Wu Bixia: The endless "Dream of Red Mansions"

　　In mid-March, in a classroom in the teaching building of the China Conservatory of Music, choir members were practicing their voices and musicians were adjusting their instruments. The laughter that was once joked by netizens as "Laughing to the High C" came from far to near. When she arrived at the rehearsal hall ahead of others, everyone knew that Wu Bixia was here. This scene is reminiscent of Wang Xifeng in "A Dream of Red Mansions" who "hears the voice before seeing the person".

　　Produced by the China Conservatory of Music and produced by the Art Practice Center of the China Conservatory of Music, "The Rhythm of a Dream of Red Mansions" - a special concert of the China Conservatory of Music Chinese Orchestra's classic Dream of the Red Chamber was recently staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. During the rehearsal, Wu Bixia, a professor at the Department of Vocal Music and Opera at the China Conservatory of Music, a soprano and a member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party, told how she became inseparable from the full version of the "Dream of Red Mansions" themed concert, as well as her singing career and vocal music education.

Wu Bixia at the performance. Photo provided by interviewee.

　　Everyone has a dream of Red Mansions

　　In 1987, the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" adapted from Cao Xueqin's famous novel of the same name set off a craze for watching dramas, and the episodes in the TV series "Ode to Burial Flowers", "Red Bean Song", "Sigh of Xiangling" and "Part of the Bones" also became popular.

　　In 2005, Wu Bixia became associated with the full-length theme concert of "Dream of Red Mansions", and it has been nearly 20 years now. As a scholar, she takes the poetic expression and inheritance of the music of Dream of Red Mansions as a research topic; as a singer, she always has new insights on how to interpret this set of classic repertoire in every performance.

　　"For the same piece of music, there are significant differences between the concert version and the TV drama version." Wu Bixia said, "The TV drama soundtrack serves the plot and images, while the concert version uses music to tell stories and sounds to shape shapes to reproduce "Dream of Red Mansions" The people and stories in the show highlight the tension of live stage music and drama.”

　　Wu Bixia and the "Dream of Red Mansions" theme concert grew up together, and they could not do without an important person. He is the composer of the "87 version" "Dream of Red Mansions" episode and the creator of the entire musical soul of "Dream of Red Mansions" - Wang Liping, a famous musician and former vice chairman of the Central Committee for the Democracy.

　　Wang Liping spent four years painstakingly completing the 17 pieces of music, which express the love, hate and sorrow of the children of Red Mansions, and express the harshness of the world. They also made "every soprano in China want to have their own "Dream of Red Mansions"".

　　In 2005, Wu Bixia and Wang Liping collaborated for the first time to perform the "Dream of Red Mansions" suite. After that, they toured more than 100 shows, and the venues were sold out. Over the years, Wang Liping has been present at almost every performance of "Dream of Red Mansions" performed by Wu Bixia. He would encourage Wu Bixia after each performance, put forward ideas and suggestions, and discuss them with her; he would also tell the story of the creation of the "Dream of Red Mansions" suite and his own mental journey to help Wu Bixia better understand the behind-the-scenes of "Dream of Red Mansions" of heritage and wisdom. Wu Bixia will also ask Wang Liping for advice when she encounters problems, including an uncertain word in the lyrics, she will carefully confirm with Wang Liping.

　　Wang Liping commented that compared to before, Wu Bixia "is now slowly losing her craftsmanship and gradually growing from a technical singer to a more comprehensive and mature singer who pays more attention to inner expression."

　　Wu Bixia is evaluated by many people as "the nightingale who combines Chinese and Western styles". She innovatively combines Chinese folk singing with Western bel canto singing, and has won many international awards. In her later work, she also continued to "break boundaries." In recent years, she has participated in popular variety shows such as "I Am a Singer", "Sound into the Heart", and the "Wonderful Tour" series, and is well-known to the public. She has collaborated with games and animations on works such as "Guanghan Palace" and "Dala Beng Bar". Popular on the Internet. Adding coloratura to pop music singing is a big challenge, and Wu Bixia often puts forward her own ideas. "On the premise of sticking to my own aesthetic pursuit, I am also constantly learning the current aesthetic concepts."

　　Many people attribute the artist's achievements to "God gives you food", but Wu Bixia has always used her actions to tell others that "when God gives you food, what's more important is that you can catch it."

The picture shows Wu Bixia (left) and Wang Liping performing on stage together. Photo provided by interviewee.

　　"I don't want you to be like me, you have to be yourself"

　　As China's first young Yangtze River scholar majoring in vocal performance, Wu Bixia has been thinking about: What is the relationship between the stage and the podium?

　　Wu Bixia's student Zhou Bin once expressed his admiration to his mentor: "Teacher, I must sing like you, so that I can be worthy of being your student."

　　Wu Bixia's answer at that time is still unforgettable to Zhou Bin: "I don't want you to be like me, you have to be yourself."

　　In 2021, Zhou Bin graduated with a master's degree and faced the problem of choosing where to work. Wu Bixia suggested that she go to the grassroots level and "learn in depth the local traditional culture with a zeroing mentality."

　　In Wu Bixia’s view, one hand should be extended to tradition and the other hand to the world. She said: "Learn Western scientific vocal methods and singing methods, and constantly improve yourself. At the same time, you must also learn the precious traditional culture left by our ancestors, and then apply it to current national vocal music singing."

　　With the teacher's encouragement and hope, Zhou Bin took a job at the Drama Creation Research Center in Guilin, Guangxi. After working here for many years, she kept Wu Bixia's teachings in class in mind. She would often ask Wu Bixia for help when encountering problems, and she would also send new songs to Wu Bixia to listen to. Wu Bixia will reply seriously every time and give suggestions. In 2022, Zhou Bin won the "Peony Award", China's highest folk art award.

　　At this year's Two Sessions, Wu Bixia, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, put forward relevant suggestions on issues such as employment of college graduates and preventing youth Internet addiction. These suggestions come from Wu Bixia’s observations and summaries in education work over the years.

　　For more than 20 years, from a teacher sitting at the piano to a teacher wearing a committee card, Wu Bixia deeply feels the responsibility on her shoulders. "In the future, we must first be good actors, gain stage experience and knowledge on the stage, and transform this into a teaching resource to pass on to students, leading them to embark on the career path of art." (End) ("China News" author Yin Limei) reports)