Story Summary

Cao Baolu performs《挑帘裁衣》《武松探兄》《武大郎托兆》《武松杀嫂》《赞剑》《水莽草》《打渔杀家》《蒋平找艾虎》.

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At the age of 13, Cao Baolu learned to perform both Meihua dagu [Plum Blossom Drumsong] and Jingyun dagu [Beijing Drumsong]. When he was 16, he began to perform at the famous Tianqiao Teahouse 天橋茶館 (tianqiao chaguan) in 宣武門, the famous old district for folk art performances. It was not until 1930, when he was 20, that he decided to learn to perform Tambourine Drumsong, for which he became very famous. In the 1960s, however, he partnered with Han Defu, a master sanxian musician and, together, they reformed the music and performance of Meihua dagu and Jingyun dagu. They created a new Meihua dagu melody for male and female duets, which he and Liu Shuhui, a young female singer, successfully performed. Mr. Cao was most famous for his danxian pieces that focused on the Wu Song character (who appears in both the Jin Ping Mei and the Shuihu zhuan narratives), famous for murdering his treacherous, lascivious sister-in-law (who murdered Wu’s older brother) and kills a tiger with his bare hands. His narratives and his singing are moving and compelling; his characters are vividly depicted.