"Roses, roses, rotten under the blue railing..." The song is gentle, the piano is soft, and a song "Three Wishes for Roses" hides sorrow in poetry. Composed by Long Yusheng and composed by Huang Zi, "Three Wishes of Rose", which was composed in the 1930s, is a representative masterpiece of Chinese art songs and the inspiration starting point for the album "Chinese Art Songs". Recently, the famous singer Shi Yijie and pianist Chen Sa jointly recorded "Chinese Art Songs" has been released by Universal Music in digital and physical versions.
In the preparation of "Chinese Art Songs", Shi Yijie served as the producer for the first time. The brewing of records began in the early stages of last year's outbreak, and the performance market fell into months-long stagnation. Can you use this blank time? Shi Yijie drew up three sets of recording repertoire plans for herself: the first was a collection of art songs by Tosti; the second was a collection of art songs by Italian composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, and Verdi; and the third was a collection of Chinese art songs.
"When I checked the information, I found that the works of foreign composers were sung by singers from all over the world." Shi Yijie asked himself, "If I record an album like this again, can I surpass them and surpass my foreign predecessors?" "Shi Yijie realized that it was impossible. In contrast, the recording of domestic works, "tenor Chinese art song collection is almost non-existent", the need for recording is more urgent.
When preparing the repertoire and materials, Mr. Huang Zi's works immediately came to mind. Huang Zi and Shi Yijie were both born in Chuansha, Pudong, Shanghai, and whenever they sang the works of this fellow countryman, Shi Yijie was full of respect and kindness. But the tracks weren't enough to make up an album, and Ms. Shi decided to expand her gaze to more composers of the last century who represented the classical style of early Chinese academics. "Chinese Art Songs" contains a total of 20 songs, roughly in chronological order, based on the composer. In addition to the long-standing songs such as "Three Wishes of roses", "Red Bean Words", and "Teach Me How not to Miss Her", the album also excavated a number of little-known "unpopular" works, such as Lin Shengxi's "Autumn Night" and "Wangyun", Huang Yongxi's "Where are the Si people", Liu Xue'an's "Pursuit", Chen Tianhe's "Where Spring Returns", etc., which account for at least half of the total repertoire.
"There are many similarities between Chinese art songs of that era and the West." Shi Yijie introduced, "At that time, composers may have borrowed from the composition experience of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms when composing, and their works were very close to the art songs of De'ao. "Art songs are often short and concise, and the "configuration" of vocal music and piano seems simple, but there are many doorways in both creation and interpretation.
"In art songs, the piano is not just an accompaniment, it is very important, and it forms a cooperative relationship with the vocal music." This places high demands on the professionalism of composers. It is not easy for a singer to sing the layers and flavors of it, "art songs need to be told in a very quiet situation, showing the drama, richness and delicacy of poetry in a short period of time." "This is a more difficult challenge than singing a play, compared to the aria of opera has a storyline, a clear emotional direction, direct and warm," but singing art songs is best to have a certain accumulation of life experience. In college, Shi Yijie also sang such works, and the youthful and enthusiastic years were always "simpler to think about things", and sometimes it was difficult to elusively grasp the deep situation in the lyrics. Now, after years of tempering and accumulation, it is time to record an album.
In early September last year, with the help of a mutual friend, Shi Yijie and Chen Sa collaborated for the first time, and the recording of "Chinese Art Songs" was carried out at the Xi'an Concert Hall. "My idea with Teacher Chen Sa hit it off." The musicians have a unique tacit understanding of "everything is in the word", and the 4-day recording work is quite smooth.
The identity of the "producer" requires Shi Yijie to consider more details, such as the post-editing of the recording, such as the cover design of the album. The cover of "Chinese Art Songs" has the aesthetic interest of Chinese blank space, there is no complicated pattern, only light colors spread from the bottom up. "This is imitating Tang Sancai's feeling." Shi Yijie said. This "feeling" comes a little late, and after many attempts, it always fails to achieve the desired effect. It wasn't until he stumbled through books in an airport bookstore that he found inspiration in UV coatings. "This coating is like a film, as bright as Tang Sancai." In Shi Yijie's heart, this is exactly like the impression left by Chinese art songs.
At the same time as the production and release of the album, Shi Yijie and Chen Sa's "Chinese Art Songs" special concert also toured the country. What pleased him was that these repertoire had aroused a very enthusiastic response among music students in colleges and universities, and many people followed suit. As a vocal teacher at a university, Shi Yijie expects young people to learn more about these songs sooner. "I met a lot of students, and they all had the same problem, which was 'no song to sing'. Young children are not very good at discovering new songs, and often follow their favorite singers to sing works. I want to sing more 'new' songs so that the kids can hear these lesser-known songs. Next, Shi Yijie will continue to discover and excavate excellent Chinese songs that deserve attention, "It is my responsibility to demonstrate well to the children." ”