被昆曲界尊稱為“昆曲媽媽”的張嫻，平平安安辭別了雞的舊歲，又穩(wěn)穩(wěn)當當步入了旺旺報春的狗年。這位92高壽的昆曲界名人，是昆曲讓她延了年，她又為昆曲這棵600年老樹益壽。老人一身是病，從青年到中年吃藥打針從未停過，但不知何故近年來老人越活越年輕，尤其是五年前昆曲被聯(lián)合國列入世界文化遺產(chǎn)后，老人變得越發(fā)鮮活了，平時小輩們和她相遇，總喜歡問長問短，問得最多的一句是：“張老師，有啥秘訣可以長壽?”每每聽后，她總是笑瞇瞇地說：“昆曲讓我長壽……”

在昆曲界，不詳知張嫻的都認為她是昆曲科班出身，其實她是從蘇灘步入昆曲界的。張嫻6歲隨父到上海，15歲登臺唱蘇灘，18歲才接觸昆曲，她一本正經(jīng)學習昆曲，那還是在上海大世界游樂場里的事了。

那時蘇灘在上海已稍有名氣，劇團常年可在上海大世界游樂場演出。班里朱國梁是張嫻父親張柏生的的學生，為人古道熱腸，交友四海。一次昆曲“傳字輩”中的王傳淞到游樂場來玩，一來二往兩人談得投機成為知交。朱國梁本來就對昆曲藝術頂禮膜拜，當他得知王傳淞會戲甚多，生、旦、凈、末、丑行行精通，便想學幾出昆曲折子戲來提高戲班子的名氣。一日，兩人談得興濃，決定將昆曲《西廂記·佳期》作為開蒙之戲，朱國梁、張嫻等三個學生學得特別認真，教了不到半月戲就學下來了。但因昆曲的唱、做特別講究，登臺獻藝絕非易事，張嫻對蘇灘中的“佳期”和昆曲中的“佳期”在表演上進行比較，覺得昆曲的表演難度更大，所以不敢貿(mào)然登臺。為此，王傳淞又教了她許多昆曲的片斷，連昆曲老旦的戲也教了她許多出。

張嫻18歲時的那個昆曲夢，在相隔十年之后終于等來一個圓夢機會：1954年由朱國梁為班主的國風劇團聲譽鵲起，那時王傳淞已加入這個班子，此外一起搭班的還有周傳瑛、沈傳錕等一幫“傳字輩”師兄弟們。他們聽說張嫻學過昆曲的“佳期”但至今還未登臺上演過，就決定由周傳瑛、沈傳錕幫助復排加工，在“傳字輩”師弟兄精心幫助下，張嫻學的昆曲《佳期》終于在杭州三元坊解放劇場正式登臺上演，從此張嫻真正步入了昆界，圓了她的“昆曲夢”。

張嫻精湛細膩的表演，得益于“傳字輩”師兄弟們的精心幫教，她那字正腔圓、婉轉(zhuǎn)悅耳的唱工，則依仗江南笛王許鴻賓老先生的指點。

許鴻賓世居嘉興，幼年從其父許少巖習曲。許老先生諳曉音律，分寸合度，獨守海鹽舊腔余生，人稱“炳炳曲師”。他能單手壓笛，左右開弓，與名揚海上的許伯猷、俞振飛、李永圻合稱“江南四笛”。

1956年國風劇團赴嘉興工人文化宮演出，這次組合可謂群英薈萃，除了“傳字輩”藝人外，他們還特邀上海的昆界名流助陣，并特請許鴻賓加盟擔當首笛同臺演出。因而當大紅海報一經(jīng)張貼，便轟動了禾城的曲友和知音。那晚演出的劇目雖未經(jīng)排練，但因為許老先生坐臺伴奏，顯得珠聯(lián)璧合，天衣無縫，讓觀眾贊嘆不已。

許鴻賓系嘉興曲界名流。為施地主之禮，他在演出之余邀請全團藝人去他寓所雅聚。那日老人高興至極，席間為來賓唱了數(shù)段昆曲，有板有眼，余音繚繞，使眾藝人一齊陶醉在美妙的昆曲中。

不惑之年的張嫻見許老先生和顏慈目，十分隨和且又精通音律，便一心想拜他為師，她推著周傳瑛說：“你請許老先生幫幫忙，收下我這個學生?！敝軅麋锨跋蛟S老先生表明了張嫻的心愿。許老先生聽罷，看了張嫻一眼，順手拿過笛子吹奏起來要張嫻試唱一段，并要求張嫻往高音發(fā)聲。少許，張嫻隨曲起腔，盡興唱來。雅曲一罷，許老先生十分滿意，頻頻點頭贊揚說：“嗓子不錯”，當即同意收張嫻為徒。

當時許老先生與九旬老娘等三代同住一起，許家對張嫻十分喜歡，一定要張嫻與他們吃住在一起。張嫻過意不去，一定要交伙食費，許老先生推手說：“吃飯不過添雙筷，粗茶淡飯，不要客氣。”就這樣，張嫻在許老先生家一呆就是一個多月。

開課第一天，許老先生挑選了《孽海記·思凡》一折，這是張嫻入室求教的第一折開口曲。許老先生教學甚嚴，一板一眼從不馬虎。張嫻記得那日光景：老先生在曲臺上放了一包火柴，數(shù)十根為一簇，學一遍曲移一根火柴，十根一滿方可上笛引唱。三日一曲，五日一戲，當時張嫻年輕，悟性又好，不到三兩天就學完一折戲，可謂與日俱進。

1958年10月浙江戲曲藝術學校成立，周傳瑛又邀請許老先生出山，為解放后浙江第一個昆曲班執(zhí)教。那年許老先生已74歲高齡，但還是那么執(zhí)著，那么癡迷昆曲。

近日，相遇張嫻，問及許家拍曲之事，張嫻無不感慨地說起往事。她說：“做一世人，我覺得在許家的一個多月生活過得最為舒心，像一家人一樣，十分親熱!人在江湖漂泊那么多年，沒有感受過如此溫馨的家庭氣氛。今年我已90多歲了，至今還念念不忘在許家的一個多月?！?/p>

正當本文剛剛殺青、尚未付印之前，老人于2月14日中午12點20分在寓所安詳逝世。其實老人早預知不久人世，曾對我說：“小潘啊！這本書寫好，我要做的事也就做完了?！蔽艺f：“你無病無痛，有得活活來！”她一笑說：“人活著要開心，要健康，太長也不好?！睋?jù)老人的小兒子世璋說：“娘是無疾而終，前些日子老人已在準備后事，把相冊理好，把衣服疊好，把自己梳洗得干干凈凈，說她要做的事已經(jīng)做完了，要走了，還說我沒什么病，用不著住院，我是喜喪，骨灰撒在大海里?！?/p>

Story ofa Kunqu Opera Singer

The 92-year-old Zhang Xian is known as Mom Kunqu within the circle of the 600-year-old world's intangible heritage proclaimed by UNESCO in 2001. She suffered from poor health in her younger years. For a long while from her youth to middle age， she never stopped taking medicine. But mysteriously she now enjoys robust golden years in her 90s. Whenever asked about her secret of health， she always replies smilingly: “Kunqu is my secret of longevity”

Many believe Zhang received professional Kunqu training from the very start of her career. They were wrong. At age 6， Zhang went to Shanghai with her father， a performing artist of Suzhou Tanhuang， a singing art indigenous to Suzhou， a city close to Shanghai. After years of training in the family tradition， her debut as a Suzhou Tanhuang artist began at age 16. She learned Kunqu Opera at age 18. But the first formal professional training in Kunqu she received was in the years when she was at Great World， a popular recreation center in downtown Shanghai.

During these years she enjoyed a modest popularity as a Suzhou Tanhuang singer. And her troupe staged performances regularly all the year round at Great World. One day， Wang Chuansong， a Kunqu Opera artist， came to visit the recreation center. He met Zhu Guoliang， head artist of the troupe. The two men hit off immediately. One day when the two chatted about Kunqu Opera， and Zhu wanted the best singers of the troupe to learn some Kunqu from Wang. Wang agreed most gladly. Zhang Xian was chosen. She finished learning a highlight of The West Chamber in less than half a month. However， compared with the same highlight of Suzhou Tanhuang， the Kunqu aria required more sophisticated performance and more rigorous training. Zhang dared not to stage an immediate performance， so she continued to learn from Wang Chuansong.

She waited for several decades before her dream of Kunqu Opera came true. In 1954， Zhu Guoliang was the head of Guofeng Troupe which enjoyed booming popularity among Kunqu fans. Many Kunqu artists including Wang Chuansong and his fellows joined the troupe. When it was mentioned that Zhang had learned a highlight named Wedding Day， Wang Chuansong and his fellows agreed to help Zhang to polish her performance. After a period of intensive learning， Zhang debuted as a Kunqu Opera performer in the Liberation Opera House in Hangzhou. Her Kunqu Opera career took off.

In 1956 when Guofeng Troupe staged a Kunqu gala in Jiaxing， a central city in northern Zhejiang Province， Zhang Xian had another opportunity to improve her Kunqu skills. Xu Hongbing， a prominent Kunqu Opera flute player， was invited to play for the performances. During the troupe's stay in Jiaxing， Xu invited all the artists to his home for dinner. In the tradition of Kunqu Opera， a flute player is usually a lead musician of the Kunqu Opera band for his lead role in the accompaniment and his profound knowledge of arias and singing skills.

During the dinner， Zhang urged a colleague to ask the flute master if he would accept her as a pupil. The master fetched the flute and tried a few notes and then asked Zhang to sing an aria. Xu was satisfied and nodded smilingly that her voice was superb. Then and there he agreed to instruct Zhang.

For over a month， Zhang lived as a student at Xu's house where a family of three generations lived under the same roof. In the training， the master would use a lot of match sticks on the table to record the number of her drills. For a new aria， she must practice ten times before the master played the flute accompaniment. Zhang was fast at learning. Sometimes it took just two or three days for her to master a highlight.

In October 1958 when the Zhejiang Theater Academy was founded， Xu was engaged as a teacher at the academy. He was 74 years old that year.

Just the other day， Zhang Xian reminisced about her days at Xu's house. She said， “Of all my life， the best time I have had was that month at Xu's house. We were like a family. Never have I experienced so welcoming a family atmosphere over all the years. Now in my 90s， I still miss the days at the master's house.”

(Translated by David)