BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe will present two operas at the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) from March 15 to 16.
This is part of NCPA's 2nd Kunqu Opera Arts Week, ranging from March 1 to 16. Three top Kunqu theaters in China are scheduled to stage a total of four classic operas during this event.
The opera to be staged on March 15 is "Pei Shaojun and Li Qianjun," adapted from a drama by Bai Pu, a famous opera writer active in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
It describes Pei Shaojun, a minister's son, who rides on a horse through the city of Luoyang and meets Li Qianjun, the daughter of a local official. Falling in love with each other, Li decides to marry Pei and hides her in his backyard.
Pei's father, upon discovering the unapproved marriage, forces him to divorce her and take the imperial exam. Pei later becomes the Number One Scholar in the exam and wins Li back.
The opera to be staged on March 16 is "The Lion's Roar." It tells a story of how a romantic and henpecked scholar Chen Jichang reconciled with his wife through a dream.
Since 2013, the NCPA has organized and hosted "Huangmei Opera Arts Week", "Yue Opera Arts Week", among others, featuring traditional Chinese opera performances. In 2015, NCPA's 1st Kunqu Opera Arts Week greeted audiences with the charm of Kunqu opera.
Kunqu opera combines literary texts, music, costumes and performances and was listed as a world intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2001.
