Modern Opera On Its Way To Classics

The modern Henan opera Unlucky Uncle Lucky in Love has so far run on stage for almost 4,000 performances since its premiere in 1984,and is still frequently being performed now,which shows that it has become a classic of the modern Henan opera.Its lasting artistic appeal results from the remarkable realistic artistic merits as well as the peculiar musical styles.By narrating setbacks of Unlucky Uncle's marriage,the opera profoundly reflects the historical changes of the countryside after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and properly grasps the essential relations between performing arts and the times.Its musical style is peculiar because it surpasses the rusticity of the traditional Henan opera without losing any flavor of it,which makes the opera refreshing and maintains the country feelings as well.Besides,the leading actors of the opera also top their parts.All these factors contribute to the opera's long-time flourishing in spite of many times of performance.The opera not only revives a local troupe as a whole but also trains and nourishes the actors and audience of it.With Unlucky Uncle Lucky in Love as a case analysis,the current thesis aims to conduct a systematic research of the composing reason,works connotation,performing mechanism,and performing skills from the perspective of a cultural insider in order to find the reason of its success and reveals the secret how modern operas become classics.