Zhongxin Wanghai, March 3 Topic: Famous pianist Kong Xiangdong mourns his mentor: Born to die and embrace limited life

Reporter Zheng Yingying

It was Qingming season again, and soon after spring in Shanghai, the weather was warm and cold. On the 15th, in the Binhai Ancient Garden, more than an hour's drive from downtown Shanghai, tombstones were covered by green trees. Pianists Kong Xiangdong and Zhou Ting successively popped up on the black and white keys to miss their mentor, piano educator Fan Dalei.

Special concert in the cemetery

Suddenly, teacher Fan Dalei has been dead for 30 years.

Kong Xiangdong has grown from a former piano student to one of the most active Chinese pianists in the international music scene, and he collaborated with Italian composer Giorgio Morrodel to compose the song "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

At the scene, Kong Xiangdong played two preludes by Rachmaninoff, his fingers fell, his emotions rose, and the notes circulated in the air, urging people to red eyes. Because Mr. Van Dalei's favorite music was Rachmaninoff's music.

Kong Xiangdong said that time flies so quickly, with a snap of his fingers.

He recalled that since Mr. Fan Dalei was buried in Binhai Ancient Garden in 1994, he has come to pay his respects 29 times, and each time he comes, he will play the music he performs or composed every year to the teacher at the tomb, and he has always looked forward to the day when he can play live to him.

"Concerts in cemeteries may be taboo for some people, but maybe it's not a concert, it's a musical memorial service," he said. In his opinion, music is sometimes wonderful, it can transcend the pale of language and express our hearts.

Because of the thoughts, there is no separation

Kong Xiangdong once wrote a small poem for teacher Fan Dalei, called "Missing is a Kind of Beauty", the small poem is only three short lines:

Because of the thought, know how to cherish more;

Because of longing, I understand that happiness is not easy;

Because of the thoughts, there is no separation.

Kong Xiangdong said that "life and death are inseparable" does not mean that their physical bodies are with us, but that the spirit is always with us, "The power of this spiritual companionship lies in the fact that we will be able to continue their 'chapter' from the life path they have already walked, and this process of continuation is a transmission of power." ”

In the 1993 years from his mentor's death in 2023 to the present year 30, Kong Xiangdong's life stage has had highlights and dark periods, including an 8-year period of depression.

In an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com, he frankly said that during this time, "everything will pass, believe in love." As long as there is love in life, you can cross everything. ”

He said that after experiencing these things, he understood some of the connotations and principles of life, "Music is love, and learning music is learning love." We embrace life and interpret notes with our own understanding of life. I think the notes are short and the life is long. ”

The greatest "treasure" left by my mentor: moving forward

Kong Xiangdong said in an interview video when he was a youth that he began to study with Fan Dalei in 1982, "In the seven years of studying with him, he not only taught me to be a pianist, but the most important thing is that he taught me a lot of principles of being a person." ”

Decades later, in an interview with reporters, Kong Xiangdong said that the biggest "wealth" that Teacher Fan left him was: forging ahead.

Because when he studied piano with Fan Dalei, the teacher was already sick, but he never complained about life, and he never even wasted time, "He knew that his life would not be long, and he lived with the attitude of living to death until he completed the 47-year journey of life." ”

Thirty years ago, on the occasion of Fan Dalei's death, Kong Xiangdong and Zhou Ting, another student of Fan (now a pianist and vice president of the Affiliated High School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music), used a tearful piano recital to comfort their mentor lying on the hospital bed with the music that Fan had taught them hand-in-hand.

30 years later, Kong Xiangdong still has a lot to say to his mentor, and his voice is difficult to hide the trembling.

Through the "ups and downs" of life, he is more gentle and tolerant of life. He said, "I hope we can also live to die and embrace our limited life." (End)