The 84-year-old Tibetan singer Tseten Dolma returned to Shanghai to participate in the 37th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. In an interview with reporters on the afternoon of May 8, she recalled the first time she stood on the stage of "Shanghai Spring" in 1963 and sang "Singing Mountain Songs to the Party". Recorded and broadcast by the Shanghai People's Radio, "Singing a Mountain Song to the Party" swept the north and south of the river, and Tsetan Dolma's name has since been associated with this song. She was 26 years old and a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
A year before Tsedan Dolma sang "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party", the conductor Cao Peng, who had just returned from studying in Moscow, stepped on the stage of the "Shanghai Spring" for the first time and premiered composer Zhu Jian'er's "Heroes' Poems". At that time, there was an evaluation: "Two bright stars have risen in the Shanghai music scene. On the morning of May 9, in an interview with reporters at home, 96-year-old Cao Peng could not remember how many times he had boarded the "Shanghai Spring". But he has a wish to lead autistic children to the stage of "Shanghai Spring".
On the evening of May 10, at the closing ceremony of "Shanghai Spring", the organizing committee will present Cao Peng and Tsetan Dolma with the "Special Honor Award" to pay tribute to their outstanding contributions to the "Shanghai Spring" and the development of Chinese music.
Tsetan Dolma spent his life singing a song
"Singing a mountain song to the party, I compare the party to my mother; my mother only gave birth to my body, and the glory of the party shines on my heart." When interviewed by a Reporter from Shanghai, Caidan Dolma couldn't help but hum, and the song was still clear and moving.
On the afternoon of May 7, 84-year-old Tsetan Dolma was interviewed in Shanghai by Jiang Diwen
At the end of 1958, Tseten Dolma, who left his hometown for Shanghai, entered the ethnic class of the Vocal Music Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Teacher Wang Pinsu led her to the music classroom to listen to the records. "I listened to the flower-like sopranos who were like flowing water, and I was fascinated and couldn't help but imitate them, and the teacher was very surprised, because she couldn't find my high pitch on the piano."
The well-known "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party", the first song is actually not Caidan Dolma, but Ren Guizhen, the first "Sister Jiang" of the Shanghai Opera House. In 1963, a wave of "learning from Lei Feng" was set off across the country. After Zhu Jian'er read yao Xiaozhou's poem "Singing Mountain Songs to the Party" in "Lei Feng's Diary", he was deeply moved, and selected the first two eight-sentence poems from them to compose songs, written in the style of mountain songs, and sung by Ren Guizhen.
In 2018, the 81-year-old Caidan Dolma returned to his alma mater, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and sang "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party" du Xinruo photographed
When Ren Guizhen's singing was heard on the campus radio of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Caidan Dolma made up his mind to find Wang Pinsu and asked to learn to sing this song. "I thought to myself, this is what I have to say!" I didn't have much culture and couldn't write those words, but I could sing! I have seen and experienced the bitter life of the Tibetan serfs, and I have also seen and felt the happy life of the serfs turning themselves into masters, and I have personally felt the warmth of the party. Without the Communist Party, there would have been no daughter of a serf walking on a college campus. ”
This Tibetan girl, who even spoke Chinese at that time, impressed Wang Pinsu with her sincere feelings, not only teaching her to cut Chinese lyrics word by word, but also asking Zhu Jian'er to guide her. Zhu Jian'er listened and said, "She sang into my heart!" ”
On the evening of May 10, 84-year-old Caidan Dolma will sing "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party" again at the closing ceremony of the "Shanghai Spring" Photo by Jiang Diwen
After the "Shanghai Spring" was sung, "Singing Mountain Songs to the Party" quickly spread throughout the country. Whether in Shanghai or in his hometown of Tibet, whenever Tsetan Dolma sang this song, he was always warmly welcomed and led to a chorus of the whole audience.
Tsetan Dolma, who came out of the "Shanghai Spring", was invited to Beijing to participate in the large-scale music and dance epic "Dongfang Hong" initiated and choreographed by Premier Zhou Enlai. After the performance, she was received by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou along with other performers. Later, Premier Zhou encouraged her to return to Tibet and serve the people of her hometown. Tsetan Dolma returned to Tibet and traveled throughout the large and small villages on the snowy plateau. She has also traveled to more than thirty countries, letting loud songs echo in the world.
84-year-old Tsetan Dolma, what is life like today? Caidan Dolma smiled and said that there were no cattle or sheep in the house, so she was busy with some housework, cooking, sweeping the floor, reading the newspaper, "Songs still have to be practiced, not practiced!" ”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and Tseten Dolma has once again returned to Shanghai, back to the stage of the "Shanghai Spring", and she will once again sing "Sing a Mountain Song to the Party" at the closing ceremony. "Now that I sing it, I have a different taste from back then, and my feelings are deeper."
Cao Peng, there is music and love will not grow old
At 10:00 a.m. on May 9, he visited Cao Peng's home and it was he who came to open the door. The old man who had been recording a program on tv the night before, who had not returned home until after 10 p.m., interviewed the old man who still got up early on the day, changed into his shirt and trousers, and waited for the reporter.
The day before the "Shanghai Spring" Special Honor Award, 96-year-old Cao Peng was interviewed at home
He went sharply to the second floor to get the score for the reporter, did not need crutches, acted neatly, and did not look like a 96-year-old man at all. When he went down the stairs, he did not forget to make a joke: "If there is an international competition for the elderly to climb the stairs, I will definitely take the first place." ”
The score that Cao Peng brought was the first version of the violin concerto "Liang Zhu", and the cover had been torn up by him. Turning over the sheet music, there was his dense handwriting next to the notes. "The composer doesn't have this version of the score in his hand, only I still have it, and it has become a cultural relic!"
Cao Peng said that every day he reads the "Liberation Daily" Jiang Diwen photograph
When the violin concerto "Liang Zhu" was premiered in 1959, the predecessor of the "Shanghai Spring", "Shanghai Music and Dance Exhibition Month", Cao Peng was studying in Moscow. After listening to this work, he quickly called his wife and asked her to send a copy of the score of "Liang Zhu" no matter what. In 1960, Cao Peng completed his world premiere outside of China in Moscow and broadcast it to the world. Before the concert began, he said in Chinese: "My name is Cao Peng, A Chinese student, here is going to hold a symphony concert of Chinese works, "Liang Zhu" this work is China's Romeo and Juliet, it will be here to make a world premiere outside of China, I hope the Chinese audience can hear, this will be my great honor." ”
Cao Peng performed in Moscow courtesy of the interviewee
Born in 1925 in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, Cao Peng joined the New Fourth Army in 1944 and the Communist Party of China in 1946. After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, he entered Shanghai as a member of the Cultural and Labor Troupe of the East China Military Region and transferred to the Shanghai Film Studio. "I have experienced days of not having enough to eat, and I have experienced the days of birth and death, so I am very happy to see today's China's country rich and strong on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the party, and to see an era full of hope."
In Cao Peng's home, there are many large and small trophies. And his most precious prize was a birthday gift from an autistic child on his 95th birthday last year, a "shou" written with a brush, with the words on the back: "I wish Grandpa Cao a happy birthday, good health, and a long life." ”
In 2019, Cao Peng was photographed by Jiang Diwen at home
In 2008, Cao Peng, together with his eldest daughter Cao Xiaoxia, founded the "Angel Confidant Salon" for autistic children, hoping to open their hearts through music. Many children learned to play instruments here and took to the stage at home and abroad. Over the years, they have also created a "Love Classroom" for autistic children to learn cultural knowledge, and "Love Coffee" social practice base to cultivate social skills.
Cao Peng was very happy to learn that he would be awarded the "Special Honor Award" of Shanghai Spring, but he told his daughter Cao Xiaoxia: "I think this award should be given to more young people." At the age of 96, he is still attached to the stage and hopes to one day take his autistic child to perform in the "Shanghai Spring". "Being with music, being with kids, makes me feel young and there's so much more to do."
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Zhang Yi Caption Source: Jiang Diwen Photo Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: Wu Tong