From playing the solo in the opening performance of "Peace to the Future" theme concert to "China, My Lovely Mother" to acting as artistic director and playing the role of Yamang in the closing drama "The Girl of Camellia", on the stage of this year's "Shanghai Spring", Liao Changyong, the president of Shanghai Conservatory of Music and baritone singer, can be called a "model worker". As soon as the performance of "The Girl of Camellia" ended, he had no time to take off his makeup, and "breaked" from many music fans and accepted an exclusive interview with reporters before the lights were turned off at the Shangyin Opera House.

  Challenges in front of the stage

  The opera "The Girl of Camellia" is a very meaningful work for Liao Changyong. After winning the championships in the "Domingo World Opera Singing Competition" and "Queen Song Ya International Vocal Competition", at the age of 30, he played his father Yamang for the first time in the opera "The Girl of Camellia". Interestingly, the tenor singer Wei Song played his son at that time.

  "At that time, I was not a father, and Wei Song was acting in the opposite scene. He really "pretends to be a father". Unlike now, being a father is "being a father." When asked which is more challenging, being a father in opera or being a father in reality, Liao Changyong smiled and said, "It's not easy."

  Although Yamang is a "bad father" who broke up the couple in the play, Liao Changyong is still willing to say a few words for this contradictory and three-dimensional character: "He really loves his son and hopes that his son will return to the family. But just like the conflict between parents and children in reality, adolescent children are rebellious. If you can listen to the old father, you will naturally be angry." In his opinion, "Yamang has a selfish and cruel side to Violetta, but he feels distressed and guilty when he finally sees her ending. After all, he is still kind."

  The expectations behind the scenes

  This performance that brought together a team of teachers and students in Shangyin. Liao Changyong is not only the father in the play, but also the "father" behind the scenes. When asked if he is a strict father or a kind father? He looked at the students beside him, his eyes full of expectations: "Let's be strict and kind."

  Before the performance, he cheered up the young students and encouraged them: "Take the stage, focus on yourself, devote yourself, and jump hard. Show the best state, interpret the classics with the fullest emotions, and let the audience feel the charm of music." In his opinion, "Shanghai is not only the 'pier' for all groups to come to explore, but also the starting point for young people's dreams to set sail. In art, there are no so-called newcomers. Once they stand on the stage, they must use the highest standards to demand themselves."

  Behind the curtain, he was surrounded by applause and flowers, and immediately applauded the students: "It's really great, it's not easy. Many children are in the second and third grades. They are not professional actors, but I am proud of their performance today." What makes him even more gratified is that he saw that students from generation to generation continue to grow and mature through experience in large-scale projects like the opera "The Girl of Camellia". "What you see is already the third generation of students. The first and second generation of students who have played "The Girl of Camellia" have graduated." It is the torch of the stage that has allowed art to survive. Reporter Zhu Yuan

[Editor in charge: Susan]