By Nancy T. Lu
Imagine exquisite “nan guan (southern pipe)” music playing on the stage. “Nan guan” dancer reprising the classic opera role of an official’s daughter Tu Li-niang appears and not long after, so does a French mime cast as dream lover and scholar Liu Meng-mei. Romance from the Kun opera “The Peony Pavilion” unfolds dramatically without words like a dream
Philippe Bizot, a French mime very excited about collaborating once more with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra although with a big difference, revealed that he first read a French edition of Tang Hsien-tsu’s “The Peony Pavilion” about 20 years ago and became totally fascinated then with the love story.
“Little did I know at that time that I would be living my dream today,” he said while showing a look of contentment. “A full-length production of ‘The Peony Pavilion,’ possibly in two parts or even more, is what I would like to work on next.”
At least a week of close interaction with “nan guan” performer Cheng Hsin-i is paving the way for the awaited actual performance at the Zhong Shan Hall in Taipei at 7:30 p.m. on April 24.
Chung Yiu-kwong, the director of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra (TCO) and the featured conductor, said during a rehearsal of the exquisite “nan guan” music: “This concert program is in keeping with our goal of showing the diversity of the orchestra.”
“Mime as personified by Pierrot with a tear in his eye is all about emotions,” said Bizot, making a comeback after working with performers with challenged hearing during the Taipei Deaflympics. “And the emotions of mime are universal.”
“I have always performed in silence,” pointed out Bizot. “But I now do mime to ‘nan guan’ music. I listen closely. I love it when the notes fade so beautifully into a whisper.”
The “Floating Musical Notes” program will also feature sheng player Kuo Hsiu-jung, erhu artist Yang Xue and violinist Tu Ching-yun.
Yang Xue will be the soloist during the performance of He Zhan-ho and Chen Gang’s “Butterfly Lovers Concerto for Erhu and Chinese Orchestra.” Sheng player Kuo Ksiu-jung will perform Qian Zhao-xi’s “Tian Mountain Rhapsody for Sheng and Orchestra.” Tu Ching-yun will play the violin solo part in Ravel’s “Tzigane” (arranged by Qu Chun-quan).
For tickets to “Floating Musical Notes,” call tel. 02-33939888
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