Shi Yijie and Chen Sa cooperated for the first time Universal Music released "Chinese Art Songs"

Chinese art songs have always been a must-have track for vocal singers and enthusiasts, such as "Three Wishes for Roses", "Teach Me How Not to Want Her", "Red Bean Words", "Dajiang Dong Go" and so on, which have been continuously sung on the stage in the past few decades. For Shi Yijie, one of the best Chinese tenors active in the world's opera stage in the world today, the importance of Chinese art songs is also self-evident, "Although Western classic opera is my own housekeeping skill, as a professional vocal actor from China, it is my own wish that listeners at home and abroad can listen to excellent Chinese vocal works."

During the epidemic in 2020, when despite the bitterness, she was unexpectedly able to focus, the stagnation of the performance market gave Shi Yijie a gap in recording. In the three sets of recording repertoire, Shi Yijie did not hesitate to choose this set of Chinese art songs, because compared with the other two sets of Western classic arias that already have many recorded versions, the need for recording of Chinese art songs seems to be more urgent. From the moment she decided to start the recording program, Shi Yijie began to search for tracks and materials in large quantities. The work of composer Huang Zi immediately came to mind.

Shi Yijie, a fellow composer of the last century, was born in Chuansha, Pudong, Shanghai, so there is an indescribable sense of closeness, and Huang Zi's works are also songs that Shi Yijie likes to sing. However, these tracks are not enough to form an album, so Shi Yijie decided to expand the scope of the repertoire to composers of the last century representing the classical style of the early Chinese academic school, including many art songs that do not yet have tenor recorded versions, such as "Mountain", "Pursuit", "Wangyun", "Baiyun Hometown" and so on.

This "Chinese Art Songs" album contains a total of 20 songs, which are roughly in chronological order, based on composers, and collected into a sincere and weighty album. In addition to those enduring classic works, this album also excavates a number of unknown and sung works, such as Lin Shengxi's "Autumn Night", "Wangyun", Huang Yongxi's "Where are the Si people", Liu Xue'an's "Wangyun" and Chen Tianhe's "Where Spring Returns", which shows Shi Yijie's deep love and attachment to Chinese culture, tribute and reverence for the artists of predecessors, and the ambition to convey Chinese music masterpieces to the public.

One of the highlights of this album is also the first collaboration between Shi Yijie and the famous pianist Chen Sa, which adds a lot of color to the recording.

Chen Sa is a solo pianist who has a lot of pursuit and insight in artistic attainment, Shi Yijie has long admired, they have met unexpectedly on several performance occasions, but have never had the opportunity to cooperate. Letting a soloist accompany his singing seems to be a somewhat abrupt invitation, but out of strong expectations for the effect of cooperation, Shi Yijie asked Chen Sa's wishes with a very nervous mood, and because of the matchmaking of mutual friends, he promoted this almost perfect cooperation. From the perspective of musical interpretation with tacit understanding, the amazing "play" of the two protagonists greatly exceeds the expected effect.

The famous composer Ye Xiaogang said:

"Shi Yijie and Chen Sa are China's most perfect musicians, and they have made great achievements in their respective fields - Shi Yijie's male voice image of Chinese works has been established, and Chen Sa's piano tone has the courage of women in the new era, and there is also a hidden uninhibited. They have rich skills, the persistence of being lonely for art, and the heart of a child with auspicious brilliance.

The repetition shows the thickness of this album, and because of the combination of these two young artists, it brings a breeze. ”

Yijie Shi said, "I am very happy to be working with Universal Music Group for the first time, and the recording is very smooth. Universal has professional standards for the details of each link, and the communication is also very smooth. Universal Music Group has a long history of classical music labels such as Deutsche Phonograph and Deca. Shi Yijie said that he looks forward to more in-depth cooperation with these labels in the future, so that more people in the world can hear the sound of Chinese music and discover the beauty of Chinese music through recording.

Pianist Chen Sa also talked about the experience of this cooperation, "I am very fortunate that at the suggestion and invitation of Shi Yijie, I have this opportunity to understand and experience some of the incomparable oriental beauty contained in traditional Chinese art songs." Teacher Shi is a humble gentleman in his life, and at the same time a typical perfectionist musician who tirelessly pursues more possibilities in art, and this point is also in line with his enjoyment of interpreting music. ”

On November 19, 2021, Universal Music will release the digital and physical album "Chinese Art Songs" at the same time. Next, Shi Yijie and Chen Sa's national tour of the Chinese Art Song Concert will be held in Chongqing, Jinan, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xi'an, Shanghai and other places, and the physical album of "Chinese Art Songs" will be signed and sold offline at the performance site.

Stone Leaning Clean Famous tenor singer. He is one of the representative singers of light lyric tenors on the opera stage in the world today, and is also one of the best Chinese singers active on the international opera stage in recent years. Professor of Hunan Normal University, Distinguished Professor of China Conservatory of Music. Performances include the Teatro la La Fenice, the Teatro San Carlo, the Florence Opera, the Royal Opera of Madrid, the Grand Theatre of Barcelona, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Vienna State Opera in Austria, the Opera toulouse in France, the Opera Marseille, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia, the National Opera of Israel, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the National Centre for the Performing Arts of China, etc. He has appeared in 40 operas and more than 500 performances. Chen Sa Chinese pianist Chen Sa, hailed by the British BBC as "one of the most charismatic pianists today", is also the only one who has worked in Leeds, Chopin and Van. Claiborne is the winner of the grand prize in all three international piano competitions,Chinese the winner of the "Chopin Art Passport" issued by the Polish government, and the youngest judge of the 2021 Chopin International Competition in Poland. In the past two years, the highlights of Chen Sa's world tour have included the appearance of the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia at the St. Petersburg Piano Festival, the debut of the Champs Elysées Theatre in Paris, the opening performance of the 26th Singapore International Piano Festival, and the large-scale performance in Seoul, South Korea to commemorate the first anniversary of the Winter Olympics; her performance has been commented by the music industry as "both tender as water and able to pull up mountains"; "let you feel the beauty and show a passion like an underground volcano". During the epidemic in 2020, Chen Sa was invited to attend the world's first offline forum on UNESCO's "ResiliArt ResiliArt Respiration Art" to share his reflections and prospects on the industry.

"Chinese Art Songs" Tour Schedule:

November 24, 2021 Shandong Provincial Capital Grand Theatre

December 11, 2021 Tianjin Grand Theatre

December 14, 2021 Xinghai Concert Hall

January 9, 2022 Xi'an Concert Hall

January 14, 2022 Shanghai Oriental Art Center

April 2, 2022 Chongqing Grand Theatre

April 9, 2022 Guangxi Culture and Arts Center