On April 24th, with a warm spring breeze, the “Concert of Chinese and Foreign Art Songs” sang in Mingde Hall of Renmin University of China as scheduled.

Soprano Huang Lu and artistic director Zhang Huan have been holding solo concerts promoting art songs in theaters and colleges all over China since 2018, and there have been nearly fifty of them so far.

This concert contains in its repertoire selection

In order to facilitate the audience to better appreciate the two parts of Chinese art songs and western art songs, specially arranged guided listening session, dedicated to create a fusion of traditional meaning and the classics of the times of the music feast.

The concert began with a song called “Yangguan Sanjie”, which was sung in three different moods, making people feel moved, and the feeling of farewell was overflowing, making people think of the Weinan city more than 1,200 years ago, and in the face of the friends who were about to go on a mission ten thousand miles away, the singer could not help but feel sad, and the lonesome and lonely were just like the willows swaying in the wind, and a thousand things could only start from the cup of thick wine for sending off. In her interpretation of this piece, Huang Lu clearly presents the “three-fold” progression of sadness and longing in the song, sometimes lifting the weight as if it were light, sometimes long wind and sad condensation, gradually bringing the listener into the unique space and time of the art song.

After “Three Folds of Yangguan”, the song “Yu Meiren - Listening to the Rain” expresses the arrogance of youthful ambition, the loneliness of middle age and the unattachedness of recluse in old age. The original lyric is rich in imagery of “rain”. The rain of the young man is the red wine and green lights on the “singing house” and the clouds and rain in the “account”; the rain of the strong man is the “guest boat” drifting without support and the “broken geese” dispersed and lonely. Broken geese” group dispersed alone; the rain of old age, is the ‘monk hut’ of silence, is the ‘stars’ of gray hair. Finally, “sadness and happiness are ruthless, a drop in front of the steps to the daybreak”, the lyricist sighs: the ups and downs of life, life metamorphosis, the dynasty is broken, all the circumstances, there is nothing to rely on, come unannounced. Listen to the rain in front of the steps, there is nothing to think about. Listening to the rain, no longer attached to the beautiful, listen to let it drip to dawn. The singer's delicate singing is like a gust of rain in the air, through time and space, landing in the poet's meteoric life as bright as a passing star.

After singing two ancient Chinese poems and art songs, she then sang two classic foreign songs - Tosti's “Sorrow” and Bellini's “Have Mercy on Me, Beautiful Lady”. Also dealing with the tragedy of life, the western piece brought out a strong sense of fatalism and the spirit of resistance, with sincere love echoing the flames of hatred, the singer recalled the spiritual fantasy mood of a century ago. The singer recalled the spiritual fantasy of a hundred years ago, when the sun was setting, the storm was approaching and the rain was pouring down, life was like a light boat fighting against the waves, although it was being driven by the waves, but it was unyielding, and it did not hesitate to fight for its life and burned its soul to light up the road ahead. Teachers and students of NPC gave her a warm applause for her interpretation.

High on the Mountain” is a rare expression of love by an oriental woman. Although the lyrics are only chanted in the first chapter, they are extremely passionate and steadfast. Centered around the ideal of holy love, the singer expresses her feelings in the style of singing three sighs, coupled with a mournful but not sentimental emotional expression, presenting her unique singing style.

The “Wish for the Countryside” is an art song created according to the words of Yu Youren in his later years, and Huang Lu's singing is as deep as her feelings, shocking and tear-jerking. It is like the mist in the morning when the mountain mist is involved, the big one can't see its shape, but the thoughts are everywhere. Although the word “homesickness” is used in the song, the inner part of the song is the unification of the motherland. The word “hometown” refers to the motherland. “The mainland is not visible, but it is the center of my soul, the center of my heart, the center of my feelings, and the center of my soul. The lyrics are sincere and deep, calling out and crying out, strongly expressing the feelings of longing for the mainland.

Qingliu is an art song composed by He Luting in 1935. It uses running water as a metaphor for time. “The passing is like a river, never give up day and night,” she sings in a rhythmic manner, blending scenarios, quietly watching and sighing in a thought-provoking and enlightening way. The melody of “Only the flowing water is always gone” is in triplets with homophonic repetitions, with a fourth downward jump and a third upward extension, which expresses the helplessness of the flowing water and the passing of time. The last line, “Please don't take the time with you”, has a low to high pitch and a tight to loose rhythm, with a long-lasting meaning.

The lyrics of The Song are from a translation by Xu Zhimo. The original is a poem of the same name by the English poet Rossetti. The ending line of the translation is “Maybe I remember you; I may, I may forget.” The lyrics now end with “Sad Song”. Her rendition of the song has softened the sadness of the lyrics, reproduced the original philosophical nature of the translation, and given this art song a new meaning. Ideal Lady” and ‘Thoughts’, two foreign classic art songs are from Tosti's hand, the love of love, the beauty of passionate love, the impermanence of love are all presented by the singer one by one.

Finally, the song “Green Jade Case - Yuanxi” “Nian Nujiao - Red Cliff Huai Gu” as the end of the two songs, these two ancient poems have a long meaning, life in the flood of history, the singer sometimes echo sometimes pathos, in the piano accompaniment with the cooperation, the singing beyond the words can give people shock. In the long-lasting applause of the teachers and students of Renmin University of China, Huang Lu returned to the stage and sang the classic art songs “Farewell” and “On the Waterfront”.

Huang Lu sang 14 Chinese and foreign art songs throughout the concert. These works are in different moods and have a wide range of weather. She used pure American singing method and authentic Chinese style to reproduce the specifications and mood of Chinese and foreign art songs, showing the personal style and charm of the singer. Her singing is dignified and atmospheric, full of warmth and emotion, and has become more and more popular and loved by people.

When the spring breeze is like a license to renaissance, and when the spring breeze returns, it is a good time to cultivate. Huang Lu has been promoting the popularization of art songs with her unswerving efforts. Adhering to the concept of “enhancing the artistic aesthetics and cognition of contemporary young people, jointly creating a new mode of artistic inheritance, and promoting the classic heritage of Chinese culture”, she makes a contemporary contribution to the construction of “letting China's culture realize a truly ‘sustainable’ development! To make contemporary contributions to the construction of “let China's culture realize truly ‘sustainable’ development”.