It’s Never Too Late to Do Whatever We Love
Wu Yili (巫漪麗; 1931--20 April 2019), also known as Elaine Yi-li Wu, was a Chinese-Singaporean classical pianist. As a member of the first generation of Chinese pianists, she served to be the first solo pianist of the China National Symphony Orchestra, and arranged the piano accompaniment (伴奏) for the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto (《梁祝小提琴協奏曲》). After suffering persecution during the Cultural Revolution, she moved to the United States before settling in Singapore. Following the release of two acclaimed albums in her old age, she was rediscovered by Chinese music lovers, and became a social media sensation in her 80s. Wu was born in 1931 into a prominent family in Shanghai, Republic of China, with her ancestral home in Heyuan, Guangdong province (廣東省河源市). Her father, Wu Zhenying (巫振英), was a US-educated architect, and her mother, Li Huiying (李慧英), was the daughter of Li Yunshu (李雲書), a wealthy capitalist who helped finance of Sun Yat-sen’s revolution (孫中山革命).
     At age six, Wu heard蕭邦的《幻想即興曲》from an American movie《子夜琴聲》, and became determined to learn to play the piano. She won the first prize in Shanghai Children’s Piano Contest after playing for only a year, and began studying with the Shanghai-based Italian musician梅百器 at the age of ten. She graduated from Shanghai Peicheng Girls’ School (上海培成女子中學), and made her public debut at the Shanghai Lyceum Theatre (蘭心大戲院) in 1948. Wu’s performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.1, accompanied by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, made her famous in China.
In 1954, she joined the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing, and became its first solo pianist a year later. She married Yang Bingsun (楊秉蓀), the lead violinist of the orchestra. Recognized as one of China’s top pianists, she frequently performed for foreign leaders visiting China, and went on tours abroad. After the debut of the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto (《梁祝小提琴協奏曲》) in 1959, Wu was the first one to make a piano arrangement for the work, and the first one to perform it at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China that year. It was one of the most famous performances of her career as中國國家一級鋼琴演奏家. She was personally received by Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩來) in 1962.
     During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Yang Bingsun was denounced (斥責) as a “counter-revolutionary (反革命)” and imprisoned for ten years. Wu was forced to divorce him in order not to be implicated (牽連), but was still beaten by the Red Guards (紅衛兵) and suffered long-term injuries in her feet. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wu moved to the United States in the 1980s, before settling in Singapore in 1993.
In Singapore, Wu taught piano and lived in relative poverty and obscurity. With the financial support of one of her students, she released her first album《一代大師·巫漪麗》in 2008 at the age of 77, followed by the second album 《一代大師Ⅱ·巫漪麗》five years later. Both albums were highly acclaimed (廣受好評), and she was praised for her expressiveness and her extensive knowledge of Chinese music. Her second album won the 2013 Top 10 Records Award of Guangdong Musicians’ Association. In 2017, a video of the 86-year-old pianist playing the Butterfly Lovers became popular on Chinese social media, and Wu was rediscovered by music lovers in China. She gave a public performance in Singapore that year, and was honored with the World Outstanding Chinese Artist Award (音樂藝術成就獎) in June. In 2018, she collaborated with violinist Lu Siqing (呂思清) in a new rendition (演繹) of the Butterfly Lovers. Wu died on 20 April 2019 at Singapore General Hospital, after losing consciousness while attending a concert at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall (維多利亞音樂廳). She was at her 89 years old.
    在諸多音樂家中，巫漪麗是一個比較特殊的鋼琴家，她年僅6歲，即開始學習鋼琴，一生獲獎無數，雖然曾在特殊時期，飽受折磨，但是，她從來沒有放棄過對音樂的追求，一直到生命的最後一刻，她也要堅持在舞臺上，彈奏鋼琴。
    巫漪麗出生於1931年，她的家庭是個書香門第，父母對巫漪麗的教育和培養，都十分盡心盡力，希望她能夠成為有用之才。在巫漪麗年幼的時候，父母就發現她身上有對音樂的特殊天賦。他們花了重金，給巫漪麗買了一臺質量可靠的鋼琴，讓巫漪麗能夠全心投入鋼琴的學習中。巫漪麗在學習鋼琴的過程中，十分專注，進步飛快。在學習了一年的鋼琴後，她參加兒童鋼琴比賽，結果拿了第一名。有了這次的激勵，她在學習鋼琴的道路上，更加順利。同時，巫漪麗的成功，也引起鋼琴大師梅百器的注意，收她為徒弟，指導學習鋼琴。有名師的指點，巫漪麗的演奏水平，迅速提升，在23歲之際，就成功地成為「北京中央樂團」第一任鋼琴獨奏家。在「中央樂團」內，巫漪麗見到小提琴手楊秉蓀，深深被他吸引，兩人逐漸熟識，最終陷入愛河，並且順利結婚，成為夫妻。兩人有著共同的愛好，十分幸福。巫漪麗和楊秉蓀，過了一段幸福美滿的時光，不料，卻被一場突如其來的變故打斷。當時處於特殊的歷史背景，楊秉蓀被捕入獄，巫漪麗迫於各種壓力，只能和楊秉蓀離婚，最終帶著自己的鋼琴夢，遠去他鄉。巫漪麗被迫和楊秉蓀離婚之後，沒有再婚，一生都以鋼琴為伴，她曾先後去過美國、新加坡等地深造，鋼琴演奏的技藝，越來越精湛。只不過，她卻從來沒有忘記自己的故鄉，及當年自己演奏的那曲《梁祝》。
    時隔多年之後，巫漪麗早已不再是從前那個翩翩少女，而是一個87歲的老太婆了，當她再次站在舞臺上，演奏一曲《梁祝》，影片被傳上網，看到她獨自一人，坐在鋼琴前，輕輕敲下琴鍵，全世界都安靜了。在表演結束後，很多人問巫漪麗，一生沒有再婚，一個人的生活，會不會感到孤獨？巫漪麗說，自己一生，都和鋼琴為伴，只要有鋼琴，以及演奏鋼琴的機會和時間，自己就不會感到孤獨，且早已把鋼琴和自己合而為一了。巫漪麗的晚年，為了讓自己畢生所學，不會被人遺忘，她開始教授鋼琴。她招生的要求很簡單，只要對鋼琴感興趣就可以了，不管是90歲的老太爺，還是3歲的小孩，她都悉心教導彈奏鋼琴的技藝。2019年，巫漪麗在新加坡的一場演奏上，結束了自己的一生，她盡情彈奏著鋼琴，用生命的最後一口氣，彈奏出絕美的鋼琴。在彈奏結束後，她就倒在舞臺上，從此離開了世界。一個熱愛音樂的人，一個值得後人敬畏的音樂家，必然是經得起時間考驗的，巫漪麗用自己的一生，熱愛鋼琴，並且留下太多經典。時至今日，雖然巫漪麗已離開這個世界，但是，她留下的那些精彩瞬間和佳作，依舊留在每個人的心中。
    回顧2017年，巫漪麗得到一項遲來的認可：世界傑出華人藝術家大獎。
這一年，她86歲高齡，身體已弱不禁風，仍舊堅持上台表演，她那枯瘦的十指，爬滿皺紋，當放在琴鍵上的那一刻，指尖流瀉的音樂，沒有老態生疏，反而輕盈如蝶。巫漪麗得大獎，託人把好消息，告訴千里之外的前夫楊秉蓀，沒等到愛人分享喜訊的消息，反倒噩耗傳來，楊秉蓀剛去世。巫漪麗這世間最掛懷的人沒了，她換上一身白衣服，沒說一句話，也沒拿琴譜，把自己關在錄音棚，彈起兩人的摯愛曲目《梁祝》：「千古傳頌生生愛，山伯永戀祝英台」。她把自己的悲傷，都揉碎、發泄在跳躍的琴鍵上了。楊秉蓀，是她唯一愛過，又被迫錯過的伴侶。多少畫面閃過，多少情緒交織。錄音棚外的朋友，都聽出她的悲痛，無人敢打攪，巫漪麗獨自吞咽下痛失所愛的悲傷。
    兩年後，在出席維多利亞音樂廳的音樂會中，因體力不支暈倒，她再也沒有醒來。她在新加坡，沒有一位家屬，只好由當地音樂家協會辦後事。生前，記者採訪她：「一個人在租住的房子裡，會感到孤獨嗎?」巫漪麗回答：「彈鋼琴就不孤獨了。」巫漪麗孑然一人，終身不嫁。專一，是她身上最大的優點，彈了一架琴，終身與音樂為伴。音樂是可以滋養人，而不是用來炫耀的，音樂是她向世界傳達美好的媒介。巫漪麗一無丈夫，二無兒女，晚年多靠朋友和學生接濟度日。
但只要有音樂，她心中的花園，就會奏響春天之歌。她的生活中，除了授課，只容納得下藝術。她每天堅持練琴、讀書，給友人寫信聯絡，聽聽新聞，偶爾出門看畫展、聽音樂會。鋼琴作品，是有各式各樣的風格的，如戲曲、民間樂曲、歌舞曲等，一輩子都學不盡。巫漪麗在生命的最後一天，最後一刻，仍然在彈奏，在聽音樂會。她在琴鍵上，品味了別樣的人生，超脫了年齡的限制，傳頌給世人的，是如何優雅地老去，愛其所愛，無愧於心。

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