It is generally regarded as a good thing when artists step out of their comfort zone, pushing themselves in new directions and expanding their expressive range. Chinese opera diva Wei Hai-ming (魏海敏) has never shirked this task, and ever since her starring role in Contemporary Legend Theater’s (當代傳奇劇場) Media back in 1991, she has appeared in numerous unconventional works, most recently in Orlando, the high-profile cooperation with theater director Robert Wilson.
With Fantasia, Nostalgia, Aria Variata (花月憶時夢), Wei will plunge into the realm of pop music, though this is pop music in its very broadest definition, incorporating the Shanghai jazz club music of the 1920s and 1930s, and the transition from campus songs to rock music. She will be supported by a group of outstanding local musicians drawn from both Western symphonic and Chinese classical traditions. Nothing is as you’d expect it, and this, it would seem, is exactly what Wei wants.
Wei first worked together with a Western classical orchestra on a major show in 2007 when she sang Beijing opera accompanied by the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (國立台灣交響樂團) in New Sounds from Beijing Opera (京劇新韻). “I became fascinated by the idea of working together with a [Western] orchestra, as it totally changed the effect of the operatic singing. The sounds of Beijing opera can still be very contemporary and can forge links to a young audience ... that’s why it is necessary for a singer to explore new ways of expression. That’s why I’ve decided to embark on this new project,” Wei said.
At a press conference last Wednesday, Wei emphasized that she was an artist of the 21st century who loved many contemporary works and felt no compulsion to constrain herself to ancient traditions. “The new operas of Mei Lanfang (梅蘭芳) were the pop music of their day,” she said, referring to the founder of the school of Beijing opera to which she primarily belongs.
Certainly Wei has brought her own very unique style to interpretations of popular Chinese pop favorites. In a rendition of Love Is Over (是否), a well-known romantic ballad made popular by early Taiwanese rocker Julie Su (蘇芮), Wei’s fiercely precise diction and dramatic presentation, along with the unconventional support of violin, piano and harp, made something very unusual of the familiar song. It brings to mind a similar disjunction of seeing Meryl Streep singing ABBA in Mama Mia!
Wei has brought her musical selection right up to date with Jay Chou’s (周杰倫) Chrysanthemum Terrace (菊花台), the theme song from Curse of the Golden Flower (滿城盡帶黃金甲, 2006). Wei said that it was important to touch on such modern pop favorites to appeal to younger audiences.
Wei admitted that venturing into pop music, with its singing style that differs significantly from that of Beijing opera, had been a great challenge. But Wei has never been much bothered by boundaries. Even within the world of Beijing opera, she is noted for her willingness to perform in the style of other schools, something that is quite rare for an art form that defines its artists by its particular styles.
While there is no doubt that Wei is a prodigious vocal artist, the question inevitably arises as to whether she can tackle pop musicians on their home turf. Will this be just a minor curiosity rather like opera diva Montserrat Caballe singing duets with Freddie Mercury, or something more enduring? Wei believes she is breaking new ground and suggests that she may make such ventures into pop music an annual event.
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