The best Flower Drum Operas in Hunan are Si Husband, Mending the Back Corset, The Story of Lulin, Double Stealing of Flowers, Double Selling of Wine, Cowherd and Weaving Maiden, Pan Husband, Sacrifice to the Pagoda, Catching Butterflies, Flying a Kite, Liang Zhu Mourning History, and The Tale of the White Snake.
Flower Drum Opera is a traditional drama of Anhui, Hubei and Hunan provinces.
The musical tunes of Huadu Opera are basically a combination of songs, supplemented by a number of plate changes. The means of performance are rich and varied, lively and vivid, with distinctive local characteristics and folk song and dance styles. The traditional repertoire mainly reflects the contents of folk life, such as production and labor, love between men and women, family conflicts, etc. Some new works reflecting modern life have also appeared in the later development.
Flower Drum Opera (花鼓戏), a Chinese Han local opera genre, usually refers to Hunan Flower Drum Opera (湖南花鼓戏). Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi and other provinces also have a local opera of the same name. Hunan flower-drum opera is a general term for the flower-drum opera genres throughout Hunan.
There are six genres of Hunan Flower Drum Opera, including Changsha Flower Drum Opera, Yueyang Flower Drum Opera, Hengyang Flower Drum Opera, Shaoyang Flower Drum Opera, Changde Flower Drum Opera and Zuoling Flower Drum Opera, which are all characterized by different artistic styles, due to the different popularity of the region. It originated from the development of folk songs in southern Hunan, from once a clown singing development to "three small" singing.
The traditional repertoire of Flower Drum Opera has more than four hundred repertoires and more than three hundred musical tunes. According to its structure and different musical styles can be divided into four categories: Chuan tune, playing gong cavity, brand, small tune, all have the characteristics of rough and cool, rich local color. The music is mainly accompanied by the Hunan flower drums and tubes, which are very characteristic of the region, as well as suona, pipa, flute, gongs and drums, and other ethnic instruments.
The tunes are lively and light, and the melodies are smooth and bright. The art of flower-drum opera has developed considerably, not only organizing traditional plays such as Liu Hai Chopping Woodcutter and Fighting Birds, but also creating a number of modern plays such as Double Delivery of Grain, Busy Aunt and Sister-in-Law, and San Li Wan.
And "playing gong", "mending pot", "delivery road", "wild duck continent" and so on have been made into a movie. In particular, the famous Hunan flower-drum opera "Liu Hai Chopping Woodcutter", which has been sung all over the country and is popular both at home and abroad, has been loved by the people all over the country.