New version of opera praises teachers for rural service

Two years after the 2009 opening of the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, it premiered an original production of Chinese opera A Village Teacher, which received a warm and positive feedback of audiences.

Gathering creative team members, including veteran scriptwriter Liu Heng, composer Hao Weiya and director Chen Xinyi, the opera tells the story of Yang Caihong, a teacher who dedicated her life to helping and motivating young students living in a remote and mountainous village.

The opera appeals to audiences with its touching story, and melodic songs, featuring distinctive Chinese folk music elements.

A decade later, the same creative team again got together and worked on a new version of the opera, which, renamed as Summer Rainbow, will be staged at the NCPA from Sept 8-12. The China NCPA Orchestra will perform under the baton of conductor Zhang Yi.

"Back in 2009, one of the most important missions for the NCPA was to produce original Chinese operas. A Village Teacher proved to be a success. Now, we are restaging it, hoping to tell the same story with new ideas," says Wei Lanfen, the head of production department of NCPA.

"The opera is set against the backdrop of a Chinese village. Since Chinese villages are quite different from the situation 12 years ago, we rearranged the story and music to showcase what the villages look like today," she adds.

Wei also notes that the given name of the leading character Yang Caihong means rainbow, which symbolizes hope and happiness.

"A summer rainbow conjures up images of beautiful colors and a sense of freshness. It's just like the relationship of the teacher and her students," Wei says.

The composer Hao, who is known for writing an 18-minute sequel to the NCPA's opera production Turandot, has added more songs to the opera for a children's chorus.

During one recent afternoon, the rehearsal of the opera was going on in a room of the NCPA. A group of children standing in the center of the room were ready to sing. It's a scene from the opera about the teacher Yang getting married to local man, Zhou Luoping.

"A huge event is happening in the village. Your teacher will get married here and she will not leave. You are happy. Even the buffaloes are happy," the 83-year-old Chen Xinyi said to the children.

"The opera is an ode to those teachers who work in rural areas and give their students unconditional love. Their stories deserve to be seen by more people," the director says.

Soprano Zhou Xiaolin plays the leading role as Yang Caihong. Back in 2009, she played the same role in the operatic production.

"I've seen many stories about Chinese rural teachers and when asked about the reasons why they stick to their jobs, their answers are the same: they don't want to let their students down," says Zhou, who graduated from the opera department of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 2006 and A Village Teacher was her first opera.

Zhou mentions that one of the touching stories about rural teachers she read is Zhang Guimei, founder and principal of the first free high school for girls in Yunnan province. Zhang is one of the 29 outstanding members of the Communist Party of China, who received the July 1 Medal, the Party's highest honor by the CPC Central Committee.

"As we grow up, we have teachers, who inspired us. It's a shared experience connecting to the audiences. When we traveled to remote villages to prepare for the opera in 2009, we've seen many left-behind children, who wanted to go to school but had to drop out due to poverty. Now, thanks to the effects on poverty alleviation, the situation has been improved," says Zhou.

In an early interview with writer Liu, who has written many blockbuster movie scripts such as director Zhang Yimou's Judou and director Feng Xiaogang's Assembly, he said that A Village Teacher was his first opera.

"We've interviewed over 20 rural teachers when we prepared for the opera. Those teachers were very optimistic though their life conditions were not good in rural areas. They impressed me with their love for the students," said Liu.