Everyone who loves Peking Opera knows the name Xi Xiaobo. He is one of the "Four Major Bearers" of Peking Opera. His singing method pays attention to the phonology of singing and reciting, and he has accumulated a set of singing methods of his own, which can be regarded as a masterpiece of Peking Opera. The best of all, this issue of Drama Culture will take you to understand the best of Peking Opera, the libretto of Xi Xiaobo’s classic plays.
Xi Xiaobo (1910-1977), courtesy name Chenghuan, Manchu, was born in Beijing in 1910. An old student of Peking Opera, one of the last four major students. His ancestral surname is Xitala, he is from the Zhengbai Banner of the Manchu nationality, and his ancestral home is Daxing County, Beijing. His grandfather Yude was a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion in the former Qing Dynasty, and later joined the pavilion to serve as prime minister. His father Ximing was the director of the Du branch and was good at painting and calligraphy.
In his 40-year artistic career, Xi Xiaobo has been deeply loved by the audience for his euphemistic, delicate, fresh and elegant singing art, quiet temperament and deep emotional performance talent.
Xi Xiaobo is knowledgeable and versatile. He has high accomplishments in history, literature, calligraphy and other aspects. He is full of poetry and calligraphy. His stage performance is refined, fresh and elegant, quiet, deep, euphemistic and delicate. Known as the Xi sect in the world. The style of Xi style is mainly reflected in "singing". His singing pays attention to the rhyme. He has spent his life's efforts to accumulate a set of "singing" rules, such as "defining the tune with words", playing with the tune and playing with the board, "making the tune based on emotion", "The bones are broken and the bones are not separated", "Sing the Huqin and let the Huqin", "Catch the board to win the words", "Sing the opera and sing the breath", etc. It can be said that his singing is a set of knowledge with strict laws and systematic rules.
His voice is not loud, but it is clear and melodious, with a mellow charm. Mr. Xu Muyun, a famous dramatist, described Xi Xiaobo’s singing as “the beauty of the dongxiao”. For example, his singing in plays such as "The Crying Pai", "White Emperor's City", "Li Ling Stele", "Fan Jin's Successful Examination" and other plays are as sobbing as complaining, as sad as the cranes in the sky, touching the heart, and can be said to be the "Xi School" "Swan song.
Representative plays include "Fan Jin passed the exam", "White Emperor City", "Missing Kong Zhan", "Yang Family General", "Ten Dao Ben", "Silang Visits His Mother", "The Empty City Strategy", " "Going to the rooftop", "Beating drums and scolding Cao", "Famen Temple", "White Python Terrace", "Su Wu shepherding sheep", "Second hall house", "Red-maned horse", "Second entry into the palace", "Black basin" "Memory", "Sanniang Godson", "White-Haired Girl", "Sentinel under the Neon Light", "Surprise Attack on the White Tigers", etc.