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Learn from life and serve the people (Creative transformation and innovative development talk freely)

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The people need art, and art needs the people even more. No matter how good art is, how valuable can it be if you only understand and entertain yourself?In the final analysis, literature and art must serve the people

Opera translation and duplication is a kind of creative work: a good translation and duplication can not only realize the transmission of meaning, but also complete the reshaping of the artistic conception and make the work more perfect

Whether a musical work can be passed on for a long time is the result of the choice of generations of audiences.The works that appear most frequently on the program list must be works that are deeply loved by the public. The creative experience of these works deserves our careful study

This seed of “for the people” and “for the society” was planted when I was a teenager, and gradually took root and flourished with the rich experience of my life.

“Prosperity in poetry, standing in rituals, and becoming in music.” Since ancient times, Chinese culture has attached great importance to the nourishment of life and the shaping of character by music. When the years are quiet, music is the companion of people’s daily life; when it is necessary for everyone to share the same hatred, music can more unite people’s hearts. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, people sang “people who don’t want to be slaves” to arouse national awakening. During the period of the War of Resistance Against the United States and Aid Korea, the “brilliant and powerful” singing expressed the bravery and fearless spirit of the Chinese People’s Volunteers.

Different cultures have created different kinds of music, among which the excellent works and classic songs are the common spiritual wealth of mankind, which should be carried forward and shared by people. As the first generation of conductors cultivated in New China, my most important career is to build bridges between the “difficult” symphonies, operas and the people, so that people can enjoy the beauty of music and gain spiritual joy and cultivation. In practice, I really feel people’s strong demand for good music, which motivates me to go all out to do a good job in popularizing music, doing it for a lifetime.

Help people appreciate the dazzling “Pearl”

The people need art, and art needs the people even more. No matter how good art is, how valuable can it be if you only understand and entertain yourself? In the final analysis, literature and art must serve the people. Opera is a shining jewel in the treasure house of Western music. I promote “sing in foreign opera” to help people appreciate the charm of this art.

In the 1980s, the Chinese version of the Italian opera “La Traviata” was performed in Tianjin. There were 39 consecutive performances in more than a month, each with more than 2,000 spectators, and the venues were full. The French opera “Carmen”, which I cooperated with the young translator Sun Huishuang, was performed in more than 100 performances, and it was also loved by the audience. More than 100 years ago, the Austrian composer Mahler was inspired by Li Bai and other ancient Chinese poets to create “Early Songs”, which became a regular repertoire of the world‘s top symphony orchestra. The original role was to sing in German. In 2017, I conducted “Song of the Earth” translated into Chinese at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This is after “Chinese for foreign use” and then “foreign for Chinese use”, so that our audience can not only understand its original meaning, but also understand how foreign composers use music to express traditional Chinese artistic conception. In 1962, as an international student, I conducted the Italian opera “Tosca” sung in Russian in Moscow. I am 92 years old now, and I hope that I can translate “Tosca” into Chinese in my lifetime and stage it in China.

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To promote “sing in foreign opera”, the foundation is to do a good job of translation and dubbing. Opera translation is more complicated than literary translation: it is not only the faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance of the text translation, but also the smoothness and rhythm of Chinese to fit the music, so as to avoid conflicts with musical expressions and musical sentence reading. It can be said that opera translation and duplication is a kind of creative work: a good translation and duplication can not only realize the transmission of meaning, but also complete the reshaping of the artistic conception and make the work more perfect; bad translation and duplication are neither suitable for singing nor listening. Let people stay away from the classics. I believe that as long as more talents join in, over time, more boutiques will be produced and more audiences will feel the beauty of opera.

At present, many places have built opera houses with orchestras, but not many have professional opera troupes. We want ordinary people who love music to participate in operas. I have conducted operas in Northern Europe and Eastern Europe many times, and the practice in various places has inspired me a lot. I watched the opera “Aida” in a small town in Finland, accompanied by the magnificent “Caesar March”. The opera chorus of more than 400 people took a vigorous pace and sang all the way through the audience. The artistic appeal was very strong. The lead actor and orchestra of this play are from the National Opera, but most of the chorus members are opera lovers and volunteers. Among them are farmers, workers, bank clerks, and teachers who use the holidays to participate in rehearsals and performances. I am now establishing the Opera Art Center in Xiamen to learn from this approach so that ordinary people can participate in the creation of opera.

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Professional musicians should carefully train the audience

“Yangchun and Baixue, peace and public” is my ideal. Opera and symphony are both foreign art and need to train the audience, which is inseparable from the hard work of professional workers. I was just transferred to the Central Opera House in the late 1970s. At that time, domestic audiences were still relatively new to opera and symphony, and the theater was noisy during performances. I have never complained about the audience: this is our job is not in place. Therefore, before each performance, I give a 20-minute lecture, which lasts for more than 40 years. As long as it is my conductor, I bring a brick tape recorder, a performance costume, and a score in advance, and shout at the entrance of the theater: “If you are interested, come with me to the lounge, and I will tell you about tonight’s performance!” Audience The degree of love for this is beyond my expectation, which shows how much you need this kind of art popularization.

In order to improve the public’s classical music accomplishment, in addition to having professionals to popularize it, it is more important to continue to deliver high-quality concerts to a large audience. For this reason, in 1990, my friends and I founded the volunteer orchestra “Philharmonic Women’s Chamber Orchestra”. The orchestra is composed of professional players and has performed 241 performances in various places in 6 years without payment. Many years later, when I took the orchestra to perform abroad, the local Chinese and overseas Chinese specially organized a choir of more than 200 people. Many of them were the audience of the “Lady Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra”—the seeds you planted carefully. Flowers will bloom sooner or later. In 1998, I was 69 years old. I was invited to go south to participate in the founding of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, my country’s first public-aided private professional symphony orchestra. Combining reality, I learned from the advanced management and incentive mechanism of the orchestra, which greatly released the vitality of young and middle-aged performers in the orchestra. I have taken everyone to work hard and have performed more than 1,200 performances in 15 years. I have reaped the fruits of “Sunny Spring and White Snow, Harmony” in the field of symphony.

Whether a musical work can be passed on for a long time is the result of the choice of generations of audiences. I pay more attention to the program lists of different local orchestras and choirs. The works that appear most frequently on the program lists must be works that are loved by the public. The creative experience of these works deserves our careful study. In April this year, the large-scale symphonic poem “Echoes of the Earth Building” created by the young composer Liu Yuan was invited to perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts for the third time. After the performance, as a conductor, I returned to the stage at the strong request of the audience. More than 200 choir members on the stage led the audience and shouted three times in unison: “Mr. Zheng-I love you!” I burst into tears. I am pleased that this compares to any awards. This original symphonic poem expressing Hakka culture can be performed in more than 20 cities in China and 12 countries in the world because of the love and support of the audience.

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Consolidate the life pursuit of “for the people” and “for the society”

Compared with personal achievement and fame, I pay more attention to whether I have created social benefits. In the past few years, I have seen the vigorous development of amateur choirs in various places, but there is a general lack of commanding talents. Therefore, I launched a series of courses on the Internet on the “Basics of Zheng Style Command Method”. Currently, I am recording an audio program “Make Ears Smarter” to help more people appreciate opera and symphony.

This seed of “for the people” and “for the society” was planted in adolescence. I have a small book with a silver cover. It is written to me by seniors such as Shi Liang, Shen Junru, etc.: “Lucky Xiaoying, you have to learn and catch up! Only if you take on the responsibilities of the Chinese sons and daughters is the real salvation of the country.” “There is no age or size, and we must also take responsibility for the current serious national crisis, cultivate our own abilities, and participate in the entire resistance force.”…This book has been with me for nearly 80 years. When I was young, I didn’t necessarily understand the trust of my elders, but these words were like seeds, and gradually took root and flourished with the rich experience of my life. The revolutionary education I received as an adult allowed me to further consolidate the life pursuit of “for the people” and “for the society”. At the age of 19, I came to the Liberated Area and became a literary and artistic warrior. On the streets, in the ridges, and in the mountains and forests, my comrades and I used allegro to propagate the Party’s policies and Party discipline. I am very grateful for this experience, which laid the foundation for my life.

Art comes from life, from the people. To learn from life and serve the people, musicians in the new era have a lot to do.

(The author is a lifetime honorary conductor of the Central Conservatory of Music, interviewed by our reporter Xu Xin)

Drawing: Zhao Cairu

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