Technique, elegance and sound are the three key words for learning piano in China. There, nothing is left to chance, and absolutely everything will be decisive on the day of the competition, down to the force with which they hit the keys.
In Chinese Child Pianists and Their Career Dreams, Gary Lennon, Irish screenwriter, director and producer (notably of the Euphoria series on HBO), explains to us that this particular dream is one of the most inaccessible in the country, since it represents the absolute achievement in China, creating this ruthless competition in all Chinese conservatories, where 40 million children learn to play the piano.
Here, three child prodigies are highlighted, in their personal environment, sometimes gratifying, sometimes agonizing. Zidi, 9, practices the piano every day. His master, Chen Thumper, goes so far as to restrict his urge to urinate: “You are here to play the piano, not to go to the bathroom! – a call to order that seems normal to the one who is nicknamed “the little prince of the piano” in Wenzhou, having already lost his carefree attitude.
Yingying is 12 years old. To allow him to live from his passion, his parents put their lives on hold: his father Xi Weida turned to another career, better paid, but far from the family cocoon, although he has health problems. As for 19-year-old Yu’ang, his parents split up over an argument over their son’s piano training. Silent, he knows he has reached this level thanks to his mother.
“Rehearse, eat and sleep”
These children are quickly confronted with the harshness of this world, alone, in front of this piano which grows as they approach it. “I do nothing but rehearse, eat, and sleep,” Yingying sighs. His father sums up the mentality of parents in the country: “Today in China, every child is expected to excel at something from elementary school. This must be hard to hear for Westerners. We want our boys to be dragons and our girls to be phoenixes. »
The audience doesn’t talk, doesn’t encourage, and sometimes just isn’t there. The eyes of the jurors, always sharp, are riveted on the little “dragons” and “phoenixes”, holding the power to give them everything they dream of – or that their parents dream of.
The results of the contests are long overdue: “I won’t get a second chance,” Yingying explains. For the young girl and her mother, it becomes impossible to eat for several days, the wait is unbearable. When her son was admitted to an American conservatory, Yu’ang’s mother wiped away a few tears: “Our hard work, hers and mine, has paid off. My family repeatedly asked me why I was doing all this to myself, but it was worth it. Sometimes I thank myself for having made all these sacrifices. The path was difficult, his son smiled at him with his eyes.
Beijing is pursuing step by step its desire to make its youth an instrument of the country’s soft power: there is an overrepresentation of Russian and Chinese pianists in international competitions. China is also working to represent the country in other major Western areas. She programmed the creation of 10,000 nursery schools dedicated to football throughout the country. After instructing teachers to “plant in the hearts of youth the seeds of love for the Party, the country and socialism”, Xi Jinping intends to train champions in all fields.
