As an opera singer born in China, I have enjoyed a 15-year career singing abroad. During this long period, I have experienced the highs and lows of traveling, singing, and simply surviving. Much of the time I was on my own and was sometimes very lonely. Often I was overcome by an acute nostalgia for the beautiful Chinese melodies that I remember from my childhood. I thought many times how much I would love to present them to the West. As a full time singer performing in Western operas in Europe and North America, I had little opportunity to work on sharing my native music with the world. But now that, between concerts, I am often back in China, I have had the time to properly prepare this great music, to sift through songs and make good selections. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2018
Review: CD Burst of Italian Sunshine
Updated: 2007-01-10 07:37 By Raymond Zhou
Chinese tenor Fan Jingma spent almost two decades overseas, honing his craft and establishing his career. Recently he returned to China, and Poloarts Entertainment Co came out with a 4-CD box set that is pretty much a celebration of his art. Continue reading
Review – Chinese Lieder by Raymond Zhou
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-24 07:56 By Raymond Zhou
Fan Jingma’s latest album sets a milestone in the tenor’s career. After 15 years on the international opera stage, he has come back full-circle to his roots. But that’s just the surface, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. What sets apart this collection of 16 Chinese songs is his treatment, rather than his choice of repertory, which is eclectic and does not break any boundary. Continue reading
Review – Chinese Lieder by Dominy Clements
CHINESE LIEDER
Jingma Fan, tenor
Reinild Mees, piano
Review by Dominy Clements – MusicWeb International – July 2008
My claim to an affinity with Chinese culture derives almost entirely from a period in which I worked as a freelance text editor – in English – for the Chinese embassy in The Hague. Part of the rewards for checking tourist brochures, speeches and articles on subjects such as the marvellous Hubei ‘Chime Bells’, a replica set of which recently toured in Europe, were gifts of numerous CDs of Chinese music in a variety of arrangements. Continue reading
Review – Chinese Lieder by R. Moore
Review – American Record Guide – November/December 2008 by R. Moore
If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, here is a novelty. And it’s more than just a novelty; it’s an effort to bridge the musical expressions of east and west. The title “Chinese Lieder” refers to some of the most beloved Chinese poetry of the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279 AD) and some of the most popular Chinese folk tunes arranged in styles familiar to western ears. We are not told who arranged these songs or when, but they display a curious range of styles, one sounding like a Neapolitan song, another vaguely like Puccini, and still others sounding like Chabrier, Stephen Foster, and even Gershwin with shades of Asian tonality. By western musical standards these sweet and gentle songs may sound simplistic, but they are pleasant and occasionally rather inventive. Continue reading
Review – Chinese Lieder By Ira Siff (Opera News)
Review by Ira Siff – Opera News – November 2008
A few summers ago, when I was taking a boat tour on the Yangtze River to see the Three Gorges before they were mostly drowned by the huge ongoing dam project, I was awakened every morning at 6:30 by instrumental versions of traditional Chinese songs being piped into the cabins. My traveling companion, a friend from Beijing who is not an opera singer, would supply the missing voice and text in a sweet, unaffected voice, making the seductive melodies almost lovely enough to turn the ungodly hour bearable, as would the ravishing views of the amazing gorges. With that in mind, I was looking forward to this CD of Chinese songs assembled and sung by tenor Jingma Fan, a participant in some very prestigious singing contests — he was a finalist in both the 1987 Cardiff Singer of the World and the 1995 Pavarotti Competition — and now veteran of a fifteen-year opera career. Continue reading
CD Review – 评论：我们何时再歌唱？- 赵越胜
—为范竞马《中国艺术歌曲集》出版而作
《读书》2008第9期 作者：赵越胜
去年初回大陆时，老朋友们聚会，竞马悄悄地来了。自二〇〇三年在巴黎分手，一晃四年，知道他一直在国内耕耘着歌唱的田地，辛劳而执著。这次相见本有很多话题想谈，但我去国十七年，偶一回家，朋友云集，竟没有充裕的时间和他细谈。只在酒痕灯影中听他说起眼下正考虑出一盘中国艺术歌曲集。我心极喜，想这当然是很好的着力点。眼见大轰大鸣之下，歌唱艺术的细流濒临枯竭，我们将面对没有歌唱只有喧嚣的世界。深夜思之，痛彻肺腑。 Continue reading
Radio Interview
Fan Jingma: mixes Chinese Music and Poetry with Italian bel canto
2012-10-15 18:39:28 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Chi Huiguang
Anchor:
What kind of music touches you the most? Have you ever thought about singing Chinese poems in an Italian bel canto style?
Fan Jingma, world renowned Chinese tenor artist, who specializes in Italian bel canto, is now mixing the styles by singing Chinese songs in the classical western way.
He hopes the musical union will bring more worldwide exposure to China’s cultural treasures.
Tianyi has more. Continue reading
郭丹专访范竞马 （上）
专访中国著名男高音范竞马
2008-09-30 10:06:51 来源：华语广播网 编辑：高妙红 进入论坛>>
应歌德学院歌剧推广的教育系列项目之邀，刚刚在2008北京残奥会开幕式上放歌的著名音乐家范竞马日前来到北京大学校园中发出了“歌剧：离你并不遥远”的呼唤。歌剧，在当今中国和世界究竞是高贵的享受？美丽的陶冶？还是一种孤独的奢侈品？主持人郭丹专访男高音范竞马，与您一同论证。
郭 丹：范竞马先生，您好！
范竞马：郭丹，您好！很高兴来你们这儿做客。
郭 丹：我知道前不久您的一张个人专辑－－《我住长江头》发行了，好像是在全球同步发行的吧？
范竞马：在全球47个国家同步发行。 Continue reading
Tenor Returns to Home Stage
(China Daily November 13, 2002)
Fan Jingma is back to give a recital concert in Beijing. The news has stirred China’s vocal field.
In 1987, the 29-year-old Chinese tenor amazed the world by winning the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in Britain.
Western critics could not believe the “tenor who has a voice as charming as those of Pavarotti and the legendary Beniamino Gigli,” as hailed by BBC, came from China and had never been to Italy to receive training from a vocal master.
Placido Domingo praised him as a “rarely marvelous tenor…in recent decades.”
However, he has been absent from the home stage since he left the country to further his study and perform abroad in December 1988.
Although Fan almost become a forgotten name to many of today’s vocal fans in China, stories about his career abroad would often be heard.
“I know, in China, those who know me still wait for me and expect my concert. Now, I come back finally,” said Fan.
At the concert at the Poly Theater tomorrow night, Fan will sing 14 pieces, including arias from operas, Chinese and Western lyric songs and songs selected from musicals. Continue reading
Creating a Chinese Musical Message for a Global Audience
China Daily | Updated: 2017-01-14 07:19 By Chen Nan
Chinese tenor Fan Jingma stops mid-sentence because something is bothering him. “It’s too loud. I cannot concentrate and think,” he says of the background music being played in the lobby of a high-rise building located in downtown Beijing.
“We have so much distraction in our daily lives,” Fan says after moving to a quieter place. “We receive many messages every day, but how many of them are healthy and useful for our ears and eyes?”
Fan is in the building, where he is to give a concert along with other performers on Sunday, including China Philharmonic’s musicians, cellist Guan Zhengyue, pianist Chen Min and violinist Chen Yun.
郭丹专访范竞马 (下)
2008-10-02 06:08:23 来源：华语广播网 编辑：高妙红 进入论坛>>
应歌德学院歌剧推广的教育系列项目之邀，刚刚在2008北京残奥会开幕式上放歌的著名音乐家范竞马日前来到北京大学校园中发出了“歌剧：离你并不遥远”的呼唤。歌剧，在当今中国和世界究竞是高贵的享受？美丽的陶冶？还是一种孤独的奢侈品？主持人郭丹专访，男高音范竞马，与您一同论证。
郭 丹：范竞马先生，您好！
范竞马：郭丹，您好！
郭 丹：您演唱了这么多年的西洋歌剧，您最喜欢哪部歌剧？ Continue reading
男高音范竞马轶事
男高音范竞马轶事
[ 2006-03-09 15:31 ] （作者：阿坚 )
作一位世界级的歌剧演员，演唱的技巧及表演的才能固然相当重要，但作为一名演唱意、德、法、俄、奥、英等著名大师的古典歌剧的中国人，语言的驾驭能力，则是颇有难度的。在当前的中国，即使一些已跻身于国际歌坛的歌唱家，也不免得以死记硬背的方式去模仿外语的发音与语感。而如今的范竞马，却是一位以一口流利的意、英、法语见长，俄语也自幼受教于父母，近年对德语的攻读也颇有成效的国际著名歌唱家了。范竞马曾告诉我：当你体会到歌剧中那诗一般美好的歌词以后，几天、十几天就背下一部歌剧，则是轻而易举的事情了。 Continue reading
听一听范竞马的国风雅歌
作者 任海杰
多年前，就听说男高音范竞马的“国风雅歌”音乐会在北京引起关注。雅歌（Yage），来自东方的中国艺术歌曲（Chinese Lieder）。如果去掉修辞，简单直白地说，就是中国歌曲。唱中国歌曲的歌手不少，范竞马加上特定的修辞，是否有其特殊的含义？因此，我一直期待能有机会聆听范竞马“国风雅歌”的现场音乐会。2017上海国际艺术节热闹纷呈之际，11月5日，范竞马的“国风雅歌”音乐会悄然在上交演艺厅举行。说它悄然，是因为这场音乐会有些像沙龙性质，先前没有声扬，要不是“领队”刘雪枫先生相邀，我几乎就错过了。有的音乐会错过了也就错过了，但范竞马的这场音乐会——尤其是在我聆听以后——如果错过，就实在太可惜了。 Continue reading