我国的新歌剧从诞生至今,已有五十年上下。说五十以上,是从《秋子》、《小小画家》算起,说五十以下,是从《兄妹开荒》、《白毛女》算起。它虽然有这么长的历史,而且有过一些著名的作品和成功的演出,但是,目前它却陷于比话剧还要困难的境地。去年四月,剧坛前辈陈白尘曾在本刊撰文《抢救话剧》,讲了话剧遭逢的困难。现在,我作为一个歌剧工作者,不能不陈诉一下歌剧面临的困境。四十年代的延安时期,新歌剧以她那非凡的艺术魅力,向观众奉献出了《白毛女》这一不朽的名著。解放以来,又产生了象《红霞》、《红珊瑚》、《洪湖赤卫队》和《江姐》这样一批民族风格比较鲜明、艺术造诣比较精湛的优秀作品。应该说五十年代末六十年代初是我国新歌剧的黄金时代,是她的鼎盛时期。可是,曾几何时,它衰落下来了。十年动乱,使本来人数 Our country’s new opera has been around for fifty years since it was born. Say fifty or more, from the “autumn child”, “little painter” count, say fifty, is from “siblings pioneers”, “white-haired girl” counted. Although it has such a long history, but also has some famous works and successful performances, but at present it is in a more difficult situation than the drama. Last April, Chen Baichen, a veteran of the theater, wrote an article entitled “Rescuing the Drama” and told the troubles of drama. Now, as an opera worker, I can not but tell the plight of opera. During the Yan’an period of the 1940s, with its extraordinary artistic charm, the new opera dedicated to the audience an immortal masterpiece of “White-Haired Girl.” Since the liberation, a series of outstanding works such as “Hongxia”, “Red Coral”, “Honghu Red Guard” and “Jiang Jie” have been characterized with rather distinct ethnic styles and artistic attainments. It should be said that the late 1950s and early 1960s was the golden age of our country’s new opera. It was her heyday. However, when it was time, it declined. Ten years of turmoil, so that the original number