Folk opera celebrates 90th anniversary of PLA's establishment

Opera Jinsha River. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of People's Liberation Army (PLA), a folk opera Jinsha River will be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) from July 28 to August 2.

The opera, adapted from a novel of the same name, was based on the writer Chen Jing's personal experiences. There are four other adaptations of the story - a 1963 film, a comic series, a Shaoxing Opera and a Pingju Opera.

Composer Lei Lei and scriptwriters Feng Boming and Feng Bilie created the new version that infused traditional ethnic music, folk songs and Kunqu Opera.

Lei and director of the opera Liao Xianghong went to Yunnan province to collect folk songs during their creation.

"The folk songs are a great inspiration to me. They are very precious and impressive… I think they are the soul of ethnic culture," Lei said.

It is the first time the opera will debut at the NCPA.

Zhao Tiechun, NCPA's vice-president, said his team had started to create an opera on the relations between PLA and ethnic people since 2015.

"After much research and discussion, we decided to adapt Chen Jing's novel. It is our gift to the 90th anniversary of PLA's establishment," Zhao said.