‘China’s nightingale’ Zhou Xiaoyan dies aged 98 after glittering six-decade career
The legendary soprano won rave reviews around the world, was greeted by Jimmy Carter at the White House and helped to groom a new generation of Chinese operatic singers
Zhou Xiaoyan first rose to international acclaim as “China’s Nightingale” six decades ago after a performance in Berlin.
The voice of the classically trained coloratura soprano soared through a programme of Schubert and Chinese songs, earning rave reviews from the German media.
Zhou died in Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital early on Friday morning after a year-long illness. She was 98.
Her legacy is not only a career of impressive performances on the stage but also the new generation of Chinese operatic singers she helped groom.
Two years later she went to study in Paris as hostilities with Japan erupted into full-scale war. But, as she would later joke, conflict caught up with her there, and she stayed in France throughout the second world war.
Zhou’s concert career began as the world rebuilt itself from ruins, and took her to London, Berlin, and Paris. One of the highlights was her performance at the inaugural Prague Spring International Music Festival in 1946 alongside top classical stars.
Her singing was distinctly European and of a high order, and that’s what she brought back to her native land and gave to voice education in decades ahead
She returned to China in 1947 and made her recital debut at the Lyceum Theatre in Shanghai a year later.
Hong Kong-based soprano Barbara Fei Ming-yee was in the audience in Shanghai and inspired by what she heard.
“Her singing was distinctly European and of a high order, and that’s what she brought back to her native land and gave to voice education in decades ahead,” Fei said.
In addition to serving as head of voice at her alma mater in Shanghai, Zhou continued performing, going on several tours from India to the Soviet Union. When the Cultural Revolution brought her stage career to a sudden halt, she focused her energies on coaching young talent, including Wei Song, one of China’s top tenors.
She returned to the international limelight in 1978 to lead a large cultural delegation to the United States and was greeted by president Jimmy Carter at the White House.
In 1980 she was appointed deputy director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and handpicked the best and the brightest for intensive training. Her eye for talent was confirmed when two of her protégés, tenor Zhang Jianyi and soprano Gao Manhua, beat a 200-strong in Vienna field to win first prizes in the 3rd Belvedere Competition.
She set up an opera centre in her own name in 1988 and launched the enterprise with a production of Verdi’s Rigoletto the following year. The centre has since become a cradle of young talent, including baritone Liao Changyong, an international prize winner.
Zhou continued to live and teach at home well into her 90s.
One of her last performances was at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in 2005 when she sang Great Wall Ballad, a song she made famous before she left for Paris. Listening to it today is a reminder of the legendary voice and the personality that brought it to prominence.
Oliver Chou
