Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Han Xuan Fangfei
Recently, the original Russian musicals have been staged one after another on the Beijing stage. The original version of "The Devil Onegin" has just kicked off its national tour at the Tianqiao Art Center. Starting from December 29, the Russian musical "Anna" "Karenina" also appeared at the Tianqiao Art Center to accompany the capital's audience during the New Year's Eve. Both musicals are adapted from Russian literary masterpieces, and both are performed by Russian teams. They have made the Beijing audience addicted to "Russian aesthetics".
The musical "Anna Karenina" is adapted from Leo Tolstoy's famous work, with metaphors of "trains", "rails" and "tracks of life" running throughout. The play begins with the famous train scene. The conductor appears and repeatedly reminds passengers not to fall on the tracks with lyrics. A group of dancers pose as locomotives, and their dance movements also simulate the gears and parts of the locomotive. It was at this train station that Anna and Vronsky glanced at each other, which destined her life to deviate from the normal track, and also foreshadowed her fate of being killed on the railway tracks.
The relationship between Anna and Vronsky must be familiar to many people. "Anna Karenina" strengthens the relationship between their relationship and the "train track" and even the "train of life" from multiple perspectives such as music and stage design. . Many of their classic songs take place at a train station, with the roaring trains in the background and the rumble of wheels carrying an industrial, cold texture, in sharp contrast to their hot feelings. At the end of Anna's death, the elements of "Locomotive" appear again, forming a dramatic climax. In addition, the character setting of the train conductor is also the finishing touch. The actor who plays the train conductor also plays the roles of ball master of ceremonies, feast host, etc., but hardly changes his costume. He is like an outsider who has a thorough understanding of the whole drama. He uses cold eyes and The lyrics with puns connect the development of the plot in different scenes.
"Anna Karenina" has many arias, and the whole play has a very fast pace. The quartet of Anna, Karenin, Vronsky and Vronsky's mother is wonderful. A pair of lovers who violate secular morals and cannot face their hearts, dodge and escape from the questioning of their relatives. The four characters on the stage They form a group of two, with two separate sides, each with its own joys and sorrows, all of which are vividly expressed in the music. Anna's voice is very malleable. She sings big ballads with a dense and high-pitched voice, but when she sings lullabies a cappella to her children, her voice is ethereal and warm, as if she is being performed by a different person.
The musical's restoration of Russian style must be "deserved" for the nine mobile screens on the stage. Nine mobile screens are installed on the frames of several metal structures. They rise and fall or move left and right during the performance. The pictures on the screen are sometimes the background of a train station, sometimes a 19th-century opera house, sometimes a luxurious palace, a summer palace, etc. Rural or snowy skating rink. In a venue filled with lights and music, these screens form a "multimedia mosaic" that immerses the audience.
This can't help but remind people of "The Devil Onegin". In terms of stage design and other hardware design, both musicals have the grand style of Russian works, and both show Russian style on the stage, but both have different views on Russian aesthetics. The presentation is different. "The Devil Onegin" pays more attention to depicting the depth and even darkness of human nature. The work's depiction of the characters' psychology is amplified through the inner drama on the stage, making it easy for the audience to enter the hearts of the characters and sympathize with their entanglements and struggles. "Anna Karenina" uses more arias - almost non-stop singing one after another to interpret the story and convey emotions. At the same time, it allows the actors to show off their singing skills, and the audience's viewing experience will be relatively relaxed. . Of course, these two experiences are different aspects of Russian aesthetics. I believe everyone has their own answer as to which one they prefer.
