為紀念越劇百年而舉辦的杭州越劇十大名票大賽中,杭州崇文實驗小學(xué)的青年教師金素文在眾多強手中脫穎而出,以高票當(dāng)選2006年杭州越劇十大名票第一名。從海選到120強,再到60強、20強、10強,無論是唱腔還是扮相,金素文都被專家評委一致看好;從《白蛇傳》中的白娘子到《法場祭夫》中的王千金,金素文的戚派唱腔字正腔圓、聲情并茂,但由于這次參賽的強手特別多,因此金素文的奪冠之路可以說也和她的人生道路一樣,充滿懸念,拼搏得相當(dāng)艱苦。
漁村里的“橡皮貓”
1974年金素文出生在浙江玉環(huán)縣的一個偏僻海島上,大概她的嗓音特別好,村里人就給她取了個小名叫“橡皮貓”。這只生長在漁島上的“小貓”小時候總是跟隨著母親織補漁網(wǎng),她的母親除了成天織補漁網(wǎng),最大的愛好便是唱越劇,母親將她背在身上一邊織網(wǎng)一邊唱,金素文聽得多了,兩歲的她已經(jīng)可以把一段《黛玉進府》完整地唱下來。
金素文稍稍長大之后,也跟媽媽一樣成了不折不扣的越劇迷,在她幾次三番的軟磨硬泡下,媽媽咬咬牙終于給她買了一臺當(dāng)時在海島算得上屬于奢侈品的紅燈牌收錄機。不過有了收錄機還不行,海島上根本買不到越劇磁帶,因此每次有人出島,金素文第一重要的事情就是托買越劇磁帶。自從有了眾多的“磁帶老師”,金素文很快就能熟練地演唱各個經(jīng)典劇目的唱段,成了當(dāng)?shù)赜忻脑絼⌒∑庇选?/p>
最受歡迎的同學(xué)
自從金素文成了越劇小票友后,那年她突然聽到了關(guān)于越劇團要招收越劇小學(xué)員的消息,這對酷愛越劇的小素文來說,去當(dāng)越劇演員是必然選擇,于是她想都沒想就報了名,憑著一曲傅派的《西湖山水還依舊》,她走進了玉環(huán)縣越劇團的大門……
劇團兩年,金素文比任何一個學(xué)員都要努力。練功時,人家走十圈臺步,她走三十圈;練唱腔,同伴一般都選適合自己的流派學(xué)習(xí),她“生、旦、凈、丑”各種流派都學(xué)。功夫不負有心人,金素文終于成為學(xué)員中最出色的一個??墒怯捎诮鹚匚漠?dāng)時的個子總是長不高,最后還是回海島讀書,并且考取了溫嶺師范學(xué)校。
金素文在讀書時期,有次學(xué)校的一場文藝表演又讓金素文重新對越劇恢復(fù)了自信,她上臺演唱的一段范派越劇《山伯臨終》,讓同學(xué)們頓時對這位海島來的女孩子刮目相看。從此,不管是在宿舍還是出去游玩,同學(xué)們總會要求金素文唱越劇,她成了同學(xué)中最受歡迎的人。后來在金素文的帶動下,不少同學(xué)亦都愛了上越劇,成了越劇之友。
金素文在學(xué)校不僅是文藝積極分子,她的每門課程也非常優(yōu)秀,校長總在人前夸她,說她是學(xué)校里的“寶貝”。就在她師范學(xué)校即將畢業(yè)之時,杭州市的重點小學(xué)來溫嶺師范挑選老師,校長向他們重點推薦了金素文。
幾個月后,金素文來到了杭州,成為了天長小學(xué)的一名語文教師。
越劇之家樂融融
金素文當(dāng)了教師之后,對于越劇的熱情始終如一,她除了自己唱,還在學(xué)校里組織戲曲社團教學(xué)生們唱。為了讓孩子們喜歡越劇,金素文上書店買了許多有關(guān)戲曲的碟片,還四處向?qū)<艺埥倘绾蜗蚝⒆觽兘淌谠絼?,為了廣開戲路,金素文還利用假期自學(xué)了很多其他的地方戲。
由于金素文的越劇緣,她由此而組成了一個幸福溫暖的越劇之家,金素文的先生章大權(quán),是杭州市時代小學(xué)校長助理、音樂老師,來自越劇的故鄉(xiāng)嵊州。少年時他也在劇團里待過,學(xué)的是二胡。緣于相同的境遇和對越劇的共同愛好,這對帥哥美女終于走在了一起。章大權(quán)吹拉彈唱樣樣精通,閑暇時兩人常在一起切磋戲藝,這時一個拉二胡、一個唱越劇,家庭中時時洋溢出融融暖意。他們八歲的兒子在這樣的環(huán)境熏陶下,也學(xué)會用笛子為媽媽伴奏。為參加這次越劇名票大賽,她的先生也為她花了不少工夫,他除了陪同她參賽和給她提意見外,還輾轉(zhuǎn)找到了黃龍劇團戚派傳人、梅花獎獲得者王杭娟。在名師的指點下,金素文的唱腔藝術(shù)有了飛快的進步。金素文十分感謝這位老師,她說:“我因為有了老師們的愛護和指點,才得了十大名票第一名!”
Happiness Lies in Singing Yue Opera Arias
By Liu Wen
Jin Suwen won the first place award in a competition of top 10 amateur Yue Opera singers in Hangzhou, held in 2006 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Yue Opera. The citywide contest attracted aficionados from all walks of life. From the very beginning of the free-for-all preliminaries to top 120, top 60, top 20, and finally to top 10, the young teacher with Hangzhou Chongwen Experimental Primary School was favored by jurors for her singing and performing.
For Jin Suwen, taking part in the Yue Opera singing contest was joy, but winning against all the competitors was more than joy.
Born in 1974 on an island in Yuhuan County in southern Zhejiang Province, Jin was gifted with a pleasant and resonant singing voice even as a baby girl, who inherited the voice and passion for Yue Opera from her mother. A super fan of Yue opera, her mother sang Yue opera arias even when she was darning fishing nets. Influenced by her mother, the two-year-old Jin Suwen was able to sing Daiyu Comes to Stay at the Splendid Home, an aria in the Dream of Red Mansion, from start to finish. As the baby girl grew, she became a devoted fan who nagged her mother to buy a VCR, a luxury few people on the island could afford at that time, so that she could learn from tapes of Yue Opera arias, which she asked people to buy from outside the island. By learning from the tapes, Jin Suwen built up her singing repertoire and became a skillful singer.
One day she learned that the county’s Yue Opera troupe was recruiting youngsters. She signed up and she was enrolled. In two years, she mastered all there was to be learned and became the best graduate from the two-year training course. But she was not qualified as a young actress at the troupe simply because she did not grow tall enough during the two years. She came back to the island to continue her normal education. Then she went to Wenling Teachers School.
In the school she became a star overnight by singing a Yue Opera aria at a students’ gathering. Amazed by the beauty of the Yue opera and the way she sang, many of her classmates fell in love with the opera. From then forward, her singing an aria was part of the repertoire at school’s celebrations. The school principal was so proud of Jin that she regarded Jin as a star student.
When Jin Suwen graduated as a top student, a primary school in Hangzhou came to recruit promising young teachers. She was recruited. A few months later, she came to Hangzhou and became a Chinese language teacher.
Her passion for Yue Opera found a good stage in a more convenient cultural environment both at the school and in the city. The young teacher organized an amateur troupe at the school and taught pupils to learn Yue Opera. She bought video discs of Yue Opera performances and organized young enthusiasts to watch. To better teach the opera, she learned from experts about how to teach youngsters to learn the opera. To broaden her experience in local operas in Zhejiang, she even learned some other folk operas.
Jin Suwen met her Mr. Right through Yue Opera activities in the city. Her husband Zhang Daquan is an assistant to the principal and music teacher in another primary school in the city. He came from Shengzhou, where Yue Opera originated 100 years ago. As a youngster he even played the Erhu* as an accompanist in a local Yue Opera troupe. The husband and wife can hold a family concert to stage Yue Opera singings. Their eight-year-old son now plays the flute to accompany his mother’s singing.
Jin Suwen also owes her success at the contest to Wang Hangjuan, a national-award winner with the Yellow Dragon Yue Opera Troupe who gave her tips for better performances.
* a two-stringed bowed Chinese musical instrument
(Translated by David)