FINE ART Portrays the Patriotism of the Taihang People in Ode to Taihang with Light and Shadow

As the lights dimmed and the songs lingered, the original Shanxi folk opera Ode to Taihang concluded successfully at the Shanxi Grand Theatre on the evenings of June 28 and 29. This revival, upgraded with special funding from the Shanxi Art Fund, debuted a brand‑new version. Its gripping plot, powerful singing, and immersive stage presentation deeply moved the audience, offering a literary and artistic tribute to the revolutionary years and a heartfelt salute to the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

The opera traces the life of an ordinary village girl, Li Ziqing, telling her story of struggling through hardship, awakening amid the flames of war, and firmly holding onto her faith through trials. Scenes of delivering supplies to the front, rescuing the wounded, defending their homes, and answering the nation's call unfold layer by layer, vividly recreating the historical truth of the people of the Taihang region giving everything they had to support the front and the deep bond between the military and the civilians. The "Taihang flower," which runs throughout the opera, grows from cracks in cliffs and stands firm against wind and frost, symbolizing the unyielding spirit of the Taihang people who never give up even in desperate times and turn toward the sun. The music deeply integrates regional elements such as Shangdang flowering tunes and local Shanxi folk songs, accompanied by a live folk orchestra, giving the red story a distinctly Shanxi flavor and emotional resonance. This revival has been comprehensively optimized in terms of character emotional layers, singing details, plot rhythm, and lighting scheduling, with many new life‑like scenes added, allowing the weighty red history to shed its stiffness and gain warmth. The theatre was packed, and the applause was long‑lasting.

In this stirring red artistic feast, multiple high‑quality lighting fixtures and lighting consoles from FINE ART worked in concert, using precise light and shadow to color the Taihang spirit. The FINE 1750XL BSWF four‑in‑one framing light features a custom 1500W module with a maximum output of 40,000 lm. Its full framing system, rotatable ±90°, delivers sharp, distortion‑free cutting edges, precisely framing each dramatic focal point as the plot advances – Li Ziqing's gaze back at her home as she delivers supplies, and the trembling of her blood‑stained hands as she tends to the wounded – all are sharply delineated. The FINE 1400 PERF pattern and framing moving head light, equipped with a 1400W lamp and a 140mm output lens, delivers a total luminous flux exceeding 35,000 lm. Its unique optical design ensures uniform light distribution and allows frosting via focus adjustment without changing the beam size or luminous flux, precisely capturing Li Ziqing's every spiritual transformation from confusion to determination.

The FINE 550 BSW PLUS three‑in‑one light, with its large 169mm output lens, creates a robust beam. Its CMY, CTO, and independent flowing color wheel interweave, while the rotating gobo wheel, fixed gobo wheel, independent frost, eight‑facet prism, twenty‑four‑facet prism, and dynamic effect wheel combine to depict the stirring scenes of supply convoys and heroic home defense, delivering a powerful visual impact to the stage. The FINE 75 FT color professional footlight, only 0.5 meters long, uses an R, G, B, L four‑color mixing system to produce white light with color temperatures from 2500K to 10,000K (Ra and R9 both above 90). Its asymmetric reflector with dual‑row independent light control provides soft, even illumination, highlighting the faces of the actors and revealing every trace of their sincerity and determination.

Behind the scenes, the TEKMAND III console and the TEKMAND DPU 16P distributed processing unit formed a powerful control system. The console features a combination of touchscreen and buttons for intuitive and efficient operation, capable of handling 8,192 parameters on its own. Its built‑in stage simulation module supports offline pre‑programming, greatly saving rehearsal time. The DPU 16P integrates signal distribution, amplification, data switching, and processing, adding 16,384 parameters when used with the lighting console, effortlessly managing the complex lighting scheduling of the opera.

As the Taihang flowers bloom across the stage, and as the folk melodies transcend time through the singing, FINE ART uses light as a brush – not only illuminating the epic patriotism of the Taihang people united in heart, but also reflecting the ever‑living spirit of the red flame that continues to burn brightly.