Pianists paying tribute to Fou Ts'ong

Wikiwand entry on Fou Ts'ong.

NY Times Obituary (I don't like the fact it avoided any discussion on the political conscienceness Mr. Fou exihibited regarding the Culture Revolution and after the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre, imploring his younger brother 'why don't you go to the street to fight them'. His love for the Chinese people and place is incredibly deep, but he kept great distance from the government and its agencies, which I take as a sign of protest without offending the authority and putting his brother's life in danger. RIP)

NY Times Review: 1987, 2006

French pianist Francois-frederic Guy, who has spoken to the family, writes: "He was one of my mentors and a musical father to me... His Debussy, Chopin and Mozart remain legendary..."

Yuliana Avdeeva: I am filled with a deep sorrow as my mentor Fou Ts’ong is no more. It was a great privilege to know him and to absorb his creative spirit and boundless admiration for music. I feel so grateful for the inspiration, kindness and light he shared and will always keep it in my heart.

Daniel Vnukowski: I worked with Fou Ts’ong several times during my Lake Como years, where we had the advantage of being able to spend many dinners together in intimate conversation, in addition to masterclasses. While he was smoking away at his pipe, we always learned a great deal about his unique, poetic approach to music interpretation, the many incredible musicians he had collaborated with and about the unspeakable tragedy that beset his family as a result of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. His parents were targeted by the regime and eventually committed suicide; his father Fu Lei was a highly-respected translator of the works of Balzac into Chinese.

He always called me his “Polish brother”. He once told me that he would not have been alive if it wasn’t for the strong efforts of the music faculty at the Chopin Academy of Warsaw, especially Zbigniew Drzewiecki who helped him remain in Poland in the early 1950s. He later went on to win third prize at the Intl. Chopin Piano Competition and eventually settled in London, where he had lived and taught ever since.

The Fryderyk Chopin Institute: It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of the legendary Chinese pianist Fou Ts’ong. His departure brings to a close a crucial page in the Chopin tradition; we bid farewell to a master, musician and philosopher with a unique gift for conveying Chopin’s greatness to the world both in words and, above all, through his playing. A true wise man of the East, he taught us how to understand and feel the Mazovian mazurka. His interpretations and reflections were an inspiration to many, Martha Argerich included. An artist who belonged to his country’s cultural elite, his life was marked both by dramatic events and by the tragedy of the generation of Chinese people that experienced the cultural revolution. He had a connection with Poland from an early age. Enamoured of Polish culture, he had many close Polish friends; suffice it to mention that he played his first concert with orchestra after fleeing to the West, in England, under the baton of his fellow exile and friend Andrzej Panufnik. In a special album recorded to mark the artist’s sixtieth birthday, Martha Argerich, Leon Fleisher and Radu Lupu wrote: ‘Fou Ts’ong became one of the great teachers of our time. We are obliged to Fou Ts’ong for all his new ideas and for opening new musical horizons for all of us’.

Beverley Leung: Years ago in New York, after he played Chopin Ballade No.4 , I almost felt he was going to faint right there. He absorbed everyone of us, he absorbed the air, he gave all. No hesitation. The scene that I will never forget. I am still shocked.

William Youn: I remember that one evening at Lake Como when one of my colleagues started playing the 3rd sonata of Chopin, I watched Fou Ts’ong leaning on his chair lighting his pipe, thinking how this person portrays the music itself. He was an artist- the most sensible, unpredictable, he could laugh like a child and suddenly be transcendental like an old monk. You could feel his scar inside him, the pain he carried which he tried to heal everyday through music.

Jacqueline Leung: Thinking back to the way you played still pierces my heart. It was some of the most sincere piano playing I have ever heard. I still remember attending your 70th birthday concert at Wigmore Hall in London in 2004, in awe by the life, vigour and character you brought to Haydn, Scarlatti and Debussy. And how can I forget visiting your house (with 5 grand pianos!) every week for my piano lesson with Ms Patsy Toh, where I’d be warming up for my lesson with a particular Chopin etude on the ground floor and I’d hear you practising the same etude or Chopin Ballade on the top floor. Sometimes you would open the door for me, and I would almost be too nervous to talk to you.

Patrick Chong: Before Lang Lang, Yundi Li and Yuja Wang there was the original Chinese poet of the keyboard, Fou Ts’ong.

Lang Lang wrote: ‘I still remember the time when I played Rachmaninov’s Piano Concert No. 3 for the first time in London in 2001. After the concert, he gave me a hug with tears in his eyes, and said that he had high hopes for me. Master Fou was a great artist that I respected very much. I will never forget what he said about always staying kind and pure-hearted. His understanding of music was unique.’

Yundi Li wrote: "I can't believe master Fou Ts'ong has left us. After calming down for a while, I comfort myself as well as music fans by knowing this: classical music is timeless and the masters that have left us also left treasured sounds for us, which will last for eternity. We will follow your steps, and hope that the beautiful music will always be with you in heaven and that you'll never be alone. R.I.P."

台湾钢琴家颜华容 回忆起傅聪在师范大学大师班的讲课。她说，当时年近八旬的傅聪亲切、毫不做作地分享对音乐的想法，甚至跟着其他音乐家们一起探讨著萧邦的“自我”特质，她一开始还感到讶异，一位伟大的音乐家往往被神格化、完人化，傅聪老师为什么这么看? “我记得傅聪先生这样说：萧邦很自我，个人的痛苦和喜乐都非常重要，他在音乐里面把这些情感夸张到最大。他说，萧邦的灵魂非常热情，而且有深沉的哀痛，但没有一点感伤或无病呻吟的味道。” ” 颜华容说，傅聪谈的是一个艺术家直视自己痛苦与喜乐的真诚。 "把这样的诚实用很美的、很艺术的方法去表达出来，这样的特色，不一定需要是音乐家，听傅聪先生演奏的爱乐者，也能感受到，这是无比的珍贵。"

钢琴家陈萨得知傅聪离世的消息一时难以接受，“我无法相信这么鲜活的一个人也会有离世的这一刻，我更愿意想成他是去到了另一个地方... 在傅老师身上的赤子之心表现得特别鲜明，他已是80多岁的年龄，但仍然保持着一种纯净和真实，他真的是性情中人，还有满腔的热爱，这个热爱可能是更广义的热爱。除了对音乐，还有对艺术、对人类、对于善、对美的热爱。傅老师对于中国文化和东方哲学史的思考，是非常深厚和深刻的。他的艺术成就由不得我来评价，他的艺术成就自然是会留在历史上的，他是一个传奇一样的人物，他的离世是一个传奇的结束。” 在生活上的傅聪是一个性情中人。陈萨表示：“你不会从他身上感觉到有所谓的架子，那种华而不实的东西都没有，我觉得他给我的感觉一直是那么的炙热明亮，非常的热情，他的笑容也好，表述也好，弹琴，包括他的痛苦都有一种非常炙热的温度。他在我心里留下的一种炙热的光亮感是永远不会消失的。所以我觉得他的灵魂的热度一定是在某一个地方仍然在闪着光。我非常怀念他。”

有東方鋼琴詩人之稱的傅聰，在台灣時間29日凌晨傳出過世消息，享壽86歲。和他情如兄弟的新象藝術創辦人許博允表示，非常難過，他一早也已打電話給在日內瓦的鋼琴女神阿格麗希，阿格麗希同樣十分難過，並久久說不出話來。

許博允表示，傅聰可說是公認的蕭邦音樂最佳詮釋者，在國際樂壇有很高的定位，「東方人的生理條件，沒有像西方人的大手，很吃虧，但是傅聰非常勤奮練琴，保持精進，他一天可練8到10小時，甚至14小時。」

許博允表示，傅聰近年因脊椎不好，無法久坐彈琴，積極治療，近日傳來染疫住院，他非常擔心，沒想到在這波疫情中失去好友，十分難受。

過去傅聰來台演出，許博允曾帶他到台灣不同縣市走走，「傅聰沿路看台灣，對地方鄉親的生活、台灣的生活次序，以及民眾的親和力，都給予肯定，他很喜歡台灣。」

許博允回憶，有次傅聰在台北中山堂演出，因停電，工作人員緊急找了蠟燭代替電燈，讓傅聰順利完成演出，成為特別的燭光音樂會。

許博允表示，原本還在規劃，醞釀要邀請傅聰與老友阿格麗希兩人再來台演奏，但如今傅聰的琴聲已成絕響了。

傅聰（左）對藝術抱持高度熱情，1982年首度訪台期間，造訪國畫大師張大千（中）留下難得的合影。新象藝術創辦人許博允就表示，傅聰來台，一定會去看中醫治療手傷，在針灸和電療的協助下，讓手部獲得舒緩。

此外，傅聰還特別愛逛台北故宮，他本身藝術涵養極高，對書畫及文物鑑賞具有一定的品味，對故宮文物的熱愛，凸顯他的博學及不忘本。

不過在未來台之前，傅聰對台灣是有疑慮的，主要是雙親在文革期間遇害，使他對政治抱持戒心，長笛家樊曼儂回憶，1982年，傅聰首次受邀來台演出，他原本擔心，台灣會不會像中國大陸一樣是個極權社會。「後來透過很多人幫忙，像是周文中、白先勇，他們跟傅聰說，台灣很安全，沒問題的，他才放心願意來，沒想到，觀眾對他的歡迎之熱烈，讓他印象非常的深刻。」從此和台灣結下不解之緣。

鋼琴家葉綠娜表示，傅聰不只熟知古典詩詞，對西方文學如莎士比亞，也能引經據典，「他在教蕭邦降b小調奏鳴曲第二樂章結尾時，就引用《馬克白》名句：『人生是個痴人說的故事，充滿了喧鬧與憤怒，毫無意義。』描述音樂裡的意境，可說非常貼切。」

傅聰教學也很有一套，台灣鋼琴家嚴俊傑過去曾向傅聰學習，「那時我還很小，才15、16歲，很多東西不懂，他的講解很直接而真誠，彈得好就直接誇獎，彈不好也直接點出問題，收穫很大。」

嚴俊傑表示，傅聰要求的，其實是音樂本質，但經常被忽略，「像是韻味、節奏、蕭邦樂譜上寫的字，他仔細講解和示範，讓我覺得很溫暖感動。」

此外，傅聰每回來台，也會去逛故宮，但最重要的事情還是練琴。曾多次邀請傅聰來台的長笛家樊曼儂回憶，傅聰愛音樂成痴，巡演期間，一天可練8到10小時的琴，「早年他來大都住在民權東路的亞都麗緻，都要給他搬一台琴在房間，他住在最邊邊間，整條走廊都是他的琴音。」

長笛家樊曼儂回憶說，傅聰吃飯總是很快，「他大口大口吃，都是為了趕快吃完，趕快去練琴，絲毫不浪費時間，他因練太多而手受傷了，有時會休息一下，又想到，就又開始練了，是真正愛音樂的人。」許博允說，就他與傅聰來往的印象，傅聰去年（2008）雖曾摔傷肋骨，近1 年身心狀態良好，困擾10多年的右手手疾在氣功、針灸、電療幫助下，也已改善。此外，傅聰認為已掌握如何在不傷害手部的情況下，表現技巧。

許博允表示，傅聰目前練琴時數仍維持6 小時以上，且為爭取練琴時間，不惜親自做菜給上門拜訪的客人吃。傅聰解釋，如此一來，「飯吃完就可馬上衝到琴房練琴。」

許博允說，獨奏會曲目未定。不過，傅聰屆時仍將戴著半截毛線手套演奏。

傅聰10多年前手疾發病後，為維持手部溫暖，幾乎手套不離手。2010年，正逢蕭邦誕辰兩百週年紀念，傅聰終於要為台灣愛樂者們重現感動，於國家音樂廳舉行全場蕭邦作品的音樂會，時間更選在具有紀念意義的蕭邦出生日3月1號，為台灣整年度的蕭邦紀念音樂會活動，拉開重要的序幕。

女鋼琴家阿格麗希會如此形容他的好友：「傅聰的蕭邦、舒伯特與莫札特是我學習的目標。」

Norman Lebrechet: The Chinese and British pianist Fou Ts’ong, who died yesterday of Covid-19, was an exemplary figure in many ways. Although a visible member of the classical wing of 1960s Swinging London, he was slightly removed from the wilder side of things, shy and disinterested in the dazzle and the bling. He married a Menuhin, got divorced and removed himself still further from the hurdy-gurdy. His second wife was Patsy Toh, a dedicated piano teacher, as private a person as he was.

....

From Fou Ts’ong to Lang Lang lies an unbridgeable gulf. One was a filigree, introspective interpreter, the other a total showman. One lived his life in the greatest modesty, the other lives entirely in externalities. One was a pianist’s pianist, the other is a brand king. One suffered mortal torments under the Chinese regime, the other is its poster boy.

Jessica Duchen: I did know he was friendly with Richter, because I once turned up for a lesson to find that Richter was there in the house, practising Schubert.

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Disappearance of Fou Ts'ong, the "piano poet" (translated from the original article on France Musique)

Pianist Fou Ts’ong leaves a great void behind him, especially with those who knew him and studied with him. They keep the memory of a sincere, whole, authentic performer.

Great interpreter of Chopin

Born March 10, 1934 in Shanghai, Fou Ts’ong became interested in music from the age of four. A little later, he started playing the piano alongside Mario Paci, Italian pianist and conductor. From 1953, he completed his training in Warsaw with the pianist Zbigniew Drzewiecki. Determined, he learned Polish in order to better understand Chopin's music.

Thus, he excelled in the genre of mazurka and, in 1955, he won the third prize and the special prize of the Mazurka at the International Piano Competition Frederick Chopin in Warsaw.

At the end of the 1950s, he moved to London and performed all over the world. He was then considered one of the greatest performers of Chopin, but also of Debussy, Mozart, Schubert - bedside composers he taught his students, as well as Schumann, Haydn, Beethoven, Scarlatti.

According to pianist François-Frédéric Guy, who was one of his students, “he the pianist was crazy about Berlioz, a composer who never wrote a work for the piano. He was passionate, had the manuscripts of Berlioz's great works at home, explained how Berlioz had had an important influence on completely unexpected composers like Chopin. ” The beginning of Chopin's Fantasy in F minor would thus have been influenced by Berlioz's Great Funeral and Triumphal Symphony.

An authentic musician

Wherever he teaches, Fou Ts'ong makes an impression. "He was an artist who meant a lot to me," explains François-Frédéric Guy, one of my three mentors with Leon Fleisher and Karl-Ulrich Schnabel. I knew him in the 90s, in 1993, he was on the jury when I took the Leeds International Piano Competition. " Seduced by the young François-Frédéric's game, Fou Ts’ong took him under his wing and offered him to take his lessons at a Foundation near Lake Como, before attending private lessons at his home in London.

Pianist François Dumont will take an almost similar path and he too keeps precious memories of his mentor. “He had the power to transform a musician in just one hour of lessons, with a few words, a few gestures. He had a magnetism. As a student, next to him you felt that something was really going on. ”

For François Dumont, Fou Ts’ong was a “completely complete, honest, intuitive pianist. When he was playing, there wasn't a half second that wasn't pure music. " He was passionate, and hard in his work. His game was always focused on emotion, experience, and was anti-academic, anti-dogmatic.

If he could be “unpredictable” in his way of thinking, so was he in his relationship with his students. “When he liked something he could blow us away in extraordinary ways, and in the same way, when we lacked vision or had weakness in phrasing, it could deeply sadden him.”

The piano poet

Fou Ts'ong's father, Fu Lei, was a famous Chinese poet and translator. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, he committed suicide with his wife in 1966. He was rehabilitated in the late 1990s. The letters written to his son Fou Ts'ong were published posthumously and have become a reference in China . “Fou Ts’ong has had a dramatic personal and political history,” notes François-Frédéric Guy.

Fou Ts’ong got his taste for literature from his father. He is also nicknamed the “Piano Poet”. Writer Hermann Hesse called him “the most authentic” Chopin interpreter in all of history.

“What was fabulous about him was that he had this dual Asian and Western culture,” explains François-Frédéric Guy. He was the bridge between the two and had the ability to put his Asian influence at the service of the musical truth of the European repertoire. ” An influence which makes his interpretation of Debussy “absolutely perfect”.

However, François-Frédéric Guy, like François Dumont, deplore that this immense pianist is still unknown in France today.

https://www.sohu.com/a/441252511_346204 chen