On March 13, the official microblog of the Global Network learned from the Central Opera House that Li Guangxi, a famous tenor singer of the Central Opera House, died of a sudden cerebral infarction in Chaoyang Hospital at the age of 93.
Speaking of Mr. Li Guangxi, perhaps young people today do not know much about him, but since the 1960s, he has been a well-known singer and is known as the "evergreen tree of the music world". Over the past few decades, Li Guangxi's representative works include "Toast Song", "When the Sun Meets Again", "The Sun Comes Out happy", "Ode to Beijing", "Song of Wrangler", "Ode to Yan'an", "Red Sun Shines on the Grassland" and so on.
In terms of artistic achievements, Mr. Li Guangxi has also won important awards many times. As an artist, Mr. Li Guangxi has been low-key and humble all his life, good with people, outstanding business, even at the age of 90, he still performs diligently for the audience on the stage, and the outside world has always praised him as a singer with a reputation and both virtue and art. The 92-year-old once said: "I firmly believe that singing itself is also a responsibility. I have the obligation to pass on the history and home and country feelings in the songs to young people. ”
His first song "Toast Song" sang the crushing of the "Gang of Four" in October 1976, and China stood at a major historical turning point with the people's full enthusiasm and joy of the times; a song "Premier Zhou, Where Are You" combined with true and false voices, creating hundreds of millions of people's deep nostalgia for their premier in the mood of the people's call and the echo of the mountain; "Songhua On the River" and "Beijing Ode" in "Dongfang Hong" are the eternal sound memories of a historical era..." After learning the news of Li Guangxi's death, Literary critic Mao Shi'an told reporters, "I have discs that he (Li Guangxi) sent me for signature." Just as the centenary of the founding of the Party was celebrated in May last year, Li Guangxi appeared at the opening ceremony of the Liu Haisu Art Museum to celebrate the opening ceremony of the exhibition, took the stage at the age of 92, and passionately sang "Revolutionaries Are Always Young".
In 2019, People's Daily Literature and Art published Li Guangxi's signed article "I and New China 丨 Li Guangxi: Singing the Pace of the Motherland's Progress". The editor's excerpt from the article is as follows, let us remember the singer together.
I have always hoped to use my own singing voice to sing the pace of the motherland's progress and let the audience feel the breath of the times. I also feel honored that the songs I sing are closely related to social progress and the life of the times.
I was born in Tianjin in 1929, and I have heard a lot about this big city and seen many Chinese and foreign art forms. During my childhood, I watched the movies "Gone with the Wind" and "La Traviata", and also watched the Peking Opera performances of Peking Opera famous horns Ma Lianliang, Tan Fuying, Zhang Junqiu and Qiu Shengrong, and listened to Liu Baoquan's Jingyun drum. After the performance, the moving sound and image went straight to my heart and immersed me in it. I was exposed to radios, pianos, and other objects that were still fresh at the time, and I had an extraordinary obsession with music. But the profession I just started had nothing to do with music, and I just made an errand at the Kailuan Mining Bureau. Until 1953, when I was twenty-four years old, the Song and Dance Theater affiliated to the Central Academy of Drama performed at the Tianjin First Cultural Palace, and the repertoire included the new national opera "The White-Haired Girl". Xi'er in "The White-Haired Girl" was played by teacher Guo Lanying, and Guo Lanying's excellent performance and the touching plot in the opera deeply shocked me, and I was in tears. This was my first contact with Chinese opera, the first time I felt the charm of Chinese opera, and since that day, a strong desire has ignited in my heart: I must join such an exciting artistic rank! Later, I quit my job at the Mining Bureau and was admitted to the Central Experimental Opera House, and the direction of my life changed from then on.
When I entered the opera house, New China was in a period of prosperity in politics, economy, culture and art, international reputation, and other aspects, and the literary and artistic stage was also unprecedentedly prosperous. The national art academy troupe has a high-quality performance repertoire, an unprecedented scale of performances, and a huge stage set, which opens people's eyes everywhere and is welcomed by the audience. At that time, there was no television to watch, and there were not many film works, so the people were very eager for new stage plays to appear.
In 1956, the Central Experimental Opera House premiered Verdi's opera La Traviata at the Tianqiao Theater in Beijing. Under the guidance of Soviet soprano singer Va A Thi min Qieva, this "La Traviata" was the first Western opera produced and performed by Chinese herself, and after the performance, it caused a sensation in Beijing, and newspapers and periodicals such as Drama Newspaper and People's Pictorial gave a lot of reports on the performance, and the praise was endless. The successful performance of "La Traviata" was a major event in the Chinese opera industry in the 1950s, and I had the privilege of participating in it, playing the male protagonist Afrode Armand. Participating in "La Traviata" is a valuable asset for me, giving me a lot of experience and inspiration, the main experience of which is that it is not enough to just sing well, but also to devote myself to figuring out the role. At that time, I was full of Amand in my head, thinking about Armand from all aspects of image, temperament, and personality, and it was all hard work. I myself took a leap forward in my artistic career with the opera La Traviata.
In the early days of liberation, I enjoyed listening to Soviet music records. Tchaikovsky's Aria, I was fascinated as soon as I listened to it. I also studied Russian specifically. In 1958, I visited the Soviet Union with the Central Opera House and sang "The Aria of Leninsky" in the theater of the Kremlin. After the singing, the famous Soviet tenor Kozlovsky congratulated me and said to me: "Scientists have proved that the world, artists describe the world, and today you, as an artist, have described a moving story for us very well." ”
In 1964, I was drawn to participate in the rehearsal of the large-scale musical and dance epic "Oriental Red". "Dongfang Hong" is a large-scale song and dance evening for the 15th anniversary of the founding of New China. Among them, the male soloist of "Songhua River" in the "Anti-Japanese Beacon" was undertaken by me, and the singer who sang this song with me was Zhang Yuenan, a famous soprano singer of the Zongzheng Opera Troupe. This is undoubtedly a rare honor for me. "Dongfang Hong" was officially performed on October 2, 1964, which not only created a peak in art, but also created a miracle and set a model in performance discipline. The performance team of 3,000 people is very strictly managed, and the first, second and third echelons are divided into one, two and three echelons in the background, from beginning to end, they are orderly and silent. Four minutes after the end of the party, foreign reporters entered the backstage to visit, only to see that the performers had all left the scene, and each dancer's more than a dozen costumes were neatly stacked, which surprised these foreign reporters. "Dongfang Hong" was performed twenty times in a row in the Great Hall of the People, and the central leaders watched the performance and gave it high praise.
In 1976, I received a letter from the famous composer Mr. Shi Guangnan, and opened it to see that it was a song composed for Ke Yan's poem "Premier Zhou, Where Are You", which was deeply emotional and undoubtedly a masterpiece. But when I picked up the score and tried to sing a few words, the feeling of missing Premier Zhou surged into my heart, and the tears blurred my eyes, and there was no way to continue singing. This has been repeated several times, and it is not ideal. Later, it was my wife who said to me, "How do you do this?" You have to learn from Guo Lanying, she can cry with songs, that is the real artist. And you are crying as a song, how does this make the audience appreciate art? "I am ashamed of my wife's words. Yes, if I don't sing this song well, how can I be considered a qualified literary and artistic worker? After hard training, I adjusted my state in a targeted manner, and finally I could accurately interpret the song. I still vividly remember the immersive and deeply affected expressions of the audience when I sang this song on stage.
An artist's success, in addition to his own efforts, is often associated with some special opportunities. Shortly thereafter, Shi Guangnan wrote a new song called "Toast Song". The song was originally written for mezzo-sopranos, and when it first came out, some people were not optimistic. However, after I saw this score, I chanted a little, but I felt that there was an atmosphere of the times coming to my face. The lively melody and uplifting lyrics of "Toast Song" are very in line with the joyful mood of the people at that time, the spirit of being ready to go, and the hope for a better life. I just wanted to sing a song like that! So I wrote a letter to Shi Guangnan and asked him to re-orchestrate according to the requirements of the tenor voice. Later, everyone knows, "Toast Song" has become another masterpiece.
Subsequently, I sang "Toast Song" at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1979, passing on my strong feelings for the times to the national audience with the fullest enthusiasm. After the broadcast of this evening, CCTV received 160,000 letters from the audience in a row. In my opinion, "Toast Song" can get such a wide resonance, indicating that at that time, the atmosphere of our times became relaxed and high-spirited, people were enterprising, full of hope for the future life, "Toast Song" just expressed people's feelings, singing people's hearts.
I chose the happiest profession, singing means life for me, and the stage is my paradise. From "Meet in Hungary" in the 1950s, to "On the Songhua River" in the 1960s, to "Premier Zhou, Where Are You" in the late 1970s, "Toast Song", "Gulangyu Wave", etc., I have always hoped to use my own singing voice to sing the pace of the motherland's progress and let the audience feel the breath of the times. I also feel honored that the songs I sing are closely related to social progress and the life of the times. Now, we are living a happy life that we could not have imagined before, which encourages us literary and art workers to continue to work hard and work hard to create more fine works with artistic expression and appeal, singing the times and giving back to the people.
In 2017, Zhao Shimin wrote an article on the WeChat public account of Music Weekly, "Why does Li Guangxi live long?" 》。 Through this article, we can see Li Guangxi's handling of people in life.
Why does Li Guangxi live so long? The article reads: Tenor singer Li Guangxi was born in 1929 and is 88 years old this year (2017). Look at his hair, it is still so thick, it is also a third white. Li Guangxi can also sing, in the Zhongshan Park Music Hall, in the CCTV variety show, in the Beijing Television Station's Spring Festival Gala, he and Yang Hongji, Liu Bingyi also play a group, and often sing some children's songs.
Why does Li Guangxi live so long?
First, he couldn't leave his mouth. Although Li Guangxi did not go to a regular conservatory, with his hard work and passion, he taught himself bel canto singing. In the 1950s, he was admitted to the Central Opera House, and since then, he has sung every day, of course, that is his job. But from the perspective of health, it is equivalent to him massaging his internal organs and brains every day through the resonance of sound, maintaining the elasticity of his blood vessels and promoting the operation of his qi and blood.
Second, his family was harmonious. Li Guangxi's husband and wife are affectionate, their daughters and sons-in-law are filial piety, and their grandsons are talented. The three generations of their grandchildren often held evening parties together, and I had seen his grandson recite, sing and play the piano on TV. Especially for the elderly, family harmony is a small environment for longevity. The elderly's children and grandchildren are wrapped around their knees, and they have sustenance in their hearts. A poem says: "Life is less than a hundred, and it is a thousand years of worry." That is to say, a person must think about what is behind him, and the more harmonious and beautiful things are behind him, the happier and more solid his limited life is. Therefore, the verse can also be changed to: "People live more than 100 years old, and they follow generations after generations." "Thinking that there are generations behind him that continue to replicate with his genes, his limited life will be much longer than that of his peers."
Third, he travels the world. Li Guangxi and his wife have traveled to more than 180 cities and scenic spots around the world. Li Guangxi, who sings operas, has sought artistic beauty all his life, and tourism is a concentrated embodiment of the beauty of life, which in addition to natural scenery, there are also humanistic feelings, which can stimulate the enjoyment of old artists to discover beauty. Traveling around the world not only moved his bones and bones, but also developed his brain, so that his brain delayed aging, especially Li Guangxi had to buy some local souvenirs every time he went to a place. Among them is the refrigerator sticker. In October 2016, Li Guangxi's refrigerator had 185 refrigerator stickers, which recorded the 185 cities and scenic spots they traveled around. Looking at the refrigerator stickers at home in your spare time evokes romantic memories of that place.
People are old before they are old. Sometimes it seems that the legs and feet are inconvenient, the legs are old first, but the roots are in the brain. If the root of the disease in the legs and feet of the half-body is not in the brain?
Mr. and Mrs. Li Guangxi can often recall the places they have visited through the refrigerator sticker, which is the most active brain movement, which is a combination of rational and emotional exercise, which effectively delays the aging of the brain. No wonder he was able to sing on stage at 88.
Fourth, he used to live by the sea. Li Guangxi often lives in The Silver Beach in Rushan, Shandong, where there is no severe cold in winter, no heat in summer, and the air quality is often comparable to that of Haikou. Needless to say, the seaside air is good, and the key is to eat local seafood. For example, oysters, new oysters listed on the same day, ten yuan can buy three catties. Locals say that oysters are gas stations for men and beauty salons for women. Oyster cholesterol is not high, is a nutrient that people, especially the elderly, easily absorb. At the seaside, summer naturally to swim, Li Guangxi considered his nearly 90 actual situation, not to swim in the sea, swimming in the swimming pool in his own residential area, swimming for two hours a day. In fact, swimming is a good fitness exercise for the elderly, which can not only move most of the joints of the body, but also not too strong and heavy.
Fifth, he is approachable. Li Guangxi is such a big name, but in community life, he is like an ordinary person. When swimming, when shopping in the market, when taking pictures on travel, people recognize him and greet him, he treats him with courtesy, and when asked for a group photo, he makes the happiest expression. This is what people often call grounding. In fact, you are not approachable, as long as you step on the ground, you can also be grounded, and the approachable ground is mainly popular. And it's human righteousness. If because you have a big wrist, you put on a shelf and the mortals ignore it, it will inevitably be hated by people, and people hate that what you release is negative qi. When people receive negative qi, the body gathers the equivalent of negative energy, which will induce various diseases. And Li Guangxi is approachable, people will respect and like him, so that people release righteousness from him, Li Guangxi accepts more positive energy, which is no less than successfully singing on the stage to accept the applause and cheers of the audience.
Sixth, he has nothing to do with anything. From the time Li Guangxi entered the Central Opera House, he only managed to improve his singing business and learn from people who were stronger than himself. Never compete for any protagonist, sort the performance opportunities. But his business became the top man, and the protagonist naturally fell on him. And because he has no quarrel with the world, the conductor, choreographer, and peers are willing to cooperate with him. Composers are also willing to write songs for him. The "Toast Song" he sang and so on were all indisputable. Lao Tzu famously said: "If there is no dispute between husbands and wives, there is no dispute with the world." "From the perspective of health, there is no dispute with things, and I am not distorted." No anxiety, no hard work, not extreme, with this kind of peaceful mentality, it is difficult to live a long life.
Source: Wen Wei Po, synthesized from the Global Network, People's Daily Literature and Art, Music Weekly
Editor-in-charge: Wang Lulu
Millions of users are watching