Pianist Sheng Yuan provided by the interviewee
Today is the 89th birthday of pianist Fu Cong. Tonight, Professor Sheng Yuan of the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music will perform at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, paying tribute to Fu Cong with the classics he performed during his lifetime.
On the eve of the concert, Sheng Yuan accepted an exclusive interview with reporters and told about Fu Cong’s influence on him.
■Reporter Chen Junjun
Simple and lovely in the reserved
Liberation Weekend: You once said that you and Mr. Fu Cong are both teachers and friends. How did you meet each other?
Sheng Yuan: I have been influenced by Mr. Fu Cong since I was a child. I heard his concert when I was less than 10 years old. His very pure music deeply moved me. He is also very simple and pure, with a simple cuteness in his reserve.
Mr. Fu Cong and I started to communicate like friends in 2007. At the New York International Keyboard Festival, I played Chopin’s “24 Preludes”, but unfortunately he didn’t have time to listen to it live. Later, I sent him the audio disc. After listening to it, he expressed his appreciation and gave me some suggestions. After that, we had a lot of exchanges about Chopin’s preludes. When he went to Beijing to perform, I took the score and asked him for advice. In 2010, Mr. Fu Cong and I recorded a master class program of Chopin’s “24 Preludes” on Shanghai Oriental TV Station. After the program was broadcast, it received enthusiastic feedback and attention.
Liberation Weekend: How did that masterclass affect you? What details impressed you during the recording process?
Sheng Yuan: The audience watched the program in front of the TV for more than one hour. In fact, we took the class for nearly three and a half hours. Mr. Fu Cong did not regard it as a TV program at all, he immersed himself in the music ecstasy. His love and dedication to music, as well as his vitality in music gave me great encouragement. When I faced him, the thought that people can be accompanied by music in this life gave me the motivation and goal to move forward.
I remember one very interesting detail: At that time, two pianos were prepared in the studio of the TV station, and Mr. Fu Cong tried the pianos before recording. He thought the violin I was going to play was fine, but the one for him sounded too bright, so he asked the technician to prick the hammers of that violin a little. I found him to be very knowledgeable about piano construction, maintenance and even repair. He made me understand that to play the piano well, the understanding of the piano itself is also very important.
he has more tension than me
Liberation Weekend: You are about to play works by Chopin, Liszt and Schumann at a concert commemorating Mr. Fu Cong. Why did you choose these songs? Feeling stressed while playing?
Sheng Yuan: In 1994, I heard two concerts by Fu Cong in New York and Toronto, and I was very impressed. At Carnegie Hall in New York, he was dressed in a Tang suit and walked to the stage elegantly. The music of Chopin’s “24 Preludes” sounded, giving people a feeling of shock and even ecstasy. He is really worthy of the “Oriental Piano”. Poet” reputation.
Two months later, I heard him play Liszt’s “Three Sonnets of Petrarch” and Schumann’s “Legend of David” in Toronto. I remember he ended that concert in a “weak” way, few musicians dare to end a recital in such a very quiet way, it was really memorable. So this time I want to use the same track to commemorate Mr. Fu Cong, so as to express my respect for him.
If you want to talk about pressure, there must be some. The weight of these pieces is very heavy, and it is very meaningful to perform in Mr. Fu Cong’s hometown Shanghai, where there are many knowledgeable listeners. However, the pressure is the pressure, I am still looking forward to this show.
Liberation Weekend: How is your interpretation style different from that of Mr. Fu Cong?
Sheng Yuan: First, let’s talk about our similarities. I think we are all sensitive and delicate people, and our performances are more poetic. In 2010, I recorded “24 Preludes” for Mr. Fu Cong with a Pleyel piano from the Chopin era. He was very happy after listening to it. He said it was like listening to himself playing the piano. I think there might be a real connection between us.
To say that I am different from him, I think Mr. Fu Cong’s musical tension may be stronger than mine, and I am a little calmer. The audience may be able to see from the master class program he gave me that year that I seem to be more like a middle-aged person, while he looks like a young man. Of course, I have my moments of excitement, but it’s generally more peaceful.
Bring Chopin, bring Bach
Liberation Weekend: Chopin’s “24 Preludes” has special meaning to you and Mr. Fu Cong. This set of works can be said to cover a person’s life. Which of them are your favorites?
Sheng Yuan: The 13th Prelude in F-sharp Major is a very dreamy work, which is mixed with a little melancholy in a pure beauty. This may be a bit close to my personality. I admire all good things. When faced with not-so-good things, I will feel sad and melancholy, but rarely angry. I have a feeling of “knowing my destiny”.
Liberation Weekend: Mr. Fu Cong once said that if he could only take one sheet music with him to an isolated island, he would choose to take Chopin’s “24 Preludes”. And you once said in an interview that if possible, you would like to bring Bach’s “Twelve Equal Temperament” again. Why?
Sheng Yuan: Bach’s “Twelve Well-Tempered” was the only score that Chopin brought with him to Mallorca, and then he wrote “24 Preludes” on the island, which is very interesting. “Twelve Equal Temperament” is a work that contains life and the universe, and all emotions and thoughts are contained in this piece. Bach was an all-encompassing composer, he expressed all-encompassing emotions with simple notes, he really said everything in his music.
Liberation Weekend: You have played all Chopin’s solo works in 12 concerts, and you are also a top pianist who interprets Bach’s works. When you “dialogue” with these two composers, what is the difference?
Sheng Yuan: When I played Bach’s works, I was more like a student talking to a teacher, like a young man talking to a wise man. I can get a lot of inspiration, comfort and happiness from it. I feel a little awed when I play Bach, because his pieces are so difficult to play, there is a feeling of climbing a mountain.
When playing Chopin’s works, I feel that I am very close to him. These musics seem to be melodies that I want to write in my heart but can’t write. I have a similar feeling when I play Schumann, it’s a bit like playing the music of a confidant. In comparison, Chopin is more feminine, like a goddess in art, while Schumann is more masculine, more like myself. This switching and playing of roles is perhaps the most interesting thing in music.
Love life through music
Liberation Weekend: Mr. Fu Cong often practiced Chopin’s etudes in his later years, and was also keen to play these works in concerts. What is the charm of these etudes?
Sheng Yuan: Mr. Fu Cong once told me that he found some new connotations in Chopin’s etudes, and he really wanted to play them out. He never feels that he is old, but keeps pursuing music like a young man, and he feels that his technique can be further improved through practice. In fact, through practice, thinking and experience, his music has been improving. The constant pursuit of music has long been a habit of his life.
Liberation Weekend: Apart from piano skills, what is Mr. Fu Cong’s greatest influence on you?
Sheng Yuan: He influenced me too much. In addition to his assiduous pursuit of music, there is also his innocence. He is a man of great wisdom. After experiencing the baptism of life, he chooses to maintain this simple way of thinking and life. The heart of a child is not only pure, but also passionate. Mr. Fu Cong will unabashedly pursue the things he likes, such as music, food, literature, and cultures he does not understand. He will be very curious and ask others for advice. , and sometimes even behaved eagerly, without the airs of a great musician at all. It can be said that his outlook on life and his understanding of life helped me establish what my life should look like.
Liberation Weekend: You were once taught by Mr. Fu Cong. Now, as a music educator, what experience do you have in music education?
Sheng Yuan: As a teacher, my ultimate goal is to teach children how to love life through music and know how to live through music. In life, one must know love and have the ability to think. Learning music is the way to realize this kind of life, and music itself is not the goal.
Mr. Fu Cong purely serves music. He hopes to make music spread more widely in the world and be understood by more people through teaching. And I hope to make people healthier by teaching music. In terms of method, I advocate teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, which varies from person to person. Every student has different characteristics. I will adjust the training method according to their personality.
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Born in a musical family in Beijing, Sheng Yuan began to learn piano with his mother at the age of 5, and later studied with Li Qifang, Li Huili and Zhou Guangren at the Central Conservatory of Music. In 1991, he went to the Manhattan School of Music in New York for further studies and obtained a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in music. During his study abroad, Sheng Yuan devoted himself to studying Bach’s keyboard works from Rosalind Turek, a world-recognized Bach expert.
Sheng Yuan has held concerts in more than 20 countries and regions around the world, and cooperated with many well-known symphony orchestras at home and abroad. His research and performance of Bach’s works have attracted the attention of the international music circle. The British “International Piano Magazine” called Sheng Yuan “the leading figure in the interpretation of Bach in China”.
Sheng Yuan’s understanding and control of early keyboard instruments has been highly praised. In recent years he has frequently used instruments from the composer’s era, including the harpsichord, clavichord, and early piano to perform works by the composer. His records are released in major international record companies, and he is also the founder of the “Music Bright Walk” music charity project for the blind.
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责编：张晓荣 ]