Famous Performances
Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳/梅蘭芳) (sometimes paired with Yu Zhenfei (俞振飞/俞振飛) as Liu Mengmei) was famous for his sensitive portrayal of Du Liniang.
The most famous actress of recent years is likely Zhang Jiqing's (张继青/張繼青) traditional approach out of Nanjing's Jiangsu Province Kun Opera.
In Shanghai, Jennifer Hua Wenyi (华文漪/華文漪) was very popular in the role, and has played the role abroad several times.
For a particularly pleasant and graceful interpretation, one may refer to Zhang Zhihong (张志红)'s performances in the 1990s.
In 1999, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts produced a 20-hour version of The Peony Pavilion directed Chen Shizheng and starring Qian Yi as Du Liniang and Wen Yu Hang. This 20-hour version was perhaps the first full-length staging in 300 years and spurred a renewed interest in the full opera beyond performing a few celebrated episodes. Lincoln Center's version toured extensively, playing in New York, Paris, Milan, Singapore, Caen, Charleston, Aarhus, Berlin, Perth and Vienna. DVD highlights have been released in the United States and Taiwan.
In 2007, the director Lin Zhaohua and the Kunqu Opera master Wang Shiyu revived the work and sought to challenge previous modern versions. They abandoned the staged style in use since the Qing Dynasty and returned to a “Family Team” performance mode of the Imperial Granary.
The China Arts & Entertainment Group, a creative enterprise under the administration of the Ministry of Culture for the People's Republic of China, announced the United States premiere of a new dance drama production of The Peony Pavilion by the China Jinling Dance Company of Nanjing to be performed at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for four performances in early January 2012.
Read more about this topic: The Peony Pavilion
Famous quotes containing the words famous and/or performances:
“The humanity of famous intellectuals lies in being wrong with gracious courtesy when dealing with those who are not famous.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“At one of the later performances you asked why they called it a “miracle,”
Since nothing ever happened. That, of course, was the miracle
But you wanted to know why so much action took on so much life
And still managed to remain itself, aloof, smiling and courteous.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)