Qin Yun - Mood of the Qin

A Qinqiang performance by Li Xiaofeng (Xi’an)

Première / production commissioned by the House of World Cultures

Li Xiaofeng is a master of portraying figures. His performance fascinates because of the highly artistic way he uses his body; he conveys to his audience every inner impulse of the figure he is playing. In an extraordinarily beautiful triptych, he presents the Qin Opera (Qinqiang) as a universal theatre language. The three scenes “Dachai Quandi - the woodcutter implores his brothers”, “Zhou Ren Huifu - Zhou Ren’s return to the prefecture” and “Meng Duan Zohn Kui - Dream of Zhon Kui” conjure up “the magic of the ancient, the freshness of new melodies and the spirit of the theatre,” Li Xiaofeng tells us. Hence, these scenes also evoke the powers in which the artist must place his trust when performing Qin, the oldest form of Chinese opera to survive to this day. Colour is added by the characteristic sound of the cymbals that accompany the so-called clapper opera, the oldest form of opera, which has existed since the days of the old imperial capital Xi’an.

The performance will be accompanied by soloists playing traditional instruments in the Qinqiang style and by the orchestra of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.