A rose by any other name
Updated: 2012-01-16 10:49
By Zhang Kun (China Daily)
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She's Ying Huang to some, Huang Ying to others and she's also Princess Pamina, Chochosan and Madame White Snake. Zhang Kun sorts through the nomenclature and takes a closer look at the artiste.
Huang Ying is better known as Ying Huang, the name on her Facebook page as well as her official website. And, the coloratura soprano from China is also well known from her various roles in opera.
For example, she's Princess Pamina in the Metropolitan Opera House production of The Magic Flute, Chochosan in the Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and Madame White Snake in the namesake opera adapted from Chinese folklore.
Only when she returns to her hometown, Shanghai, does she revert to being Huang Ying - the girl who was the lead singer in the children's palace choir, an aspiring student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and a simple woman who enjoys a bowl of little wanton soup at the neighborhood food stall.
She recently staged a concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater in October, her first recital back home, after 20 years on the international stage. Following that, Huang went on tour through November, visiting Beijing, Shenzhen and Suzhou.
And the difference this time is that she no longer has to fly by herself from place to place.
The loneliest moments as a freelance performer working abroad, Huang says, is during the festive seasons like Christmas or the New Year.
"It's the busiest season, when we travel a lot to perform at Christmas and New Year concerts."
When a show is over, she will pack her bags and leave for the next concert in the next city. Sometimes, as she stands at the backstage door, passersby will recognize her.
"They are usually families in holiday mood and enjoying a night out with good music," Huang says. From the sympathy in their eyes, she would often see herself as a lonely wanderer, traveling alone while everyone else is celebrating with family.
"When you have to travel most of the time, it's difficult to maintain a relationship or have a family," she says.
That's what makes the Shanghai concert so different. She was surrounded by her parents, teachers and friends - all of whom were in the audience applauding her success and sharing her music.
Huang returned to the stage three times for the encores, but the audience was still reluctant to go.
"I chose the songs carefully, to present a complete portfolio of my career for the past decade," Huang told China Daily before the concert.
"I hope audiences in China will get to know me better as an opera artiste, rather than just as a singer at gala concerts."
Her name was still unfamiliar in China until she became one of the lead singers of the theme song for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. She also sang for the opening of the 14th FINA World Championships of water polo in Shanghai last year.
In the past few years, Huang had taken pains to gain more recognition at home.
"It's time for me to reach out to my compatriots," she says, because she feels there is a market for classical music in China now. Besides introducing foreign projects, she wants to be involved in educating Chinese audiences. She has added more Chinese art songs to her repertoire, and will do more crossover projects to reach a broader base.
Huang has already started. She played the female lead in Tan Dun's original opera The Peony Pavilion, Guo Wenjing's Li Bai, and the title role in Zhou Long's Madame White Snake in 2009. The last work, an Opera Boston premiere, won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2010.
Huang is a renowned coloratura soprano, one of the few Chinese artistes in opera, concert performances, TV and movies as well as in recording. Her international music career started in 1993 when she won second prize in the 19th Concours International de Chant de Paris, as a new graduate from Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
"Neither of my parents had anything to do with music," she says. Her talent was already showing in kindergarten. Huang sang at the Shanghai Children's Palace. She studied at the middle school attached to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and later enrolled at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music itself. In an age without Internet, she studied under Professor Ge Zhaozhi, and learned from cassettes and CDs in the school library.
The prize in Paris was one of the highest won by a Chinese vocal artist at that time, though it was hardly known in China.
Then she was asked to play Chochosan in the opera movie Madame Butterfly by French director Frederic Mitterand.
And from then on, she wandered the world, going from stage to stage. Alone abroad, she felt the lack of a support system but learned to face difficulties on her own.
"There are prejudices against Asian artists, hard competition - fair in most occasions - as well as other challenges and pressure," she says. "Some have to wait on tables before they can find proper work in singing. Others drop out because they cannot handle the pressure."
But for Huang, she persevered, singing at small opera houses at first, and paying for acting lessons and language lessons as she performed all over Europe.
There are few actors from China active in the international music scene, and Huang can recall only a few, including He Hui, Zhang Liping, He Haojiang and Shen Yang.
"You may have perfect technique but still lack the star quality to command the stage," she says.
Obviously, Huang has the confidence and the talent. For now, she wants more roles in modern operas based on Chinese culture, like Madame White Snake.
"I am the best person for the role," she says. "It was a difficult role, but I enjoyed the outburst of emotion. In a hundred years' time when people look back, I'd be proud to be the first to play the role," she says.