Almighty painter

Chapter 344 Farewell My Concubine
Lao Yang knelt down and carefully picked up the photo.

That was a big group photo.

Many people lined up in three rows in front of a Chinese-style two-story teahouse.

They have different expressions and looks, ranging from a rickety old man with a long beard hanging down on his chest like a goat, to a middle-aged young man in a straight suit and round filigree glasses, to a five or six-year-old man wearing a gown. small children.

Everything is available.

There are two banners hanging on the teahouse in the background.

The one on top reads, "In the year Bingzi, the Eastern Xia Southern Painting School held its third discussion exhibition to commemorate."

A banner further down reads, "'Living Overlord' Yang Xiaolou leads the Tongxin Society to perform on the Chenji Grand Stage in Shanghai."

Lao Yang blinked.

The third commemorative exhibition of the Eastern Xia Southern Painting School?

He searched the history of modern art in his mind.

This kind of commemorative group photo of old photos - some are in the order of standing in the photo, and some are in accordance with the seniority of the exhibitor list, from largest to smallest.

It is customary to print the names of everyone in the shot in the blank space below.

Lao Yang scanned a line of signatures under the photo.

Among those fifty names.

Some of their names are so deafening that they can occupy a special section in modern art history textbooks, and some are celebrities in the field of cultural criticism.

There were also a few names, and Lao Yang needed to look at their names and think carefully before he could vaguely remember who this person was.

Overall, this line of names put together…

The stars are brilliant!

It will make any art lover unable to control his emotions.

Just on this list.

It is not like what Lao Yang is used to in various academic conferences nowadays. As long as Cao Xuan's name appears, he will definitely be ranked among the top few.

Even Sir Brown, who has a long history in "Oil Painting" and is personally anointed by the European royal family, is still a little shorter.

this time.

It was not until the last few relatively unknown signatures on the list that he saw the small tail suffix of the word "Cao Xuan" following a painter named Tu Pingzhi.

Seeing this expected name, Lao Yang returned his gaze to the photo and found his target.

Even though Mr. Cao's name is at the bottom, it's not too difficult to find him.

Even the location is surprisingly easy to find and eye-catching.

In the center of the photo stands an old man wearing a jacket with floral sleeves.

The old man was white-haired and energetic. He held a folding fan in one hand and held a young man in the other.

The young man is young, only about ten years old, but he is wearing a shirt and vest as seriously as an adult.

Children are very angry.

He probably felt a little hot. His formal black coat was hung on his arm. His face was a little energetic and childish, just like all teenagers who are dragged by their parents in front of outsiders. There was even a little bit of it. The impatience of being held hands.

The young man squinted his eyes, frowned, and looked sideways at the camera.

"Old man? Is this you?"

The photosensitive particles on the photo will gradually fade slightly with exposure to sunlight.

Old photos from the Republic of China for more than [-] years have turned yellow and brittle, as if they have been bleached, and the faces are not too clear.

More than 80 years have passed.

The child has become an old man, his appearance has changed drastically, and most of the people in the photo are no longer alive.

Lao Yang roughly guessed the truth of the matter by calculating his age and vaguely similar eyebrows.

"Yeah, who is it if it's not me? There are many masters participating in the exhibition and bringing their family members and disciples to join in the fun and take photos. Among the children in the photo, there are only two who are qualified to leave their names. One is me and the other is... A guy named Tu Pingzhi. His great-great-grandfather was Tu Xinsheng, the governor of Liangjiang in the late Qing Dynasty, and he seemed to be related to Zhang Zhidong, the commander-in-chief of Xiang Dynasty. I think that he was ranked in front of me because he was in my favor. That day I was very accurate."

"So after so many years, I have always remembered his name. I heard that later, when the Japanese invaded China, he seemed to have gone to South America, and there was no news after that. I don't know if he can still paint."

Cao Xuan took the photo with a gentle tone.

The little entanglements he had when he was a boy have long since disappeared without a trace. At his age, when he looks back, he can only remember him with nostalgia.

Lao Yang adjusted the needle and vinyl, listening to the old gentleman's words with a complicated expression.

It turns out that people like Mr. Cao would also be troubled by the order of ranking?
Right.

What old man has never been a young man full of youthful spirit?

"But your photo is not in the middle. I didn't see the paint or anything."

Lao Yang said with a smile.

Being fat as a child is not fat.

What does it mean to be beaten down when you are young?After reaching almost a hundred years old, less than five painters of the same age can still breathe normally.

The old man is not the best in the world, who is?
"That's not true." Cao Xuan also smiled.

"My teacher is a very defensive person outside. He saw my complaints. After the commemorative exhibition that day, everyone took a group photo first, and then listened to a play and had dinner at Chenji Tea House. Therefore, when we took a group photo, the old man specially held my hand. My hand pulled me to his side, right in front of the photographer’s lens, in today’s practical terms…”

"C position." Lao Yang responded.

"Yes, I was caught in the C position."

"But I started to feel embarrassed and embarrassed. I felt that I was an adult after participating in the commemorative exhibition. It was not convenient for the teacher to drag me around like this, so I looked like a bitter melon with a frown on my face. Oh, I really wish I could Go back to that time and say sorry to your husband in person."

The study became quiet, with only Cao Xuan's sighing voice echoing in it.

How many people have experienced blessings when they were young and did not know how blessed they were.

When I became a parent one day, I thought about the kindness of my elders and wanted to turn around and apologize to them for my past temper, only to realize that I had already lost the chance.

The greatest unavailability in the world is the separation between life and death.

No time to say love.

There was no time to say sorry.

Mr. Cao sat back at the table and looked at the old photo slowly, with water shining in his eyes.

Lao Yang didn't want to tease Clever anymore and interrupt Lao Cao's thoughts.

a long time.

Lao Yang finally almost mastered the length of the needle.

Then he asked aloud: "Mr. Cao, do you really want to play such a precious old record? Otherwise, I will play the version on Apple Music for you, which one can be heard most clearly."

The vinyl record circle and the HiFi audio circle are both known as modern cities, the two major gathering centers for metaphysics enthusiasts.

Many music lovers spend a lot of money to research various crystal-plated wires. They also say that the electricity generated by thermal power plants is hot and dry when playing music, while the electricity generated by hydropower plants is famous for its smoothness.

The vinyl scene is in a similar situation.

People often claim on forums that the older the vinyl record, the more flavorful and authentic the sound.

In fact, it is true that the older the records, the more expensive they are. That is because old records have antique properties.Sounding better is physically impossible.

Not only the glue filling process and sound frequency collection range of the last century are definitely not as strong as the collection capabilities of modern recording studios.

Secondly, vinyl relies on the stylus to physically rub the sound in the lines on the film. Every time it is played, it causes wear and tear on both the stylus and the record.

For every second of playing this old record, which is about to reach the top of Lao Yang's music, more than ten dollars are thrown away.

Money doesn't matter.

No matter how expensive it is, Mr. Cao will definitely not feel bad about it, but it is possible for such a brittle old antique to suddenly break into pieces if left alone.

Lao Yang is really reluctant to let go.

"Let go, since you have to listen once and then once, then it is now." Mr. Cao nodded.

The needle fell, and the piano player's Jinghu, Yueqin, and three-stringed instruments sounded in sequence.

The sense of the times is in the sound waves.

Come on.

"Encourage the king to drink wine and listen to Yu songs, to relieve the king's sorrow and dance, to defeat Qin Wudao and destroy the country, and the heroes fight on all sides..."

Cao Xuan leaned back in his chair and hummed softly to the music from the gramophone.

Lao Yang took advantage of his employer.

He pricked up his ears and listened carefully to the old records from 1935, hoping to gain insights and see if such precious music could be sung beautifully.

This is much more expensive than the Vienna Golden Hall.

Tickets for ordinary symphony orchestras and ordinary locations in the Golden Hall are only 10 euros, which is very cheap.

Playing this record for one minute costs thousands of dollars.

It’s really expensive!
There is a rustling noise in the background of the record, as well as the unavoidable popping sound like fried soybeans when the stylus passes over those small irregular lines that have become crispy and irregular.

Lao Yang listened twice.

There was no surprise, and I even felt a little disappointed. I felt that I couldn't understand it because it was so hoarse and mocking.

That's it?

Lao Yang curled his lips, looking uncultured.

Yang Xiaolou was born as a martial arts student, the founder of the Yang School of Peking Opera, and a true master of famous actors.

However, the singing styles in the old recordings of Yang Xiaolou, Tan Xinpei, and Wang Guifen are slightly different from the singing styles in modern opera houses after a hundred years of development.

Modern Peking Opera is relatively smooth.

It sounds like the river is flowing eastwards, heartily.

The long-form dramas of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China were full of famous dramas, with one note changing three times, one sound changing three times, and hundreds of turns.

The so-called "babble" in Peking Opera originated from this description.

The threshold for appreciating old-fashioned singing is relatively higher.

For example, Benjamin once complained that listening to Oriental Peking Opera was like listening to monkeys barking, and he couldn't understand it at all.

There are also some ministers and diplomats stationed in Beijing who, after listening to it for a few times, became completely obsessed with it, couldn't live without it, and became senior enthusiasts.

As the saying goes, "No gentleman, no artist." Listeners who know the industry and know how to listen will enjoy it very much, but those who have never been exposed need to practice their ears and become familiar with it.

Lao Yang couldn't understand.

Mr. Cao listened.

He closed his eyes slightly, leaned on the chair, and kept in tune with the rhythm of the singing with his palms.

As the sound of history comes from the gramophone.

Mr. Cao's thoughts also slowly traveled upstream in the long river of time, returning to that turbulent era.

Many memories that the old man thought had been blurred gradually became clear again in the fierce voice of Yue Qin Bangzi.

His husband loved acting and was obsessed with it. The memory of Cao Xuan being disciplined by his master as a child was accompanied by the background sounds on the stage.

Probably because of reverse psychology.

He has not been very fond of opera since he was a child.

The teacher always said: "Xiao Xuan, you are such a good kid, but you don't know how to listen to opera. Opera and painting are connected. Famous actors sing opera, and masters paint. What they sing and paint are all souls. When will Once you learn how to listen to operas and draw pictures, you can become enchanted."

Just like the endless essay, Cao Xuan always felt that a play is a play and a painting is a painting.

This kind of saying that drama is like calligraphy and painting and drama is like life is all nonsense.

In "Wujia Slope", Xue Rengui looks like a hooligan when teasing his wife who is testing his hair. In the aria of "The Legend of White Snake", Xu Xian looks like an out-and-out scumbag. As for "Shuang Tou Tang" and "Tian Lei Bao", it is even worse. They are foolish, loyal, foolish and filial men.

What nutrition is there from listening to these things?
And it was that era.

The literati are noble, but the opera singers are low-class.

There are also some opinions in newspapers and periodicals that the current situation is corrupt, because the dignitaries spend a lot of time watching operas and listening to music, neglecting national affairs, and actors are ruining the country.

There are even good people who label listening to opera, drinking tea, and playing mahjong as the three evils, and some add smoking as the four evils.

How can you govern the country well if you spend your time every day watching plays in theaters, drinking tea in teahouses, and playing mahjong with your wife?
No one can transcend the background of the times.

Many of the arguments seem quite ridiculous now, just like a failed king blaming beauty for disaster. However, as a child, Cao Xuan had views on opera singing from the bottom of his heart.

That tea party of the Southern Painting School was the first time he had the patience to enter a theater.

That was also the last time in his life that he and his teacher sat together and watched a play.

If Cao Xuan had known this at that time, he would have longed for time to pass slower and to make that day pass longer.

In my memory, the teacher kept holding his hand and said many words to Cao Xuan.

Now want to come,

Some of the key principles in life, the teacher actually told him that day, but he was too young and didn't understand.

He still remembered that at the beginning of the performance, several young martial arts students took part in the show and performed eighteen somersaults from both sides of the stage. The performance was dazzling, without blushing or panting, and they were extremely neat.

Cao Xuan subconsciously shouted "Okay".

As a result, many people looked at him with half-smiling eyes, and the teacher even hit him on the back of the neck with a fan.

When Mr. Yang Xiaolou and Mr. Mei Lanfangmei appeared on the stage, they had just strolled around the stage briefly, but the whole audience burst into applause, and the cheers almost toppled the roof of Chen Kee's stage. passed.

Some people even threw silver dollars as rewards.

The old man asked him with a smile, do you know what the meaning of this is?

Cao Xuan is a little stubborn.

He said in a petty tone that it was not because the lead actor was a famous actor but the somersaulter was not. To put it bluntly, it was different from ordinary people who "dislike the poor and love the rich".

They haven't even acted in the drama yet, so they can tell whether they are good or bad based on their reputation.

Just like everyone, the reason why you rank your own name after others is because your name, teacher, is powerful enough, but it cannot compare with the prestige of other people's ancestors who were high officials.

One reason.

(End of this chapter)