Written by | Chen Guangchen
Fu Cong (March 10, 1934 – December 28, 2020) gave a piano concert at the Hubei Theatre in April 2007. Image source ic photo
Rare intellectuals
I have been friends with Fu Cong for nearly two decades, but the age difference is half a century. For me, he was a mentor and a friend. When I was a child, I was fascinated by his recordings, and I learned to practice the piano sentence by sentence with his performance (although I couldn't learn it at all), so I knew his unique sentences, tone, and tone. Ideologically, he was the one who inspired me the most and directly influenced my choice of comparative literature and musicology as a profession. Although this is because he is a great musician, he has a vast universe in his mind, and he has a far-beyond-ordinary insight into literature, art, and history. In the twentieth century, chinese intellectuals experienced great suffering like him, and it is not unique that they are so knowledgeable. But there are probably not many people like him who are sober-minded and can grasp the balance between their own encounters and the historical pattern.
The last time I met Fu Cong was at the beginning of the year, on the eve of the epidemic in London. At that time, he had back surgery and was unable to move, but there were friends from afar, and the old man was of course happy. I remember his last words before leaving: "Not as energetic as before." Although he said it with a smile, there was a slight sense of apology and helplessness. Indeed, I used to meet with him, often after concerts, always until two or three o'clock in the morning, and now I think it is incredible. He was a rarity, but he was full of energy, talking about the topics he cared about, and he was very passionate, just like his playing style.
His memory is even more striking: he remembers exactly which conductor he worked with decades ago, which repertoire he played, or what his father knew.
Music can be pure entertainment, but listening to Fu Cong's performance, it always makes people feel calm for a long time, which is also a feeling that many people have. The emotions he injects into the music are not clear tea, but highly counted spirits. Although this is related to his life experience, it is also due to temperament. I listened to recordings of him in the late fifties and early sixties when he was in his prime, and that was already the case. People with this personality are very sensitive, even very extreme, but they are actually very fragile. But precisely because it is fragile, it is great. This sounds illogical, but I can quote Fu Cong's own words to explain.
"Fragile" is an artistic style
Chatting with Fu Cong, I heard him mention his music friends from time to time, such as the pianists Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim. The three of them happen to be three representative and very different types. Fu Cong said that Agridge was a "pianist" because she could naturally solve the most difficult problems in piano technology; it was a godsend intuition that she would not necessarily be able to explain clearly. And music has a lot of metaphysical things, which are essentially a matter of skill. Barenbohm is a well-rounded "musician" (musician), because he is ideological, never makes "grammatical errors" in music, and can accurately grasp and express the texture of the work at once. Fu Cong himself is an "artist", and he also emphasizes that saying this seems to elevate himself, but this is not the case, because his only definition of "artist" is vulnerability, which is not an advantage. His original words were in English, and he felt that he could not translate them, so I could only reluctantly translate them as "fragile". For such people, they see the ideal state that is unattainable and will pursue it at all costs. But precisely because it is impossible to hope for, the process of pursuit is difficult and even painful, and it is always accompanied by disappointment, and there is no real moment to be achieved. There will be loneliness, frustration, and even strong self-doubt, which is where their "vulnerability" lies. But on the other hand, this "fragility" will stimulate more courage and spiritual strength, and their pursuit of the ideal realm will be more moving. Fu Cong's whole life has been in this state. He was rarely satisfied with his performance, which was not self-effacing or exaggerated, but his true state of mind.
If you use cross-border examples to explain this "fragility" he calls, then you may wish to compare Barenbohm to Qian Zhongshu and Fu Cong to Wang Guowei. Qian Zhongshu was born with all the advantages of genius, and he also saw his fate clearly at an early age, so he would not doubt himself and would not take a detour. All he needed was to spend his life transforming his genius into an immortal work. He has wisdom, a degree of progress and retreat, and will never waste his talent and academic life unless he is forced to do so. Wang Guowei, on the contrary, although he wrote "Human Words and Sayings" and "Comments on the Dream of the Red Chamber" at a young age, he destroyed few works at the age of thirty, completely denied himself, and focused on ancient history research, just as the so-called "last night the west wind withered the green trees, went up to the tall buildings alone, and looked at the end of the world" . But he still did not escape doubts and confusion, did not overcome his "vulnerability", and ended up committing suicide. If you ask Qian Zhongshu and Wang Guowei who is great, it must be the same great. But to say that Qian Zhongshu and Wang Guowei are more touching, I am afraid that it is Wang Guowei, because he shows the most fragile and true side of human nature under the reflection of the ideal realm.
Fu Cong is not a pianist like Agridge and Barenbohm who easily has a technical advantage, he has many flaws, but he has always seen the highest realm of art very clearly. Fu Cong hated kitsch. Many of Chopin's popular melodies, Fu Cong avoided. What he keeps playing are those "bad" works. He became famous for Chopin, and the only one I want to choose is chopin's fantasy Polish dance (polonaise-fantaisie) in his later years. This work is the last monument of Chopin's life, played for nearly fifteen minutes, obscure and ancient, tragic and desolate, without a catchy melody, but represents Chopin's highest achievement. In Fu Cong's words, this realm is close to Li Shangyin's poems, because the emotions and meanings are too complex and intense, intertwined, and cannot be dissolved.
Fu Cong's signature program list of performances in New York.
"Repertoire Trade-offs" in the Fusion of Eastern and Western Civilizations
So, when did Fu Cong realize this state of Chopin in his later years? One of the earliest fu cong records in my collection was the vinyl published in the Czech Republic in 1953, including this fantasy Polish dance song, when Fu Cong was nineteen years old, but his interpretation was amazingly mature, profound and free. While others have been playing Chopin's round dance all their lives, such a young man has chosen to record Chopin's most profound and magnificent posthumous works, and he knows its meaning. What a genius this is? In fact, more than one work can explain Fu Cong's extraordinary comprehension; Chopin's Mazouga in C minor (the third song of Op. 56) and the last two nocturnes (Op. 62) in chopin's later years are all the most difficult, least pleasing, but the greatest music. Many pianists are careful, even if they don't stay away from them. Fu Cong, on the other hand, focused on playing them from the beginning of his playing career. Until his old age, he was still constantly polishing and exploring a new realm.
There is also a passage of the past that must not be mentioned. When Fu Cong was a teenager, he quarreled with Fu Lei and ran away from home for many days, because Fu Cong believed that Beethoven's lyrical Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major represented his peak; while Fu Lei said that the ninth sonata, "Croce", full of dramatic conflicts, was recognized by scholars as a masterpiece. In Fu Lei's view, how many books has a hairy boy read, dare to overturn the public opinion of scholars? But Fu Cong, who took the lead in musical intuition, did not care what scholars said. Many years later, I specifically asked Fu Cong again, which song do you think is higher? Fu Cong said, of course, that is still the tenth sonata!
From Fu Cong's choice of repertoire, we can see his cultural accomplishment. Beethoven, who he is good at, is a "lyrical" and timeless repertoire, such as the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major and several late sonatas. Because Fu Cong felt that they did not have the common "isms" of Beethoven's writing. In the Western tradition, there is a set of canons from Bach to Beethoven, "holding the shelf". But Fu emphasized the humanist system from Handel to Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, and Berlioz. This, combined with his intoxicating Scarlatti, Hayden, Schubert, Chopin, and Debussy, forms a fresh genealogy of European music. This is something that textbooks can't learn, and perhaps it will make Westerners feel very novel. But the logic behind this is not only a personal preference, but the crystallization of a deep oriental cultural tradition. An artist who was truly nurtured by Chinese culture has such an opinion of Western music, which is actually reasonable. From the Confucian values of this life, to the Taoist sound philosophy of "listening to the soundless sound of Cong", and then to the aesthetic taste of "Poetry" and "Human Words", it supports Fu Cong's entire concept of music. Among modern artists, Hun hun embodies the essence of Chinese culture, not only Yu Shuyan, Mei Lanfang, Zhang Boju, who are famous peking opera masters, but also Fu Cong, who plays Western music.
On the other hand, the reason why Fu Cong's performance shook people's hearts was because he himself had struggled in the abyss. I discussed Fu Cong's performances at different times with his wife, Patsy, and she said that Fu Cong's heart was never able to heal the pain caused by his parents' fate, so there was actually a anger in the mid-term recording. This is his background for playing Chopin. But even Mozart's brightest and purest music, Fu Cong played it very touchingly, because he could hear that it was a joy that was exchanged for tribulation. If he hadn't translated these experiences into artistic expressions, he would have been just a "gifted musician," and his music wouldn't have had that power.
This is Fu Cong. In the last two or three years, he could not play the piano, and his hearing was not good, and he was particularly tormented. Relatives and friends were very worried, especially Fu Min, who was far away in Beijing, and told me to have a chance to explain Fu Cong more. In fact, good friends, which one does not try to unravel him? But he has his persistence, his "vulnerability." Character is the result of fate.
Fu Cong, like his music, will have a strong influence on the hearts of others. At this point, my mind echoed the last song of one of his 2007 concerts, Schubert's allegro in C minor. The ending phrase sinks all the way down from the treble range, ending with a minor chord, Fu Cong pressed it with one hand, not much force, but the sadness of the tone and the determination of the emptiness were really shocking. These breathtaking musical moments of his are really going to dissipate in the end. We can only find solace in the recordings he left behind, as well as in his phrases, and remember the man behind the music, and his history.
Author | Chen Guangchen
Edit | Rodong
Proofreading | Zhai Yongjun
Source: Beijing News