"Through research on composers, repertoire and history, I can turn my imagination into music that sounds beautiful, imaginative and interesting to us now. This is my dream as a performer. I hope Feel the scenery in music with the audience." From January 6th to 8th, Chinese young pianist Zhou Shanxiang will bring more than 70 classic pieces and memorize the scores to start five "music marathons" in Shanghai over three days, just like in an art museum. Like a "journey through time and space", it takes music fans on a journey through "five hundred years of piano".
Zhou Shanxiang has made achievements in music, natural science, mathematics and even game development. With his strong comprehension and concentration, he has become a recognizable pianist and composer. He never participates in international competitions and only plays his most touching songs. Interesting works. Many years ago, Zhou Shanxiang bought a church in France, where he not only lived and gathered with friends, but also held concerts and had a dialogue with music. And his way of dialogue with music can be called "archaeology" - reading a lot of scores and documents, trying to complete a cross-time and space dialogue with the composer, and at the same time injecting his own understanding into the performance.
"The modern piano is an instrument used to play musical works that were not originally prepared for it. Whether it is the keyboard works of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, or even Liszt, they were not created for the modern piano ." In Zhou Shanxiang's view, music performance should "naturally convey the composer's original intention and resonate with the audience's emotions." He used a very interesting word to describe performing these ancient works on a modern piano - "translation".
"The process of performing a work is a process of translation." Why can you memorize a large number of piano pieces? Zhou Shanxiang told reporters that he has a musical code full of numbers in his mind. "For example, if we get a card to represent several numbers, then different numbers represent different nouns, for example - I am cooking in Shanghai, it can form a story. Similarly, the passages in different piano music are also in my Different music codes are formed in the mind, so the score can be printed in the mind."
In Zhou Shanxiang's view, there is also a lot of "mathematics" in music. "For example, the relationship between notes, how the ears hear the music, how the brain analyzes and judges the music, obtains deeper meaning from the relationship between the notes, and obtains the enjoyment of beauty - these can all be collectively referred to as Mathematics, of course, is also related to neuroscience." He believes that mathematics and music are both fields that require creativity. "I am also currently studying the relationship between AI creation and music, and the impact it will have on music."
This performance of "Five Hundred Years of Piano" in Shanghai originated from the five solo concert series planned by Zhou Shanxiang at the invitation of the ancient city of Linz, Austria. It has previously been performed in Linz, Austria, the Ruhr Piano Music Festival in Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. staged. The compositions selected for "Five Hundred Years of Piano" spanned five centuries, and selected the masters' works that Zhou Shanxiang believes are most worth listening to and most loved in the 500 years from 1520 to 2020. The concert divides each hundred years into a theme, including five parts: "Golden Age", "Contrast", "Mental Enlightenment", "Vision" and "Diversity".
Yang Yandi, dean of Harbin Conservatory of Music, believes that the academic taste of the music selections in these five concerts is outstanding. Among them, it not only includes works by music masters such as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, etc. that are familiar to the audience, but also expands the horizons to a wider world, looking at John Boole and Thomas Tallis in the 16th and 17th centuries. , George Gershwin, George Righetti, Toru Takemitsu in the 20th century, and the present that is closely related to us. Through this series, Zhou Shanxiang will excavate and perform important works that are rarely performed after the 20th century and have both aesthetic and historical value, showing the hidden gems that are not known to the public outside the core repertoire of keyboard music in the 18th and 19th centuries. With their unique The combination of the tracks connects the divisions of different periods in the history of keyboard music, showing the audience a more three-dimensional and colorful world of piano music.
The 20th century is an era that is difficult to classify. Perhaps no other word is more suitable to name the last concert than "multicultural".Rachmaninov from Russia, Godovsky, an American born in Lithuania, American composer Gershwin, British composer Sorabhui, Hungarian composer Ligeti, Estonian composer Arvo Pa In particular, the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu and Zhou Shanxiang himself, who was born in Taiwan, China and lived in France, each demonstrated the traditions and pioneers of music from all over the world, and each has its own school. From the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, the expression of music began to move towards personal and personalized expression and interpretation. What remains unchanged is the artistic value they embody.
In the fifth concert, Zhou Shanxiang will play his own "Traditional Chinese Painting Etude". Zhou Shanxiang, who grew up with a multicultural background, never misses local art galleries every time he tours Asia. “I especially like to look at ancient Chinese paintings, especially the ink bamboos and lotus flowers painted by Zheng Boqiao. I also remember that during a break from a performance at the Shanghai Grand Theater a few years ago, I went to visit the Shanghai Museum opposite, and happened to see the exhibition that was being held at that time. Huang Gongwang's "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" by Huang Gongwang left a deep impression on me." Zhou Shanxiang told reporters that when composing, he would also have very specific or abstract pictures in his mind, "It's not just about seeing The scenery and the ideas of many artists are my inspiration from Chinese painting."
Author: Jiang Fang
Text: Jiang Fang Picture: Performer Editor: Wang Yan Editor: Xing Xiaofang
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