"Piano Goddess" Chen Sa: Need to have time to feel yourself

Photo / Beijing Youth Daily reporter Hao Yi

In a commercial society with many temptations, it is rare for artists to be able to maintain independence and stick to their own positions. Pianist Chen Sa is one of them.

The pianist who debuted on the stage of the three major international piano competitions in Leeds, Poland, Chopin and Clyburn in the United States, and won important awards, was praised by the British BBC as "one of the most charming pianists today" and has many loyal fans at home and abroad. Chen Sa could have launched some less difficult works based on her achievements, but she chose an incomparably "difficult" path by nature - playing the full collection.

Since the establishment of his solo studio in 2015, Chen Sa has released new recital repertoire every year, from Chopin's Mazurka, to Debussy's 24 Piano Preludes and 12 Piano Etudes, to Chopin's Nocturnes, most of which present the composer's works in full volumes. In these tomes, the audience can feel Chen Sa's intentions, especially those works that are familiar to everyone, and Chen Sa also gives his own unique understanding and interpretation.

Following the 2019 Chopin Nocturne Concert Tour, Chen Sa's new album "Chopin Nocturne Complete Collection" was recently released worldwide. Taking this opportunity, The Beijing Youth Daily entertainment video column "Entertainment See" exclusively interviewed Chen Sa. The road to the artist is not smooth, it needs to be tempered and forged over the years, and it is even more necessary to endure loneliness and loneliness. Chen Sa admits, "I am not a person who likes to be happy and relaxed by staying in a noisy crowd. The experience of learning to play the piano made me feel like a necessity, and I needed time to feel myself. ”

Interpreting the complete works of composers is like a deep dive process

Chen Sa grew up loving and often playing Chopin's Nocturne. In 2019, Chen Sa became the first artist in Chinese mainland to hold a concert tour of Chopin's Complete Nocturnes, and due to the epidemic, the recording of this set of tracks was not completed until 2021.

"Chopin's Nocturne is particularly familiar to everyone, even in the lobby of the hotel can often be heard, but as a set of works to present, in fact, very deep, the requirements for interpretation are very high." It is such a set of well-known works that Chen Sa has spent a lot of effort to study and present. For some very familiar "Nocturne", Chen Sa even needs to spend extra time to slowly wash away the kind of interpretation that seems familiar to his ears, "I want to make the work itself speak to me." ”

Chopin's 21 Nocturnes, though different, do not have major ups and downs of emotion, and are all works of the same composer of similar styles, and being placed in the same concert is a great challenge for both the audience and the performers. Usually the concert work is about one and a half hours, and chopin's complete anthem is played for about two hours, with an intermission. Chen Sa can always be involved in it, to achieve fascinating, "touring such a set of works, physically and mentally tired, in addition to the need for concentration and emotional effort, but also your overall state of investment." ”

The reason why she insists on playing the whole set is a challenge to outsiders, but Yu Chen Sa herself is not, she found happiness in it and got to know herself better. "From the moment I played Chopin's full set of Mazurka, I had a taste of the joy of playing the suite. Because from my own learning, to the final presentation, to share with you on the spot, this process is similar to the process of deep diving, you are completely immersed in the context of a work to feel, for me is a very precious wealth. ”

Chen Sa continues this immersive experience to the repertoire of the concert and the publication of the album, "My live performance and recording of 21 Nocturnes must respect not only the history of publication, but more importantly, the score itself. ”

"On the way to learn the piano, thank my parents for not giving up on me"

Her mother was a dancer and her father was a horn player, and this family atmosphere allowed Chen Sa to live in a very literary environment from an early age. "In the courtyard where we live, the neighborhood is very good, surrounded by brothers and sisters, and everyone is singing and playing the piano on a small stage made of stone slabs, and I am one of them." It was at that time that Chen Sa's parents discovered Chen Sa's artistic talent, "At that time, I sang and danced, loved to express myself, and especially had the desire to perform. So my parents decided to hire a professional teacher to learn music for me. ”

In order to learn the piano, Chen Sa, who lives in Chongqing, needs to follow her mother on the train to Chengdu every week to attend classes with Teacher Dan Zhaoyi. After that, Dan Zhaoyi moved to Shenzhen, and in order to let her daughter learn the piano better, Chen Sa's mother moved her family to Shenzhen without hesitation. "For quite some time, it wasn't a choice I made myself. In fact, thanks to the parents did not give up. Along the way, my mother's influence on Chen Sa was particularly great, "My mother's influence on me is natural, she is very natural and transparent, and she is also very soft." I think with this kind of nature, it is actually more than half beautiful. ”

Later, Chen Sa went to study in The United Kingdom and began to slowly learn independence, but she never felt that learning piano was a chore. "Of course, there have been lows, but I may be a person who has never thought of giving up." Today, Chen Sa still insists on practicing the piano for at least four hours a day, she believes that for pianists, practicing alone is essential, and loneliness is a compulsory course, "Loneliness is a double-edged sword, mainly depending on how you adjust, in the music." I don't mind being there, maybe because the experience of learning the piano makes me feel lonely like a necessity, and I need to have a time to feel myself. After really starting her career, her mother also had a greater impact on Chen Sa's mentality, "Her outlook on life is very open-minded, and she often makes me very relieved." ”

It's amazing to go from the Shaw contestants to the judges

After the outbreak of the epidemic, Chen Sa also experienced a period of depression. "At that time, I felt powerless because I couldn't help them in the first place because of what I was doing. It made me feel miserable. However, after resuming the performance, hearing the applause that has been missing for a long time, Chen Sa found the sense of solidity brought by music, "I see everyone's demand for music, and I will feel that what I do is meaningful, it is difficult to quantify, but it can be with everyone's spirit." ”

In 2000, Chen Sa participated in the 14th Chopin International Piano Competition, winning the fourth place and the Best Performance Award of Polish Dance Music. Fast forward 20 years, in 2021, Chen Sa will return to the place where the dream began - Warsaw, Poland, and serve as a judge of the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition with Agridge, Deng Taishan, etc. Chen Sa is the youngest judge of this year's Xiao Competition and the only Chinese judge invited.

"I think life is wonderful, and I feel very honored to be a judge of Shaw, and it is also a great recognition and trust." As a judge of Xiao Sai, Chen Sa was very emotional, "I listened with the expectation of music, and from this point of view, the original intention has not changed." Talking about his evaluation criteria, Chen Sa said, "I actually think that the music competition is a pseudo-proposition, how can you compare music? But it does have something to compare, for example, our understanding of music may be closer to the essence of the work, or after combining the essence, its personality is more fascinating, etc., which is a very artistic and personal evaluation process. ”

Entering the world of music "goddesses" is multifaceted

In 2015, he set up his own personal studio, which gave Chen Sa more autonomy and initiative. "I think more and be bolder in planning and arranging the tracks." In this special year of 2020, Chen Sa received rave reviews after touring the country with four of Beethoven's sonatas. Her interest in Beethoven grew, and she included Beethoven's 32 sonatas in the next full set, "Beethoven's 32 sonatas vary in style, and I want to play all of his sonatas in concert before deciding whether to record them." These repertoire are treasures of mankind, and it is very valuable to learn them, to play them, to spend some time of life with them. ”

A long black dress, beautiful long hair draped over the shoulders, Chen Sa always maintains the same "goddess" image as always every time he appears, shining. But when she enters the world of music, she is multi-faceted, playing Chopin with tenderness like water, and transforming into a masculine fighter in Beethoven's Emperor's Concerto. "I wanted to be infinitely close to what the composer wanted to convey." She said, "Music needs to have a three-dimensional sense, and the expression ability of music also needs to have a sense of strength. Even as a romantic composer as Chopin, he has a lot of things even shouting, such as "Heroic Polish Dance", which is a triumphant thing full of horn feeling, which is his very significant trait. Chen Sa said that she prefers her current state, "more independent, know what you want, and work hard for it, to achieve what you want, which is a state that I like very much." ”

Source: Beijing Youth Daily