,  in cooperation with Li Changchun got a big response. He restored the art of Ye school with plays like Lü Bu and Diaochan《吕布与貂蝉》, Zhou Ren Offering his Sister-in-law 《周仁献嫂》and Liu Yin Ji《柳荫记》, performing and lecturing in the US, UK, France, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Egypt, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Ye Shaolan holds many positions, like permanent council member of  Chinese Dramatists Association, Fulbright international scholarship, director of Beijing Military Region Comrades-in-Arms Cultural Troupe, committee member of CPPCC, major general of Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In 1999 he got the United States Meihua Art Center’s award for lifelong achievements.
He has a flexible voice with implicit charm, pleasant to listen even for Westerners often freaked out by xiaosheng.
His wife, Xu Jiabao (许嘉宝), well-known Mei school actress of Beijing Military Region Comrades-in-Arms Cultural Troupe sadly died of illness in 2009.

Li Hongtu (李宏图), Ye school xiaosheng, officially a disciple of Ye Shaolan since 1993. He was admitted to the Hebei Academy of Art Beijing Opera division in 1976. After graduating in 1979, he entered The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. After finishing school in 1982, he was assigned to Beijing Experimental Peking Opera Troupe, later to Beijing Peking Opera Theater Fifth Troupe, in 1989 to Beijing Peking Opera Youth Troupe and finally in 1998 to Beijing Peking Opera Theater First Troupe.
In 1997 he studied in NACTA’s First Class of Outstanding Young Jingju Performers. In cooperation with the Guangdong Han Opera Theater he took part in a new Beijing-Han opera setup of a historical drama Butterfly Dream《蝴蝶梦》.
Li Hongtu is an award reaper, he scored Beijing Outstanding Young Actor Award in 1984, Beijing Young Chinese Opera Performers Award in 1988, Nationwide Youth Team Drama Award for outstanding joint performance in 1992, first prize in China Ministry of Culture’s National Competition of Outstanding Young Jingju Performers  in 2000, Plum Blossom award in 2001 and more.
He has a clear, sonorous voice, handsome stage appearance, does both wen and wu, performs in a natural, elegant and stylish Ye school manner.

Jin Xiquan (金喜全), Ye school wenwu xiaosheng, national level first-class performer. Just like Li Hongtu, he was admitted to the Hebei Academy of Art in 1991 and continued his studies at The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in 1998.
He also studied in the Fourth Class of Outstanding Young Jingju Performers (2004-2007), and got guidance from numerous teachers like Zhang Chunxiao and Ru Shaoquan during the years. Since he dedicated himself solely for xiaosheng role, he’s a disciple of Ye Shaolan.
He got the Shanghai Yulan Magnolia Award in 2007 for best performance in a leading role.
I couldn’t find when he was born but his wife, actress Xiong Mingxia is very young (born in 1976), so most likely he’s too.
Jin Xiquan has a very clear and high-pitched voice, also he’s very handsome and expressive on stage. I have to admit that gradually I’ve turned into his loyal fan.

Lyrics
Haoran zheng qi chong xiao han
(Courageous spirit soaring up high)
浩然正气冲霄汉，惊醒了星斗闪闪寒。
骇浪奔涛增婉转，风叱云咤也缠绵。
老将军珍重此身经百战，珍重了东风初送第一船。
大江待君添炽碳，赤壁待君染醉颜。
松柏劲骨当岁寒，你谈笑而去谈笑还！