November 28th was the day for the final event of Vilnius University Confucius Institute organized „Chinese Culture Week“. The last time when Peking opera was performed in Lithuania was 15 years ago, therefore this year Peking opera performance received much attention.
This time the guests were three young, yet already well-known performers from China. Yang Yang, Huang Xinyang and Liu Zhen, also accompanied by the opera art expert Xu Zhaoqun. Earlier in the week the guests also performed at Vytautas Magnus University and Lithuania Sports University in Kaunas, and also at Vilniaus M. Daukša school, where the Confucius class was opened a couple of months ago.
The event at Vilnius University consisted not only of Peking opera performances – we also had guests from Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences – the piano master Liu Jintao and his wife, soprano soloist Men Xue from China. This duet prepared a really stunning performance.
Peking opera is quite unusual to listen to and watch for a regular Lithuanian, and itself is not too similar to the Western opera style. Therefore, when performers appeared in their vividly painted faces and colorful costumes, the audience was stunned.
We are very glad and honored that so many guests arrived at the performance. We hope that events like this will encourage more and more people to develop their interest in Chinese culture.