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The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present the "Chinese Operas with an Ancient Lineage" series, to bring unique artistic features of some ancient operatic genres rarely seen in Hong Kong.
The series will be kicked off with performances by the Liuzi Operatic Troupe of Shandong. Featuring national class one performers playing masterpiece and Liuzi opera excerpts, the performances, with simplified subtitles in English, will be staged at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall on July 30, 31 and August 1. Details are as follows:
July 30 (Monday) 7.30pm
Masterpiece "Sun An Presenting Memorials"
July 31 (Tuesday) 7.30pm
Excerpts – "Catching Madam Liu"; "By the Well from The Story of the White Rabbit"; "Rendezvous on the Boat after the Fair"; "Zhang Fei Crashing the Palace Gate"
August 1 (Wednesday) 7.30pm
Excerpts – "Brothers' Reunion at Mount Wutai"; "Looking for a Teaching Position"; "A Lantern Affair"; "Guan Yu Executing Diao Chan"
In the 1930s and up to the late 1940s, during the Sino-Japanese war and the liberation war, Liuzi opera was ravaged and fell into decline. Many of its artists had to perform in other operatic genres, with few of them struggling to keep the art form surviving. After 1949, efforts had been made to bring Liuzi artists together again to form new troupes. In 1959, the Workers' and Farmers' Theatre Society of Yuncheng moved to Jinan and founded the Liuzi Operatic Troupe of Shandong.
Evolved from the popular tunes and vernacular songs that dated back to the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, the survival of Liuzi opera was once endangered because of the irretraceable losses of professional theories and teaching. In June 2006, the operatic genre was designated as "national intangible cultural heritage".
Tickets priced at $100, $160 and $240 are now available at URBTIX outlets, while senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients can have 50% off (Limited quotas for students and CSSA recipients on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount applies to Friends of LCSD performing venues. There will be a maximum of 20% off for various booking schemes. Please refer to the programme leaflets for details.
Other attractions of the "Chinese Operas with an Ancient Lineage" series are "The Haifeng Xiqin Operatic Troupe of Guangdong"; "Chizhou Nuo Opera of Anhui" and "Excerpts from the Paichang Repertoires of Cantonese Opera".
For enquiries about the programmes, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Monday, June 18, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:11
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