帝女花之香夭 （龍劍笙 梅雪詩） Cantonese Opera Sacrifice of a Princess について・・・
帝女花 is a Cantonese Opera first made into a movie in 1959, starring Opera singers, Yam Kim Fei and Bak Suit Sin, both ladies, but Yam impersonated a man in all her movies. I choose to upload the 1976 version starring their pupils, Loong Kim Sang and Mui Suit See, who sing almost exactly like them because this newer version is superior in video and audio quality.
The Emperor of the Ming dynasty had just approved of his future son-in-law who won the heart of his daughter with poetry. At that moment, The Ching army attacked and took over the palace. The Emperor committed suicide with his family but Princess Cheung Ping survived. To win the favour of his subjects, the new Emperor of the Ching dynasty adopted the Princess and proceeded with the grand wedding. To show their loyalty to the Ming emperor, the newly-weds take their own lives on their wedding night. The Cantonese Opera is too beautiful to be translated. Something will be "lost in translation." The Song here, 香夭 (Fragrant Sacrifice) is the grand finale of the opera, sung on the wedding night, the couple are dressed in exquisite finery. The Princess and her groom express their love for each other and their loyalty to the former dynasty, especially the late Emperor, before they take their own lives, drinking wine poisoned with Arsenic. (In the video subtitles, 'cyanide' is a mistake.)
I have added English subtitles for my friends here on youtube. Hope you will like this as much as I do. Regards, Jeremy
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