Program notes  

One thing I believe the pandemic has taught people is that, even though the outside environment can be tough, balance and love can be found within each other and the world. Love is unbeatable, but what does love mean to you?    

This recital is filled with love songs from different eras and in seven languages (Mandarin Chinese, English, Japanese, German,  Korean, Italian, and French). It matters not how differently various cultures and eras interpret music and lyrics, or between which genders it is expressed, “love” is still the unchangeable theme and is the worldwide language. The inspiration for this concert, titled “LOVE, Let Ocean Via Eternity” came about by creating an acronym of the word “LOVE” and the lyric “If the river runs to no sea”. River and ocean become the symbol of eternity, because, in this lyric, the river is not “to”, but “becomes a part of the ocean.” When we are in love, all the moments and different emotions we experience are composing an ocean of love. The destination is no longer the ocean, but eternity and somewhere beyond.  

Each song in the recital focuses on a different emotion for our emotions fluctuate in love. Whether it is easy to be lost, or it means to have no results, it can be forever, vulnerable, mysterious, ecstatic, sincere, confused, lost, toxic, tortured, serene,  anxious, joyful, or fantasized and illusional; it’s all part of this journey of love. The moment when we see love in ourselves is the moment of eternity. No matter when love happens, it is the prologue of eternity.  

This concert is sectioned with different emotions, from “Joy” to “切なさ（Setsunasa）”, to “儚さ（Hakanasa）” and lastly,  leading to “永恒（Yongheng）”. In Japanese, “Setsunasa” is a mixture of “sorrow and can’t leave it,” and “Hakasana” is a mixed feeling of “far away, unreachable, fantasized, and easy to break”. These words could not be translated into one singular word in  English; thus, they are shown as the original Japanese words. “Yongheng” means “eternity” in Mandarin.    

The central part of this recital is a song cycle called Frauenliebe und -Leben, A Woman’s Love and Life, composed by Robert  Schumann with text by Adelbert von Chamisso. Schumann experienced a very brave love story with his wife Clara, and this set of songs was composed for his friend’s wedding. These songs tell the story of a 19th-century young woman who fell in love at first glance and, luckily, the man reciprocated. They married and had children, but after a long life together, he died, and she experienced profound sorrow. She lives a very simple life, and that simplicity provides good fortune and is the essence of life.  Because she has loved so deeply, when he dies, her grief is immense. This is also proof that she has tried to live her best life.  Her love story is that beautiful mixture of emotions and is also the epitome of the start of love to how the love has overcome death, despite his lack of presence, and becomes eternity. This set of songs is not only her story, but through my practicing, they have become an experience and are now my stories, and now they are part of your story also.    

Starting with Mozart’s aria, Tell Me What Love Is, and then experiencing the whole fluctuation of emotions throughout this recital, the answer seems clearer while still being: Love is like water and ocean. It is flowing and has no shape, and thus its shapes are unlimited in nature. Therefore, Debussy’s Beau Soir is the closing song of this recital with its final lyrics: “We flow to  the tomb, (the eternity) flows to the ocean.” The question for the audience remains: What does love mean to you? What shapes does love have in your story?  

 

疫情让人们明白的一件事是，无论外界环境如何艰难，平衡与爱依旧能存在于世间。爱无法被磨灭，但于你，“爱”意味着什么？ 

本次音乐会将演绎来自不同时代文化与七门语言的爱情歌曲（中文，英文，日文，德语，韩语，意大利语和法语）。无论背景与语言 的呈现方式如何不同，不论存在于怎样的性别之间，“爱”始终是不变的主题，也是世界通用语言。音乐会名称“爱，让大海流经永 恒”，最初灵感来源于将英文的“LOVE”拆分为四个单词，随后在组合单词的过程中，受一句合唱曲的歌词“如果川河流向的不是 大海”的启迪。川河与大海成为了“永恒”的象征，因为本句中川河并非“流向”大海，而是本身则为大海的一部分。当在爱情中 

时，所有的瞬间及不同情绪流都汇集成一片爱之海。这片大海不再是河流的目的地，而是周而复始，从亘古流向永恒与更远之处。   

本次选曲由爱情中的五味杂陈情绪组成。不论是否易逝，是否明知会无果，或是感觉这份爱能永久长存，亦或是神秘，狂喜，脆弱， 快乐，幸福，真诚，迷茫，失落，披着糖衣的毒药，在刀尖舞蹈，扭曲挣扎，宁静平和，不安焦虑，充满幻象与幻想……都是这场爱 之旅的一部分。当我们看到爱存在于我们自身的瞬间，此刻即永恒。无论爱情何时发生，皆为永恒的序曲。 

音乐会将歌曲分为不同情绪作为顺序来表演，从“快乐”到“切なさ(Setsunasa)”，“儚さ(Hakanasa)”，最后走向“永恒”。日 文里，“切なさ”是一种“心痛和无法割舍，又想珍惜在手心”的情绪；“儚さ”是一种“梦幻却又遥远，易碎又不切实际，却如同 海市蜃楼的虚幻美丽”的情绪，都无法被精确用一个词翻译，因此选择直接使用日文。这也是每种不同语言的精妙之处。    

本场中心部分是沙米索作词、舒曼作曲的《一个女人的爱与生活》系列八首德语组曲。舒曼和他的妻子克拉拉经历了非常勇敢的爱 情，这套组曲是舒曼写给他的朋友的婚礼礼物。歌曲讲述了一个女孩对心上人一见钟情，幸运的是，他也同样倾心于她。他们结婚， 组建家庭，有了孩子。最后男主角去世，她痛不欲生。这名 19 世纪普通妇女经历了非常单纯朴素的一生，但或许平淡才是真。因为 用心爱过，所以诀别后也一定会受伤，但这也是她认真活过的痕迹。她的爱情故事是各种情绪的糅合，也是从爱情的开始到超越死 亡，达到永存的缩影；即使最后爱人不再在身边，她依旧深爱着他。这个故事其实已不再是她自己的故事，通过练习，已经变成了我 的一部分；听完故事的现在，也成为了你的一部分。 

由莫扎特的咏叹调《告诉我什么是爱情》开始，在体验整场音乐会的一系列的情绪波折后，这个问题的答案变得略微清晰但依旧朦 胧：爱如同水与海。它是流动和无形的，也因此可以成为任何形状。至此，在德彪西的压轴曲《美丽的傍晚》里，最后一句喃喃自 语：“我们流向墓园，而（永恒）流向海”。这个问题也留给观众们：对你而言，爱是什么？爱的形状又是什么？  

2022.03.18