's eerie ghost ship, made of tulle, silk and 12 large projection screens, combined with the ingenious use of high-tech means, realistically represents the scene of rough waves and raging winds on the sea. Paired with majestic music, it exudes a supernatural power. ...As the first Wagner opera produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts, "The Flying Dutchman" was staged in the first two rounds with its classic storyline and distinctive Wagner-style music, especially the stage effects comparable to 3D magical epic blockbusters. The audience was impressed.
From April 10th to 14th, this classic Wagner opera will be performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts for the third time. The play is currently undergoing intensive rehearsals. On March 28, a reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily went to the National Center for the Performing Arts' three-story underground painting room to see the rehearsal site of this opera masterpiece, which is comparable to a science fiction blockbuster.
The stage setting is realistic and it takes about 70 people to complete the scene changes at the same time
"The Flying Dutchman" tells the story of the sea. The boat has become the most indispensable and eye-catching prop in this opera. Among the two giant sailing ships in the official performance, the Norwegian Captain Daland's ship is 12.8 meters long, 5.1 meters high, and 7.5 meters wide. The famous Dutch Ghost Ship is even larger, 13.6 meters long and nearly 7.5 meters wide. 9 meters, quite shocking effect. Entering the painting room, the most eye-catching thing is also a giant sailing ship. "The style of this play is relatively realistic, so the images of the two large ships in the play are very realistic." Li Genshi, the stage manager of the play, said. The Norwegian ship seen in the matte booth was the actual scenery on stage, while the actual larger Dutchman's ship was a substitute model used in rehearsals due to height restrictions.
During the rehearsal that day, the revival director Stephen Graugray chose to show you the highlights from the first act of "The Flying Dutchman", with Thomas Kazeri, Dimitri Ulyanov, Wang Chong and other Chinese and foreign singers sang loudly and performed the story of the Norwegian captain Daland encountering the Dutch "ghost ship" at sea on the rocking ship.
"In the first act of Wagner's play, the roles are relatively simple. There are only three characters, but they carry the play for more than 40 minutes. Some viewers may feel that the plot is a bit slow. In order to allow the audience to get the drama, music and sensory enjoyment To achieve balance, the director team tried to enlarge the props as much as possible on the basis of realism, and coupled with the waves in the projection screen, gave the audience a sense of visual oppression." Li Genshi said, "The waves come from real wave materials, but they are more The real waves are much bigger, and the director team designed the visuals very fully to give the audience enough visual shock, which can offset the dullness of the drama."
Wagner's operas have always been considered to be large in length, difficult to perform, and artistic achievements. High, both performers and viewers face challenges. The choreography and stage presentation of "The Flying Dutchman" involved a large number of people, the scenes were grand, and the scene changes were complex, which attracted much attention in the first two rounds of performances. Due to the large size of the set, the stage switching process was also very technically difficult. "In order to smoothly push the boat to the front of the stage, a series of actions such as lighting, projection, and mechanical booms are needed to achieve this." Li Genshi said, "During the first round of performances, we followed the habit of Wagner operas and did not set up an intermission. Rest, three acts are performed from beginning to end. After the end of the first act, in the interlude music, we have to change the scene to the second act, and the same is true at the end of the second act. The switch of stages is a huge challenge for us "Challenge," after the premiere, the National Center for the Performing Arts received some feedback from the audience and made adjustments. Subsequent performances have arranged intermissions, which also allowed the scene to take a breather behind the scenes. However, the behind-the-scenes scene changes of this play require the cooperation of stage machinery and stage equipment. It takes 60-70 people to complete the scene changes at the same time, which is relatively large among the works of the National Center for the Performing Arts.
Rehearsal restores the sea scene, manually rocking the ship to present a realistic effect
In order to present a real sea visual effect, the director and stage designer designed both ships to be rockable devices.A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily saw at the scene that when the actors were performing on the boat, they encountered wind and waves. There was a row of equipment masters behind the boat responsible for rocking the boat. The actors on the stage also showed their reaction to the approaching wind and waves as the hull swayed. . "During the performance, the installation masters will rock the boat according to the changes in the plot and music. As the music and plot change, the amplitude of the rocking will also change." Li Genshi said, "The amplitude of the rocking is divided into five levels. Level 1 is very slow and breeze. A sudden big wave is probably level 4. There will be specialized people behind to give you tips to achieve the best effect." According to Li Genshi, during the performance, there were blue waves on the front and sides of the boat. The silk is also manually shaken by technicians. "Coupled with the projection effect and lighting of the waves, the effect will look very real in the auditorium."
rehearsed in a spacious painting room to easily restore the rocking effect of the ship on the stage. This allows the actors to adapt to this difficult performance scene in advance. In addition to the three leading actors, there are mimes and acrobats who play sailors. When Captain Daland said, "The storm is coming, raise the sails and drop the anchor quickly. We need to take shelter." The sailors nervously performed dramas behind them, pulling ropes, climbing the mast, and furling the sails. Lee Geun-sil said, "For the safety of the actors, they must be fully adapted before going on stage. Moreover, the crew also specially found professional acrobats because they have professional skills in climbing to ensure safety." Director
The "most important" shipwreck scene at the end of the play was also very ingeniously designed. "Before the ship sank, the hydraulic device on the ship would tilt the bow first, showing the real physical effect of the ship entering water." . Then the entire main stage is used to carry the bow of the ship down. This dual effect will visually increase the sense of dislocation of the ship's hull and create a shocking visual effect."
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Wanting
Photography/Beijing Youth Reporter Li Na
Editor/Qiao Ying
