Filed under: cantonese opera | Tags: 78 rpm, 78rpm, Amoy Opera, Bai Jurong, beijing opera, cantonese opera, chinese opera blog, clipper, erhu, Ju Rong, Peking Opera, teochew
Bai Ju Rong, aka Bak Keui Wing (1892-1974) is one of my favorite singers. He was trained as a youth in the role of Xiaosheng, one of the subtypes of the main male role known as Sheng. Xiaosheng roles were handsome young men involved in various romantic intrigues and adventures. Bai Ju Rong went on to be thought of as the “Xiaosheng King” and made a major impact on Cantonese opera in the 1920’s. He re-defined almost every aspect of the performance; most importantly he switched from using the archaic “Official Cantonese (which many could not understand) to using vernacular language. He also changed the singing from an affected high voice to a natural, flowing “true voice” and made his mark on the use of gestures and melodic recitation.He started losing his sight and eventually had to quite performing. By 1948 he was reduced to singing in the street. Amazingly, he made a comeback and was again very successful. In 1958 he became principal of the Guangdong Opera School. This is part one of four.
5 Comments so far
Leave a comment
HAJI MAJI 
[…] had a request for some more Bai Ju Rong, the amazing Cantonese singer featured below on the Clipper label. Here he is on the obscure Oriental Records […]
Pingback by ORIENTAL RECORDS « HAJI MAJI January 12, 2008 @ 2:33 pmI have one of the Beka Cantonese Oepra Records from the 20ies. Matrix 90084 and 90085. Please email me.
Comment by Gordan February 18, 2010 @ 11:29 am[…] had a request for some more Bai Ju Rong, the amazing Cantonese singer featured below on the Clipper label. Here he is on the obscure Oriental Records […]
Pingback by THE VINTAGE CHINA MUSIC RECORD COLLETIONS FOUND IN INDONESIA | Iwansuwandy's Blog October 8, 2011 @ 3:08 am[…] had a request for some more Bai Ju Rong, the amazing Cantonese singer featured below on the Clipper label. Here he is on the obscure Oriental Records […]
Pingback by The Identified Vintage China Music record Found In Indonesia | Iwansuwandy's Blog October 10, 2011 @ 5:36 pm[…] had a request for some more Bai Ju Rong, the amazing Cantonese singer featured below on the Clipper label. Here he is on the obscure Oriental Records […]
Pingback by The Identified Vintage Chinese Music Record Found In Indonesia | Driwancybermuseum's Blog October 11, 2011 @ 5:11 pm