孫國(guó)維

9月7日，著名小提琴家、《梁祝》的演奏者盛中國(guó)因心臟病突發(fā)搶救無(wú)效去世，享年77歲。

盛中國(guó)是中國(guó)第一批享譽(yù)世界的演奏家之一。幾十年來(lái)，他多次應(yīng)邀到亞洲、歐洲、大洋洲、南美洲許多國(guó)家舉辦獨(dú)奏音樂(lè)會(huì)，并多次與國(guó)內(nèi)外交響樂(lè)團(tuán)和世界著名指揮、音樂(lè)家同臺(tái)演出巴赫、莫扎特、貝多芬等的名曲。澳大利亞ABC廣播公司，甚至將盛中國(guó)列入“世界最偉大的藝術(shù)家”的行列。

筆者與盛中國(guó)相知相識(shí)于40多年前，回憶起往日點(diǎn)滴，感慨不已。

一對(duì)琴瑟和鳴的佳偶

9月13日上午，盛中國(guó)的告別儀式在八寶山殯儀館東禮堂舉行。筆者在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)看到不少業(yè)界知名音樂(lè)家前來(lái)送行，包括著名作曲家趙季平、中國(guó)交響樂(lè)團(tuán)首席指揮李心草、鋼琴家鮑蕙蕎和劉詩(shī)昆等。

追思會(huì)沒(méi)有播放哀樂(lè)，現(xiàn)場(chǎng)只播放了一首柴可夫斯基的《D大調(diào)小提琴協(xié)奏曲》，到場(chǎng)送別父親的盛潔說(shuō)：“這是我父親盛中國(guó)在1980年應(yīng)邀到澳大利亞悉尼歌劇院演出時(shí)錄下的?！弊匪紩?huì)幾乎自始至終播放著那首纏綿悱惻、凄美動(dòng)人的小提琴協(xié)奏曲《梁?！?，這是盛中國(guó)生前最愛(ài)演奏的樂(lè)曲，縱然千萬(wàn)遍而不厭倦，那是他的代表作，也是他與瀨田裕子的定情曲。

在告別儀式的最后，盛中國(guó)的夫人瀨田裕子走到大師的遺體旁，將一把盛中國(guó)心愛(ài)的小提琴放到他的身上，并把他生前穿戴過(guò)的大衣和眼鏡也放到他身上。她說(shuō)：“我怕他冷，會(huì)看不清楚?！比缓?，她又低下頭去對(duì)盛中國(guó)說(shuō)：“我永遠(yuǎn)愛(ài)你，我們下輩子再做夫妻。”這番真情話語(yǔ)讓在場(chǎng)的親友都無(wú)不動(dòng)容。

筆者認(rèn)識(shí)瀨田裕子是在多年前的古巴。那天，筆者與古巴朋友洽談商務(wù)，恰巧對(duì)門(mén)房間里遇見(jiàn)久未謀面的老朋友盛中國(guó)。他正好因?yàn)楣虐袜従羽B(yǎng)狗的事要與他商量，卻因語(yǔ)言不通無(wú)法溝通，見(jiàn)了我就像碰上了救星似的。我倆熱烈擁抱，互致問(wèn)候。我?guī)退麄兘鉀Q了相互間的矛盾。盛中國(guó)邀請(qǐng)我到他家做客。這時(shí)，我才認(rèn)識(shí)他的夫人瀨田裕子。

盛中國(guó)與瀨田裕子的愛(ài)情故事可謂是一段樂(lè)壇佳話。

1986年，第三屆國(guó)際小提琴比賽在日本舉行，盛中國(guó)作為中國(guó)代表參加并擔(dān)當(dāng)評(píng)委。比賽結(jié)束后，日方希望盛中國(guó)留下來(lái)舉辦音樂(lè)會(huì)。盛中國(guó)希望日方為他找個(gè)鋼琴伴奏。一位朋友向他推薦了小他20歲的瀨田裕子。后者在初見(jiàn)盛中國(guó)時(shí)，剛從日本國(guó)立音樂(lè)學(xué)院畢業(yè)不久，已在音樂(lè)界小有名氣，被稱為“會(huì)用鋼琴唱歌的青年演奏家”。

經(jīng)過(guò)第一次登臺(tái)合作，雙方都有了好感和信任。在日后的交往中，兩人的感情慢慢升溫。盛中國(guó)曾打了個(gè)比方，他與瀨田裕子的感情發(fā)展就像“飛機(jī)軟著陸”，是一個(gè)水到渠成的過(guò)程。而其中的奧秘就在于《梁祝》。盛中國(guó)耗費(fèi)心血把梁山伯與祝英臺(tái)的愛(ài)情故事演繹成一部小提琴協(xié)奏曲。瀨田裕子為盛中國(guó)伴奏，不僅需要天賦，更需要盛中國(guó)的耐心啟發(fā)，最重要的其實(shí)是愛(ài)心。有了愛(ài)心，這曲完美的戀人曲當(dāng)然會(huì)成為愛(ài)情的催化劑。

1994年，兩人正式結(jié)為夫婦。盛中國(guó)說(shuō)他與瀨田裕子在生活中是情侶，在舞臺(tái)上是戰(zhàn)友。

自從盛中國(guó)把《梁祝》改編成小提琴和鋼琴協(xié)奏曲之后，他與瀨田裕子的家庭功課主要就是如何切磋和磨合這首愛(ài)情交響曲了。

一位出生于提琴世家的天才

追溯起來(lái)，筆者與盛中國(guó)相知相識(shí)是在40多年前。他在音樂(lè)學(xué)院的一個(gè)宿舍里接受筆者的采訪。

那小屋雖然局促，但卻整潔。他不僅做得一手好菜，而且還是能工巧匠，家里的沙發(fā)就出自他自己的手藝。那時(shí)候雖然流行自打家具，但家里自做沙發(fā)的為數(shù)不多。盡管那時(shí)候物資匱乏，然而中午時(shí)分，他還特地為我做了一盤(pán)紅燒平魚(yú)，讓我大快朵頤。我們十分投緣，大有酒逢知己千杯少的感覺(jué)。也是在那間小屋，盛中國(guó)打開(kāi)話匣子，為筆者介紹了他的提琴世家——

父親盛雪是音樂(lè)學(xué)院的小提琴教授，母親朱冰是女高音歌唱家和鋼琴演奏家。全家11個(gè)孩子，有9個(gè)都拉小提琴，每每弦歌一堂，其樂(lè)融融。在南京和兩廣一帶，說(shuō)起盛氏家族的演出規(guī)模和氣派，大家都會(huì)豎起拇指嘖嘖驚嘆。而這樣的成績(jī)背后，少不了苦練。一年中，盛家的孩子唯有年三十和正月初一才能休息，概無(wú)例外。但盛中國(guó)確實(shí)是好樣的，不僅琴不離手，曲不離口，而且，音準(zhǔn)到位，一絲不茍。夏練三伏，冬練三九，不是汗流浹背，就是手生凍瘡。稍有怠慢，父親就會(huì)嚴(yán)厲指出。

嚴(yán)師手下出高徒。盛中國(guó)5歲開(kāi)始隨父學(xué)琴；7歲登臺(tái)演出；9歲時(shí)武漢人民廣播電臺(tái)錄制了由他獨(dú)奏的莫扎特、貝多芬和舒伯特等大師的經(jīng)典作品并向全國(guó)傳播，令無(wú)數(shù)觀眾為之傾倒。盛中國(guó)被贊為“天才琴童”。

在1956年舉辦的紀(jì)念莫扎特誕辰200周年的音樂(lè)會(huì)上，他在李德倫指揮的中央樂(lè)團(tuán)管弦樂(lè)隊(duì)伴奏下，演奏了莫扎特的《A大調(diào)小提琴協(xié)奏曲》。1960年，他與劉詩(shī)昆一起赴莫斯科柴可夫斯基音樂(lè)學(xué)院留學(xué)，師從蘇聯(lián)著名小提琴大師列·柯崗。1962年，他參加在莫斯科舉辦的第三屆國(guó)際柴可夫斯基小提琴比賽，并獲得榮譽(yù)獎(jiǎng)?；貒?guó)后，他曾多次應(yīng)邀到亞洲、歐洲、大洋洲和南美洲的許多國(guó)家以及中國(guó)港澳地區(qū)舉辦獨(dú)奏音樂(lè)會(huì)，足跡遍天下。

盛中國(guó)是我國(guó)音樂(lè)界一位傳奇式人物，他對(duì)作品的理解和處理有獨(dú)到之處。演奏風(fēng)格既熱情奔放，又優(yōu)美細(xì)膩；既富于詩(shī)情畫(huà)意，又具有浪漫幻想。1979年，世界級(jí)小提琴大師梅紐因來(lái)華訪問(wèn)，在北京紅塔禮堂與盛中國(guó)同臺(tái)演出時(shí)，他贊揚(yáng)盛中國(guó)是他在中國(guó)演奏巴赫小提琴協(xié)奏曲的最佳拍檔。他觀察到盛中國(guó)的左手指彈跳力快得驚人，這也是為何盛中國(guó)在演奏時(shí)能做到或如平沙落雁，或如天馬行空。

In Memory of Violinist Sheng Zhongguo

By Sun Guowei， our special reporter in Beijing

Renowned Chinese violinist Sheng Zhongguo died of a heart attack in Beijing on September 7， 2018. He was 77 years old.

The news of his death hit me hard. I first met him more than 40 years ago. I went to visit him at a dormitory building at a music school in Beijing. The apartment was small， but orderly. He was a fine cook and fine carpenter. Back then， he made his own sofa. At the end of the interview， he treated me to fish braised in soy sauce he cooked. We drank wine and chatted more. It was during that meeting that I learned about his family. He was born in 1941 to a musical family. His father Sheng Xue was a violinist and professor and his mother was a pianist and vocalist. Of the 11 children， nine played violin. He was the most famous of the familys young nine violinists. His familys violin shows were a concert phenomenon.

At age 7， he gave his first public performance， and two years later he made his first solo recording， with Wuhan People's Broadcasting Station， playing music by Mozart， Beethoven and Schubert.

In 1954， Sheng Zhongguo began studying at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and， in 1960， continued his education at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow under the guidance of the great Russian violinist Leonid Kogan. After returning to China in 1964， Sheng gave concerts as a soloist with the China National Symphony Orchestra.

I met his wife Hiroko Seta， a Japanese pianist， in Cuba many years ago. One day I went to visit a friend in Havana at his home， which was in a residential compound. It just happened that Sheng Zhongguo and his wife were living in an apartment across the corridor. When I arrived， I just saw Sheng Zhongguo talking to the neighbor about cats. As he saw me， he was surprised and overjoyed. We hugged each other. Then I interpreted for Sheng. As the problem solved through communications， Sheng invited me to his home where I first met his wife.

Sheng Zhongguo served as juror at the third international violin competition in Japan in 1986. After the competition， Sheng was invited to give solo concerts in Japan. Sheng asked the host to find a pianist for his concerts. A friend recommended Hiroko Seta， a young pianist who had just graduated from a celebrated conservatory of music. Twenty years younger than Sheng， she was a rising pianist who was able to “make the piano sing”.

The bond between the two was firmly established after the first cooperation. The link between them was Butterfly Lovers， a violin concerto composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang in 1959， when both were students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Seta and Sheng worked together to find the best violin-piano interpretation of the concerto. The two fell in love. In 1994， they got married.

As a national-level soloist with the China National Symphony Orchestra， Sheng was among the first Chinese musicians to win honors on the international stage with a performance style that was filled with enthusiasm and poetic charm. In 1980， he held 12 concerts in six cities in Australia， making quite a stir there. These performances not only were a landmark for Sino-Australian cultural exchanges， but also marked the official entrance of Chinese violin performances onto international cultural and art stage. Sheng was listed as one of the "world's greatest artists" by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation after his performances in the country.

During his lifetime， Sheng worked with top musicians at home and abroad. In 1979， he performed with world-famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin， after which Menuhin praised Sheng as the best partner to have to play the Bach Double Violin Concerto in China.

I attended Sheng Zhongguos funeral in Beijing. His wife Hiroko Seta placed a pair of glasses and an overcoat by Shengs body. Through out of the funeral， the acoustic system played two musical pieces. One was Violin Concerto in D Major composed by Tchaikovsky. His daughter Sheng Yi said at the funeral that it was a live record of the masterpiece performed by Sheng Zhongguo at a concert in Australia in 1980. The other was Butterfly Lovers， a recording jointly made by Sheng Zhongguo and his wife Hiroko Seta.