Have you ever heard a symphonic version of traditional Taiwanese gezaixi opera? With generous funding from a local company, members of renowned gezaixi singer Huang Hsian-lien’s Lien Art Performance Workshop will be putting on a three-day performance at Greater Tainan’s Guijen Cultural Center starting this Friday.
As part of the Love City Tainan Chihsi Festival being held in Tainan until Aug. 26, Huang’s troupe was invited to perform The Butterfly Lovers — a well-known legend and traditional opera piece. Even more spectacular, though, is that the Tainan City Traditional Orchestra (TCTO) will be joining the troupe along with Chi Yu-cheng, who will be serving as music director. Chi says that many of the traditional melodies have been altered for their version, giving this classic story a new musical twist. Including the TCTO conductor and its members, 16 people from the orchestra will be accompanying the troupe for the performances, combining the four musical sections of traditional Chinese music — winds, bowed strings, plucked strings and percussion. Chi’s clever orchestration also adds the Western symphonic style of violins to the piece, giving traditional gezaixi an entirely new sound.
A local company, Xxentria Technology Materials Co, has contributed NT$6 million to the production. Cheng Hsien-sung, the company’s president, says that although gezaixi has existed among the Taiwanese and run the test of time, it has gradually been forgotten, going on to say that even though people still have many vivid memories of gezaixi, it is now unfortunately only seen in reruns played on television, which was why he decided to help revive the art form.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者吳俊鋒
Huang took a trip down south on Aug. 7 to take part in a promotional event for the her troupe’s upcoming performance of The Butterfly Lovers. She brought several troupe members with her, including Hsiao-mi, to perform at the event, earning enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Huang says she used to cry every time she watched Ivy Liang Bo in Love Eterne, a film adaptation of The Butterfly Lovers’ legend that was made in the 1960s. She says that her troupe has worked very hard to make this a grand production and welcomes the people of Tainan to share in all the excitement. Tickets are available free of charge.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
聽過交響樂曲風的傳統歌仔戲嗎？在當地企業家熱情贊助下，週五起將由全國知名的黃香蓮歌仔戲團在歸仁文化中心連續三天演給你看。
Photo courtesy of Lien Art Performance Workshop
照片由黃香蓮歌仔戲團提供
配合「愛情城市七夕嘉年華」活動，黃香蓮歌仔戲團應邀演出膾炙人口的名劇《梁山伯與祝英台》，特別的是，將由台南市立民族管絃合作伴奏，擔任音樂設計的姬禹丞表示，有別於傳統的都馬調或雜唸仔，很多橋段重新編曲過，一樣的經典情節，不同的聽覺享受。這次市立民管連同指揮，共有十六人會搭配伴奏，結合國樂的吹、拉、彈、擊等四個聲部，姬禹丞在編排時，也巧妙融入西式小提琴的交響曲風，讓傳統歌仔戲呈現出嶄新風貌。
這次梁祝演出，歸仁當地的森鉅科技是幕後推手，贊助新台幣六百萬元活動經費，總經理鄭憲松指出，隨著時代演進，曾經陪伴大家多少走過風雨歲月的台灣歌仔戲逐漸被淡忘，耳熟能詳地成長回憶，目前卻在電視重播中才看得到，令人唏噓，因此他希望為傳統藝術盡份心力。
黃香蓮八月七日專程南下進行活動宣傳，還帶著團員小咪等人上台獻唱，贏得粉絲們如雷的掌聲。她提到當年凌波一九六０年代主演的《梁祝》，每次看了都會哭，這次精心準備的大戲，歡迎台南鄉親共襄盛舉，已開放索票。
（自由時報記者吳俊鋒）
A: Singer Jay Chou is staging four shows at the Taipei Dome starting today. B: And he’s the first singer to ever hold concerts at the venue. A: I’m curious, how big is this “big egg” exactly? B: It can accommodate nearly 40,000 people and bring various kinds of business opportunities. A: This is the new “concert economy” trend. A: 歌王周杰倫從今天起，將一連4天在大巨蛋開唱。 B: 哇，周董可是首位在大巨蛋舉辦演唱會的歌手耶！ A: 大巨蛋到底有多大啊？真好奇。 B: 每場可容納近4萬人，還能帶來各種商機呢。 A: 嗯，這就是現在最夯的「演唱會經濟」。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: I’ve been a fan of singer Jay Chou for 24 years, since his debut in 2000. B: But this time, his Taipei Dome concerts have shed light on the issue of ticket scalping. A: Isn’t the law stricter after being amended last year? B: Yeah, ticket scalping is illegal, even if you only raise the price by NT$1 when reselling. A: Why aren’t scalpers afraid of getting caught? Maybe a real-name ticketing system would be better. A: 自從周杰倫2000年出道以來，我都已經追星24年了。 B: 不過這次大巨蛋開唱，他卻引爆黃牛票問題。 A: 去年修法後，法規不是變得比較嚴格？ B: 是啊，就算加價1元轉賣也算違法！ A: 黃牛們怎麼都抓不怕？或許票券「實名制」會更有用。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
When a large group of people struggles to reach a consensus, voting is often used to help make a decision. Surprisingly, humans are not the only animals that exhibit this type of democratic tendency. Several different species of animals demonstrate similar voting behavior. One of the most notable examples of animals engaging in this activity involves African buffalo. Ecologist Herbert Prins first observed herds of African buffalo performing voting behavior in the 1990s. Groups of African buffalo would pause under the intense midday sun and rest until dusk. Prins noticed that some buffalo would periodically stand up and gaze
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang The African buffalo’s voting system is straightforward. One buffalo initiates the process by getting up, looking intently in a particular direction, and lying back down. If other buffalo agree with this choice, they will mimic this behavior. Conversely, buffalo with a differing preference will face their desired location. Ultimately, the direction favored by the majority dictates where the herd will graze that evening. Not all buffalo are involved in the decision-making process, though. It’s primarily the adult females of the herd that participate. The voting system displays a certain level of fairness because the status of each buffalo in
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