Pipa player Zhao Cong: The pursuit of innovation is the sublimation of the self

Source: World Wide Web

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(Global Network Culture Report Reporter An Qi Video/Huang Xiaoyuan Studio) The pipa, known as the "King of Folk Music", has the sound of "large pearls and small pearls falling on the jade plate". In the hands of pipa player Zhao Cong, this ancient instrument is more like having "magic", integrating different musical styles such as symphony, rock, electronics, etc., so that young people and "crooked nuts" can also enjoy contemporary Chinese new classical music through the "erect guitar" in front of them. She once played a song "Spring River Flower Moon Night" to open the curtain of the G20 summit, with the sound of a piano, light up the pavilions, until the whole West Lake shines, let the world marvel at the beauty of the Orient. Her Listen to China became the first chinese national instrumental solo album in the history of Universal Universal Records and is still the only Chinese national instrumental solo album. With years of visiting and performing abroad, she has built a bridge of cultural exchanges and friendship between Chinese and foreign music with the strings of the piano, so that the natural sound of the pipa reverberates in countless top music halls, and spreads Chinese folk music to more than 50 countries and regions around the world.

As the best female performer in the Chinese world, what makes her achieve outstanding achievements in the music world and bloom her unique self? Today, at the rehearsal site of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Global Culture Reporter met With Zhao Cong, deputy director of the Central Chinese Orchestra and pipa player, looking for answers in her piano. Being rehearsed is her original large-scale pipa concerto "Silk Road Flying Sky", inspired by the most representative artistic symbol of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes "Rebound Pipa", but using contemporary international vocabulary to express, in the magnificent symphony dialogue, a pipa through ancient and modern, do not ask things, fingertips pluck the heartstrings, leading the listener's thoughts to travel through time to the Tang Dynasty and the flying sky.

Zhao Cong, deputy director of the Central Chinese Orchestra and pipa player, photogrammer/Global Network Culture Channel

"My personality is to like to innovate." Zhao Cong laughed about the "secret" of his creation, in the "Angry Youth" era, she tried standing playing, crystal lute, mix-and-match rock, Rap, various variations... At the interview site, she also used the pipa to interpret a "Northeast dialect", which made people marvel at the fact that her music can "coexist with beauty and humor", full of personality charm. "In my world, there is no Distinction between East and West, or male or female, the key is to see if you are creative." 」 Crossing cultural differences and transcending the limitations of gender ability, Zhao Cong's wandering in the artistic life is boundless. She also said happily: "After the opening of the Internet era, everyone has more and more innovative consciousness, there are all kinds of expressions, there are many young people, even foreigners are trying the interesting collision of Chinese folk music and world music, I think this is very good, because folk music collides with different cultures, it has more vivid vitality, in order to better inherit." ”

Innovation has vitality to find the world expression of folk music

Zhao Cong was born in a musical family, and he had already begun to listen to his mother play the pipa when he was in his mother's belly, and when he was young, he seemed to have no second choice, and even she herself sighed: "I may have been born for the pipa." "Her father is from northeast China and her mother is from Shanghai, which not only gives her a soft and classical appearance and a strong sense of humor in her bones, but also grows up in the fusion of northern and southern cultures from an early age, but also makes her naturally indifferent to any "difference" in the world, and naturally plays "mix-and-match".

The pipa has a history of more than 2,000 years and is a very traditional Chinese instrument, but the playing technology has been continuously developed to this day, "the development and richness of technology is no less than that of Western instruments, which we are very confident." Zhao Cong told the Global Culture reporter that in fact, the number of ancient songs is far from enough. In her view, inheriting the tradition is very important, but more importantly, the innovative transformation after the inheritance, "the creative can have vitality." Thus, she began her own musical journey of "ancient music new arrangement", "What should the world expression of contemporary Chinese music be?" This is also a topic that needs to be studied in depth today. ”

Recently, Zhao Cong's live video of "New Ten Faces Ambush" performed in South Korea many years ago was republished by the assistant to the domestic network platform, and received more than two million views, and she was very happy from the love of netizens. "Ten Faces Ambush" is an ancient song that she has been skillfully playing since she was seven or eight years old, and after cooperating with composer Ma Jiuyue, she is accompanied by electronic music, with strong drum beats, and also uses her unique design of "crystal pipa" to play the ancient style and novelty, which makes the music scene refreshing. Another original work "Fudge Tianchang", which she went deep into the Changbai Mountains and was inspired by the mysterious and beautiful Tianchi, was also very sensational when it was premiered in Japan, integrating the characteristics of northeast China, the domineering piano sound shocked the audience, and more "High turned the whole scene", after the performance, the audience all stood up and applauded, which made her more convinced of her creative attitude: "Yangchun white snow, after all, is a minority." To be liked by more people, but also in line with the popular language expression of pop. ”

Get rid of distractions and just come face-to-face with the music

"I think good players get rid of all distractions and bring the conductor, the band and the audience together into a special world of music where it's all about the enjoyment of beauty." Zhao Cong described the ideal musical realm to global culture reporters.

As a professional performer, Zhao Cong is more based on his natural intuition when writing and composing, "Close your eyes, let that melody and inspiration come to me, and then record it." "In 2014, she was commissioned by the Central Chinese Orchestra to create "Silk Road Flying Sky", she went to Dunhuang to collect wind, followed a beam of light from the tour guide's flashlight in the dark cave of Mogao Grottoes, and felt the incomparable shock and emotion brought to her by the flying sky in the Dunhuang murals." When I wrote this work, I just had a sense of picture, and the flying sky came alive one by one. Including its time-based, shuttle-like feeling, the feeling of the speed of light, in many modern expressions. ”

This work has also been performed many times internationally, but for Zhao Cong, "the most magical performance was in front of the nine-story tower in Dunhuang". It was a special performance to commemorate Dunhuang in 1650, and it is said that Dunhuang did not rain much during the year, and it drizzled when she played "Silk Road Flying". Zhao Cong, who was fully immersed in the mood of music, also unconsciously burst into tears. This scene made Teacher Fan Jinshi, who was at the scene at the time, can't help but sigh that "this is touching the Heavenly Daughter, the Heavenly Daughter scattered flowers."

Representing the highest level of pipa performance in China today, Zhao Cong has performed in important state events and overseas visits for many times, and more than 40 foreign heads of state have listened to Zhao Cong's piano so far. Talking about the pressure faced by each performance, Zhao Cong said, "In fact, there will be no pressure on the music itself, but when the eyes of the world gather here, and your performance represents the traditional Chinese culture, it will indeed feel unprecedented pressure." However, at the end of the stage, when you get rid of all the distractions and return to the original, leaving you face to face with the music, this experience is also a sublimation of yourself. ”

Women's wisdom is to do a really praiseworthy job

"The pipa is a part of me, a part of my body. You see, the shape of the lute is also so much like the beautiful lines of women. As a female performer, this year Zhao Cong also created a new work from the unique perspective of women and the theme of female aesthetics of different generations - "Leming Oriental". From the traditional Jiangnan embroidered woman with an oil-paper umbrella, to the various interpretations of the style of Shanghai in the 30s to the white-collar beauties in the economically dynamic metropolis today, she depicts the female figures in the changing times with different music and sound effects, and shows their different beauty with melodies. The work will also be performed in collaboration with conductor Chen Xieyang for its world premiere in Shanghai on October 14, 2020.

Zhao Cong admits that female folk music players in the music industry are very polished, "because the entire traditional Chinese aesthetic tends to be a feminine aesthetic and introverted temperament." "But if you want to pursue better goals in your career, you must not rely only on advantages, and female compatriots need some wisdom." She reminded: "Sometimes, when women reach a certain level, people don't think that because you are a woman, they will take care of you, but think, 'She is a woman, can she do a good job?'" You may be questioned, so you may have to give more and do it to be truly praised. ”

"I have a motto: At the snap of a finger, through the ancient and modern, do not ask anything, feel free and boundless." For Zhao Cong, whether it is art or the "horizon" of life, never setting limits is also a kind of wisdom of life. In her eyes, many music masters actually have a "hermaphrodite" way of thinking, she added: "All the instrument masters, a generation of masters are almost all men, on the one hand, they are more persistent and have been sticking, on the other hand, you will find that they basically have both male explosiveness and female delicacy." In art, delicacy and explosiveness are both. So when playing, it's best to forget that you're male or female. (End)