Source: Xinmin Evening News 2023-11-03 19:35 Published in Shanghai
The following article is from New Performing Arts , written by Zhu Yuan
Wei Song's 50th Anniversary and "Inheritance" Concert was recently staged at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall.
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As a blockbuster performance of the 22nd China Shanghai International Arts Festival, this concert gathered a number of heavyweight singers in today's music scene, in addition to special guests Tong Tiexin, Fang Qiong, Wang Li, Shi Yijie, Han Peng, Liu Tao, Yu Haolei, Zhang Yan, Xiong Hui, Shen Jiayu, Fang Yuan, Li Pengfei, Qin Tian and other lovers have sung to perform famous opera classics and famous Chinese and foreign songs.
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Concert scene
When Wei Song sang "Under the Bright Sunshine" with the children of the Doer Children's Choir, the applause and cheers were the best wishes for this singer who has been singing for 50 years.
The night's program ↓↓↓
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In this climactic opera feast, the Shanghai Opera House Chorus took the lead in singing "Let the Mind Plug in Golden Wings" from the opera "Nabucco".
After that, the classic singing segments of opera masterpieces such as "Women Are Fickle", "Why Do You Wake Me Up in the Spring Breeze", "Mom, This Wine Is Too Strong", and "Ordinary Stories" made the atmosphere warm at the scene.
At the end of the first half, the tenor Wei Song, known as "China's No. 1 Othello", took the stage and sang the classic excerpt "God, why do you humiliate me" from "Othello".
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Wei Song's 50th Anniversary and "Inheritance" Concert
The second half of the repertoire focuses on Chinese and foreign art masterpieces.
Wei Song and his cousin, Tong Tiexin, a well-known baritone in China, sang "Sunset Red" together, they are both brothers and close friends, and their tacit singing makes people feel as if they have entered a party in the "House of Art".
That night, Wei Song and all the artists ended the concert with a song "Farewell Moment".
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Wei Song's 50th Anniversary and "Inheritance" Concert
Farewell is the beginning of the next reunion, as Wei Song said: "Many foreign tenors began to hold farewell concerts in their early 60s, and held them for several years. I feel like I'm nowhere near the time I need to say goodbye. At the age of 60, I am a 'tireless singer', and at the age of 70, I am an 'ageless singer'. Here, I set a small goal - to sing until I am 80 years old. As long as you live, you must sing. ”
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Wei Song set a small goal
Verdi's "Othello", composed in his later years, was intimidating to all tenors because of the difficulty of the male protagonist's singing.
To date, Wei Song is still the only Chinese who has starred in Verdi's opera Othello.
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Wei Song performs Othello
His voice is majestic and infectious, and he is a rare top theatrical tenor in China. At the concert, 70-year-old Wei Song's voice is still strong and powerful, and his singing voice is like aged fine wine, which is more mellow because of the precipitation of years and life perception.
Wei Song sang an excerpt from "Othello" "God, you put me to shame"
On the title page of the concert program book, composer Zhao Jiping sighed - listening to Wei Song singing is a beautiful enjoyment. The sound is as you like, the music is free, loose and unremitting, tight but not stiff, free to retract and release, and there is a realm of selflessness.
To achieve the "state of selflessness", the only way to achieve the "state of selflessness" is to love from the heart and never stop pursuing. An ageless singer, the glow of High C is still there.
Wei Song's 50th Anniversary Concert has another name - inheritance. This pillar of the Chinese opera stage, which is equal in strength and popularity, interprets the hero on the stage, and is also a hero in the minds of many students off the stage. He brought the younger generations of newcomers to pass on the torch of the opera career.
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Shi Yijie, a tenor singer who is now famous all over the world, learned to sing with Wei Song when he was sixteen or seventeen years old. At that time, the young man was thin, and although he had a talent for a voice, he lacked strength and strength. Wei Song taught him how to make a voice, urged him to practice diligently, and lit the first lamp on his singing path.
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At the beginning of Han Peng's beginning, he was known as "Little Wei Song" in the opera world, and he was also one of the students that Wei Song had cultivated with all his heart. Like his teacher, he has the foundation of a physical education student and is full of physical fitness, so he needs to adjust the language, breath and performance of opera singing.
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Wei Song accepts students from talent and hard work, and the most important thing is character. "If you don't have talent, Fei Lao Da is not this material, and you will delay the child in vain. With talent, you can't climb the peak of opera without hard work, and it took me more than ten years to change from baritone to tenor, until I was in my forties. ”
As for the character, Wei Song said: "That's the foundation, a small tree, the seedlings are crooked, the stronger they are, the worse they are." ”
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Wei Song Data map © Guo Xinyang
Many people are curious, how did Wei Song's voice remain strong, strong and powerful for ten years? To protect the voice, singers have their own secret recipes. But here in Wei Song - there are no taboos, happy and casual. At the end of the concert, the students celebrated Wei Song's birthday until the second half of the night. The next afternoon, when he answered the phone, he was still full of energy and his voice was loud.
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Wei Song with the students
"My lifestyle is like this, I stay up late and drink alcohol, which is not good. But fortunately, as long as you get some sleep, your throat will come back. Born in a singing family, Wei Song smiled and said: "Thanks to the gene, the voice is okay." ”
In his opinion, the best way to protect his throat and maintain his condition is to be "happy". "Singer, the voice is his instrument, you are feeling good, you are doing the best maintenance of the instrument."
Author: Zhu Yuan (Xinmin Evening News, New Performing Arts Studio)
Editor: Xiao Kai Shi Yu
Picture: provided by the organizer, photographed by Guo Xinyang, partly from the Internet