Die Rezeption der Inszenierungen des deutschen Regisseurs Peter Konwitschny (geb. 1945) im Bereich der japanischen Opernregie lässt sich in Bezug auf die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Opernkultur in Fernost unter verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten untersuchen. Sie ist mit der Frage verknüpft, warum die europäische Oper—d.h. die europäischen Musiktheaterstücke, welche vom siebzehnten Jahrhundert bis Anfang des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts von den europäischen Komponisten und Librettisten geschaffen wurden und bis heute als sogenannte Repertoirestücke weltweit aufgeführt werden—und überhaupt die europäische klassische Musik sich in Ostasien seit dem zwanzigsten Jahrhundert so rasch verbreitet haben und so beliebt wurden. Dieser Beitrag beschränkt sich aber speziell auf Japan und insbesondere die Regiearbeiten der japanischen Schüler von Konwitschny. Die Oper ist in den drei ostasiatischen Ländern (China, Korea und Japan) je nach dem politischen Kontext (z.B. in China durch die kommunistische Zeit und in Korea unter dem starken amerikanischen Einfluss) unterschiedlich rezipiert worden—für eine ausführlichere Rezeptionsgeschichte der Oper in Fernost ist hier aber nicht der Ort.

Zur Vorbereitung dieses Beitrags habe ich die Proben und Premieren zweier Operninszenierungen von Konwitschny in Tokio (Verdis Macbeth 2013 und von Webers Der Freischütz 2018) besucht und als Zuhörerin an seinem Workshop in der Sommerakademie in Biwako Hall in Otsu 2014 teilgenommen. Darüber hinaus gab es zahlreiche Gespräche und Interviews zwischen dem Regisseur, den japanischen Mitwirkenden und mir vor Ort. Außerdem überließen mir einige der japanischen Regieschüler von Konwitschny Mitschnitte ihrer eigenen Regieprojekte. Des Weiteren unternahm ich im Dezember 2018 eine Forschungsreise nach Tokio mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Prof. Dr. Günther Heeg (Direktor des CCT Leipzig) und Prof. Dr. Eiichiro Hirata (Keio Universität Tokio). Dabei hielt ich zwei Vorträge über das vorliegende Thema an der Keio Universität Tokio und führte anschließend vertiefte Diskussionen mit japanischen Theaterwissenschaftlern und -praktikern.

I. Aufnahme und Verbreitung der Oper in Japan

Nach Ostasien gelangte die europäische Oper Anfang des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts. Es gab zwar bereits gegen Ende des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts ein paar Aufführungen von ausgewählten Opernszenen in Form einer Präsentation, die durch europäische Diplomaten und Missionare in Japan organisiert wurde, und einige Opernaufführungen durch unbekannte europäische Operntruppen in China. Die erste nachgewiesene komplette Opernvorstellung in Japan durch einheimisches Personal war Glucks Orfeo ed Euridice 1903 am Tokyo Music College.

The second juan of the Array of the Five Talismans (Taishang lingbao wufuxu 太上靈寶五符序 DZ 388; hereafter Array), consisting of dozens of medicinal recipes, presents us with numerous textual problems. This chapter will only be able to touch upon a few issues. In her 2011 study of the second juan of the Array, Ikehira Noriko 池平紀子 primarily used Dunhuang manuscript S.2438, the Yunji qiqian 雲笈七籤 DZ 1032 (hereafter YJQQ), and Methods for Abstaining from Grains from the Scripture of Great Purity (Taiqingjing duangu fa 太清經斷穀法 DZ 846) to compare textual variants of recipes. While she examines multiple sources and variants, Ikehira’s stimulating discussion centers on Buddho-Daoist interaction. This essay builds upon her work.

The discussion of textual variants is not merely a philological exercise to determine the correct, or best, reading of a text. The very existence of different textual recensions forces us to recognize the materiality of texts in medieval China as hand copied manuscripts circulated among initiates and within lineages of practitioners, and only sometimes available to more public view. Single recipes, or collections of recipes, circulated independently of the texts in which we find them today, and were often copied and reformulated within different compilations.

A. The Basic Textual Sources

I begin my examination with textual criticism in order to obtain a definitive version of the Array. The first step in this process is to ascertain the correct words of the text. These two tasks are very difficult. While the Zhonghua daozang edition has only one instance of emended textual criticism of the Array, I believe there are several tens of instances where textual criticism is needed, but I am currently unable to fully emend the entire text. While I still have doubts about certain passages, I have no evidentiary basis for emending them.

Recorded 1 June 2011

Translated and annotated by Josh Stenberg

Lecturer

Liu Yilong 劉異龍 (b. 1940) has for many years been a leading chou 丑 of the Shanghai Troupe. Born in Jiangxi, outside kunqu's core area, he had to acquire the Suzhou dialect as a young man. In theatre school he cycled through numerous role types before settling into the chou repertoire. He studied with “chuan” generation (chuan zi bei 傳字輩) performers, including Hua Chuanhao 華傳浩 and Wang Chuansong 王傳淞 [Appendix H]. His stage collaborations with the versatile dan 旦 Liang Guyin 梁谷音 [see Lecture 11], including for this scene, are particularly well known.

Synopsis

“Descending the Mountain” (“Xiashan” 下山) is one of the most popular comic scenes in kunqu. Since Chinese monasteries and nunneries are usually (and in narratives, reliably) located on hills and mountains, reference to “descending the mountain” already implies escape from religious life.

“Descending the Mountain” can refer to the whole scene or just to a solo section for the monk Benwu 本無, which can also be called “The Little Monk Descends the Mountain” (“Xiaoheshang xiashan” 小和尚下山). When specified as “Double Descending the Mountain” (“Shuang xiashan” 雙下山), also known as “Monk Meets Nun” (“Sengni hui” 僧尼會), a second part is performed during which Benwu is joined by the nun Sekong 色空. “Descending the Mountain” is closely linked to Sekong's scene, “Longing for the Ordinary World” (“Si fan” 思凡), which takes place previously, and in which Sekong prepares to leave the abbey and rejoin the ordinary world.

Both scenes had become popular in kunqu by the eighteenth century (Goldman 2001). Older versions ended with karmic retributions for the characters for their sins, perhaps extracted from or related to the Mulian narrative. In the scenes as extant in repertoire (which do not treat their later lives at all), that harsh judgment is absent in favor of the celebration of the characters’ amorous rebellion against the strictures of religion, since they were given to the temples as children (to save their lives) and have no religious vocation.

Recorded 16 April 2010

Translated and annotated by Kim Hunter Gordon

Lecturer

Cai Zhengren 蔡正仁 (b. 1941) of the Shanghai Troupe [Appendix I] is arguably the best-known active sheng 生, famed especially for his portrayal of daguansheng 大官 生 roles, such as the emperor in The Palace of Lasting Life (Changsheng dian 長生殿) as well as for qiongsheng 窮生 parts. A student of Yu Zhenfei 俞振飛 [Appendix H], and former leader of the Shanghai Troupe, he was awarded the Plum Blossom Prize (Meihua jiang 梅花獎) in 1986.

Synopsis

For the general background to The Palace of Lasting Life see Lecture 5. In this scene, the emperor, still in exile in Sichuan, continues to be tortured by grief and regret following the death of Precious Consort Yang Guifei 楊貴妃. He has commissioned a sculpture of her likeness which is now ready to be instated.

Role Types

The role of the emperor, Tang Minghuang 唐明皇, belongs to the broad category of sheng 生 or xiaosheng 小生, the narrower category of guansheng 官生 and, most narrowly, daguansheng 大官生, which is reserved for high officials as well as the emperor. Although bearded and in this case elderly, the singing register remains partially falsetto like that of most sheng rather than the purely modal voice used by other bearded roles. In the lecture, Cai Zhengren specifically warns against the risk of giving the appearance of low status when adopting a more elderly gait, since the gravitas of the role means that movements must have a certain amplitude, which he also contrasts with the smaller movements of the comic xiaohualian 小花臉 or chou 丑, who features in this scene in the person of the palace eunuch Gao Lishi 高力士. Given the emperor's miserable frame of mind, however, he does borrow some movements from the qiongsheng 窮生 role type, which is used to depict sheng fallen on hard times.

Performance

Cai Zhengren's performance is available in a 1992 recording, collected in the first volume of Kunju Collection (Kunju xuanji 崑劇選輯), published in Taiwan.