As a soprano with contracts to sing in leading opera houses around the world, Zhang Liping has lived many different lives on stage.
Since last September, she has added another role to her theatrical life in between her tight schedule: teaching and sharing her knowledge and experience with young vocalists as professor of vocalism at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, which is also her Alma Mater.
On June 9, Zhang will relive her multiple roles during a solo concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. Zhang will be accompanied by the China Youth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Hu Yongyan, artistic director of the Shanghai Broadcast Symphony Orchestra. She will perform some of her favorite arias, such as "O Mio Babbino Caro" from "Turandot," "Ch'il Bel Sogno" from "Madam Butterfly" and "Casta Diva" from "Norma."
Norwegian tenor Henrik Englesviken will join Zhang in the "Love Duet" from "Madam Butterfly."
She will also perform the Chinese classic "The Resentment of Yellow River" from Xian Xinghai's "Yellow River Cantata."
It took Zhang a year to compile the arrangement before she took up teaching at the central conservatory.
In 2000, Zhang performed a solo concert at the conservatory, part of the program in celebration of the conservatory's 50th anniversary.
It was at that time that Zhang received an invitation to teach at the conservatory from Wang Cizhao, president of the Central Conservatory of Music.
"I am in the golden time of my soprano career, which I cannot give up," said Zhang. "I have contracts with many opera houses in the world, but I also want to contribute something to my Alma Mater, from which I have benefited so much."
Because of her accomplishments, the Central Conservatory of Music signed a special contract with Zhang, so she could continue to perform abroad and teach at the conservatory.
According to her performance schedule, Zhang will join the Royal Opera in Covent Garden in London this September to take up the role of Liu in its production of "Turandot."
Next February, she will travel to Florida to relive the role of Liu with the Florida Opera. From there, she will fly to Detroit to perform Violetta in a production of "La Traviata" in March.
In April, she will join a concert with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and in May she will star as Cio-Cio-San in Baltimore Opera's production of "Madam Butterfly."
"I like operas," said Zhang. "A person has only one life, but I live many lives in operas."
Zhang acquired the basics of all her classical repertoire at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing between 1985 and 1989. After graduation, she became intrigued by modern vocal music and went to Canada to further her studies with Phyllis Mailing at the Vancouver Academy of Music.
"I chose to study modern vocal music because I lacked the knowledge of this field when I was in China," said Zhang.
Zhang said the two years of study in Canada was hard but fruitful.
However, she did not have many chances to perform modern works. In 1991 she began her singing career at the Vancouver Opera, mostly performing in classical operas.
In 1996 she moved to London, a center of classical music.
She has performed in about 20 operas, her roles including Mimi in "La Boheme," Micaela in "Carmen," Lucia in "Lucia di Lammermoor," Marguerite in "Faust" and Gilda in "Rigoletto."
"I love all my roles," said Zhang, "but my favorites are those roles with both fair-sounding music and great drama."
When she took on the role as Micaela in Vancouver Opera's "Carmen," she tried to emphasize the change of a girl to a woman, though her performance of Micaela lasted only 10 minutes.
The Washington Post suggested Baltimore Opera's "Turandot" be renamed as "Liu" because of Zhang's excellent performance in the role.
"All the operas are about love and death," said Zhang, "but the understanding of love and death may be different for different people."
When Zhang sang Leila in Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers," at first she could not understand her role as a female priest.
The priest is in a tryst with the pearl fisher Nadir, when the chief priest is making a visit. She will face severe punishment if she is caught. However, while telling each other to flee, they hold each other tight.
"Finally I realized that Chinese people are used to oppressing their feelings while Westerners tend to express themselves more openly," said Zhang.
In her teaching, Zhang shares her experiences with her students in portraying the characters, but she believes that for the young students the most important thing is to master the techniques of the vocal art.
"Singing should sound natural and easy, without making the audience feel tired," she said. "A good singer can bring enjoyment to audiences only through the voice, even if the audience don't understand a word."
However, to do so, the singer must understand the words in order to convey the feelings.
Zhang said sometimes her students cannot sing well because they do not look up the words in the dictionary. Zhang, who is able to sing in English, French and Italian, always asks them to study the libretto carefully.
"Chinese students have very good physical conditions, but they don't see enough live performances, in which one learns what cannot be taught in the classroom," said Zhang.
(China Daily June 4, 2002)
