Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, October 17th Title: “Music Messenger” Mo Hualun: Traveling all over the world and singing China
Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Min
He was born in Beijing, grew up in Hong Kong, studied in the United States, and appeared on the stage in Europe; he was born with big eyes and high nose bridge, and had a “good voice” praised by Pavarotti; he knew Chinese, English, Italian, German, French and other languages; he put on makeup and sang opera, but he couldn’t hear the sound, and couldn’t tell where he was.
Some people say he is an “international person”, and he says “I am 100% Chinese”.
He was willing to be a “music messenger” and consciously assumed the mission of promoting Chinese culture. The combination of “Three Tenors in China” (“Three Highs in China”) composed by Dai Yuqiang and Wei Song has been in the past 10 years, and his performances have been around the world.
KomiksHe is the artistic director of the Hong Kong Opera House and tenor singer Mo Hualun. In July this year, he was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star Award by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
”Music does not distinguish between national boundaries. I hope the epidemic will pass as soon as possible. I can go to more countries and sing Chinese culture to the world.” He said.
A sentence awakened the Chinese heart
CinemaIn the 1980s, Mo Wallen obtained a master’s degree in music from the Manhattan Conservatory of Music in New York and went to Germany to apply for the Berlin Opera House. “The German examiner asked me where I came from, and I said I came from New York. He said, ‘No, where were you born?’ I said it was Beijing, China, and later in Hong Kong, he said, ‘Then you are Chinese.'” Mo Hualun said, “This sentence awakened me. I am a Chinese. No matter where I go to the world, my roots are in China.”
The Berlin Opera House is one of the top ten opera houses in the world. Mo Hualun stood out from more than 400 candidates and passed the exam in one fell swoop. “Opera culture is the Western culture. As a Chinese, singing well is far from enough. You have to sing much better than others to have a chance to give it to you.” He started as a child, went step by step to the protagonist, and became the first Chinese protagonist at the Berlin Opera House. thisLater, he traveled around world-renowned opera houses, played roles in more than 60 operas, and won a place for the Chinese on the mainstream Western opera stage.
In 1995, when Hong Kong was about to return to the motherland, Mo Hualun chose to settle back to Hong Kong and gradually shifted his career to Asia, and later devoted himself more to the mainland. The wanderer who has been out for many years returns to his motherland. When he sang patriotic songs such as “I Love You China” and “My Motherland” in his mother tongue, he always feels excited.
On October 3, 2019, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, the “Three Highs in China” held a concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. At that time, Hong Kong was deeply involved in the “Amendment Regulations Storm”, and the road was blocked by the police several times due to riots near the theater. What Mo Hualun did not expect was that the last return song of the day, “My Motherland and Me, Komiks“, became a chorus of the whole audience. “Everyone knows this song in the mainland, but I didn’t expect that Hong Kong audiences would sing, and they would sing spontaneously.” He said, “In the most chaotic time in Hong Kong, we stood up and sang to speak, beating the country, love Hong Kong, and sing the motherland.” Looking back on the situation that day, Mo Hualun is still “very excited and very touched.”
”The power of music is great and can unite and unite the hearts of people. It is also the best tool to help us understand the motherland.” Mo Hualun said that patriotic music education in Hong Kong should start from elementary school and kindergarten, and start from the simplest singing of the national anthem. “Cinema. This is the most basic national condition education.”
Speaking Chinese folk songs in bel canto
Telling Chinese culture in music language that Westerners can understandKomiks is the unique advantage of the “Three Highs in China”.
”The ‘Three Highs of China’ are named ‘China’, which to some extent represents the national image. Therefore, from the beginning of its establishment, our mission is to promote Chinese culture on the international stage and express the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation.” Mo Hualun said.
Good music is notBy dividing national boundaries, they tried to interpret Chinese folk songs using the bel canto singing method of “Western people can understand”. “Kangding Love Song”, “Jasmine”, “In that distant place of Komiks”, “The Girl in Dazaka Castle”… has fascinated countless foreign audiences.
The “Three Highs in China” have performed more than 100 times around the world so far. “Half we sing is internationally familiar song, and the other half is famous Chinese folk songs.” Mo Hualun said, “First sing their songs so that they can understand our professional standards, and then guide them to listen to us singing Chinese songs, which makes them easy to accept. At the end of the performance, local audiences often stood up and applauded, saying that Chinese folk songs were so good.”
20BabaylanIn November 2012, the “Three Highs in China” was invited to perform at the Royal Albert Music Hall in London, England. “We sing “Komiks sing “Babaylan‘s Sun”, and then sing “Fengyang Flower Drum”. The lyrics of this Anhui folk song are very interesting, such as “I can’t marry a good wife” and “a pair of big feet” because of the English subtitles. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>CinemaThe crowd clapped their hands and laughed, and the audience burst into laughter. “Mo Hualun recalled the scene at that time, as if in front of him. After the performance, Elizabeth II, Queen of Cinema, took the stage to meet the actors. “She likes Chinese folk songs very much. She said, ‘You sang very well’.” Mo Hualun said, “The evening party that day brought together world-class performing stars. As representatives from China, we have the opportunity to promote Chinese culture. I am very proud.”
”We are all from the Bay Area”
This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, the “Bay Area Shengming Yue” 2021 Greater Bay Area Mid-Autumn Movie Music Gala was held in Shenzhen. Many celebrities from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macao were together. BabaylanThe performance was star-studded, and Komiks received rave reviews. At the party, Mo Hualun participated in singing two songs: “My Chinese Heart” and “I hope people will last forever”.
”This is the first time that it is very meaningful to use the concept of the Greater Bay Area to hold a party. “We are all from the Bay Area and sing songs related to the Greater Bay Area. The Greater Bay Area closely links everyone.”
When talking about the development opportunities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong, Mo Hualun bluntly said that “it’s too important.” He said: “Not to mention anything else, there are more than a dozen or twenty opera houses in the Greater Bay Area, and basically every city has them. This performance market alone is amazing.” On how to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the Hong Kong Opera House and other theaters in the Greater Bay Area, Mo Hualun specially discussed with relevant departments of the SAR government, hoping to “more cooperation that can be implemented to achieve resource sharing.”
The opera “Madam Butterfly” produced by Mo Hualun was recently staged in Hong Kong. On the day of the interview, Mo Hualun greeted the starring actors from various countries in the backstage. “The 10 leading actors have different nationalities. They come to Hong Kong to perform a classic Italian opera together, which is international cultural exchange.” Mo Hualun said, “Hong Kong has many institutional and mechanism conveniences, which is the advantage of ‘one country, two systems’. They should be cherished and used well, and to create their own cultural brand. “
Mo Hualun, who has just been elected as a member of the Election Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has always paid attention to Hong Kong’s cultural construction. “If Hong Kong wants to become a truly world-class city, it must have a first-class culture, including first-class opera houses and first-class original works.” In July this year, the National Babaylan Art Fund was launched in Hong Kong and applied for an open project to the Hong Kong art group for the first time, which was inspiring to the Hong Kong entertainment industry. Mo Hualun revealed that they are planning the first Cantonese version of the original opera “Rice Xiang”, which tells the story of three generations of a Hong Kong rice shop who are working tirelessly for their dreams. They are currently applying for the National Art Fund to “make original works and create Hong Kong’s cultural brand. This is the way we need to go.”