People's Artist Thanh Hai - The silent man behind the music

The Cai Luong stage and its fans have just bid farewell to a master artist and musician, People's Artist Thanh Hai. His whole life was devoted to the Cai Luong stage, silently playing the instrument, People's Artist Thanh Hai gave wings to countless roles and plays and, above all, sublimated the "artistic sanctuary" of Cai Luong.

People's Artist Thanh Hai and People's Artist Bach Tuyet in the exchange program at Tay Do University.

Do you remember nearly 9 years ago, the Bac Lieu Student Association at Tay Do University organized an exchange program "The origin of the formation of Southern Cai Luong stage". Although the program was small in scale, the two guests, People's Artist Bach Tuyet and People's Artist Thanh Hai, happily accepted to participate and shared their feelings. Because the artists appreciated the hearts of the young generation for Cai Luong. In that program, many young people were impressed with the musician who seemed to be worldly and thorny but was graceful and graceful on each key, playing for the artists to sing, demonstrating for students to watch and telling everyone about his love for Cai Luong. That was People's Artist Thanh Hai.

One of his words shared nearly 9 years ago, we still remember: "Cai luong has been deeply rooted in everyone's heart like a fate that is difficult to break. Like me, my parents and I all follow the traditional music career. At 60 years old, I have not done any other job besides singing". 9 years later, when he is about to enter his 70s, People's Artist Thanh Hai still keeps his career of singing, until his last breath.

Talking about today's reformed opera music , People's Artist Thanh Hai is naturally mentioned among the first names, with the title of master. People's Artist Thanh Hai was born into a family with a tradition of reformed opera in his hometown of Hai Phong, his father was a zither player, his mother was artist Bich Dan, pioneer artists of the Phuong Dong Reformed Opera Troupe (Hai Phong). From a young age, he was introduced to the melodies of ancient Southern music, practiced using musical instruments, especially the zither. At only 16 years old, the young Thanh Hai was already a famous reformed opera player on the Northern stage. He had the opportunity to study with the zither player Ut Du, then was mentored by the talented artist duo Thanh Hung - Ngoc Hoa, and his skills gradually improved remarkably.

After 1975, People's Artist Thanh Hai left his hometown for the South, making a career out of his expertise in classical music, learning from talented masters such as Van Vi, Van Gioi, Nam Co, Hai Thom, Bay Ba... After that, he joined troupes such as the Ho Chi Minh City Performing Arts Troupe, Troupe 284, Tran Huu Trang Theater... In the 1980s, he and musician Van Gioi were in charge of the reformed opera programs of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Radio Station, performing many classical music pieces in a new style. Among them, the adaptation of the song Vong Kim Lang was a great achievement, creating a "special phenomenon".

People's Artist Thanh Hai is capable of using many musical instruments, from violin, organ, guitar to zither, zither, monochord, leaf trumpet... He is also a "silent person" who contributes to shaping the musical style of many famous cai luong plays such as "Doi Co Luu", "To Anh Nguyet", "Nguoi ven do", "La durian", "Mau dyed san chua"... Not long ago, he also left his mark at the program "Cai Luong Academy". Young artist from Can Tho, Quach Phu Thanh, Champion of "Cai Luong Academy" 2024, was moved when talking about People's Artist Thanh Hai: "The teacher always reminds and gives detailed comments on the lyrics and songs so that I can perform them to the fullest. In addition to art, the teacher shares with me about his journey with cai luong, helping us to appreciate, love and be more responsible for the art form of the nation".

There are many more things to tell about the talented artist and musician Thanh Hai. There are many beautiful words about him, the silent person behind the sound of the instrument, the person who gathers the beauty of Cai Luong on the musical score... People's Artist Bach Tuyet, a close friend of People's Artist Thanh Hai, compared: "You look like that, but you alone play five or seven instruments. You alone go through the world like a symphony orchestra" (excerpt from the program "Legendary Imprint", 2021).

Article and photos: DANG HUYNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/nsnd-thanh-hai-nguoi-tham-lang-sau-tieng-don-a186930.html