Peking Opera
Use of Voice
As in western opera which features sopranos, baritones, bass, tenors, and alto- singers, Peking opera performers sing at different registers according to the character role they are portraying.
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Master Cheng Yan Qiu
Traditionally, the dan role was always played by men. A male playing the female (dan) role is known as a nan dan. A major component of the aesthetic is to present with skill, subtlety and precision, the perfect illusion of an identified femininity. Thus, it was particularly important for dan performers to make use of a falsetto voice.
Click to hear examples of singing with a natural voice and with a falsetto voice.
In Peking opera, there are many schools or styles of performance. The most famous dan schools of performance are the Mei school, the Cheng school, the Shang school, and the Xun school. The names of the schools correspond to the family names of the four most famous dan performers in the history of Peking opera: Mei Lan Fang, Cheng Yan Qiu, Shang Xiao Yun, and Xun Wei Sheng.
Click here to watch and listen to a famous aria performed by Mister Zung Gee Chong, who specializes in the Cheng school of dan roles. The aria is from a play called Wen Ji Returns To Her Homeland. Wen Ji is the daughter of Minister Cai Yong. Captured by enemy troops, Wen Ji has lived as a concubine in a foreign land for over 12 years and born 2 sons. Wen Ji is rescued when another minister learns of the situation, and sends an ambassador to pay for her return with gold. In this excerpts, Wen Ji bids farewell to her two sons, and pays her last respects at the tombstone of her friend, Wang Zhao Jun, who was another ancient beauty who was forced to marry a foreign king. The piece ends with Wen Ji returning to her homeland with the ambassador.
The Cheng style of performance specializes in the portrayal of the tragic qing yi (virtuous women) roles. Accordingly, the Cheng style of singing is quite soft but has an inner strength that is only subtly suggested beneath the exterior of melancholia and sadness.
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