“昆曲妈妈”张娴故事

来源:用户上传      作者: 阿　潘　吴婷婷

　　
　　被昆曲界尊称为“昆曲妈妈”的张娴，平平安安辞别了鸡的旧岁，又稳稳当当步入了旺旺报春的狗年。这位92高寿的昆曲界名人，是昆曲让她延了年，她又为昆曲这棵600年老树益寿。老人一身是病，从青年到中年吃药打针从未停过，但不知何故近年来老人越活越年轻，尤其是五年前昆曲被联合国列入世界文化遗产后，老人变得越发鲜活了，平时小辈们和她相遇，总喜欢问长问短，问得最多的一句是：“张老师，有啥秘诀可以长寿?”每每听后，她总是笑眯眯地说：“昆曲让我长寿……”
　　在昆曲界，不详知张娴的都认为她是昆曲科班出身，其实她是从苏滩步入昆曲界的。张娴6岁随父到上海，15岁登台唱苏滩，18岁才接触昆曲，她一本正经学习昆曲，那还是在上海大世界游乐场里的事了。
　　那时苏滩在上海已稍有名气，剧团常年可在上海大世界游乐场演出。班里朱国梁是张娴父亲张柏生的的学生，为人古道热肠，交友四海。一次昆曲“传字辈”中的王传淞到游乐场来玩，一来二往两人谈得投机成为知交。朱国梁本来就对昆曲艺术顶礼膜拜，当他得知王传淞会戏甚多，生、旦、净、末、丑行行精通，便想学几出昆曲折子戏来提高戏班子的名气。一日，两人谈得兴浓，决定将昆曲《西厢记・佳期》作为开蒙之戏，朱国梁、张娴等三个学生学得特别认真，教了不到半月戏就学下来了。但因昆曲的唱、做特别讲究，登台献艺绝非易事，张娴对苏滩中的“佳期”和昆曲中的“佳期”在表演上进行比较，觉得昆曲的表演难度更大，所以不敢贸然登台。为此，王传淞又教了她许多昆曲的片断，连昆曲老旦的戏也教了她许多出。
　　张娴18岁时的那个昆曲梦，在相隔十年之后终于等来一个圆梦机会：1954年由朱国梁为班主的国风剧团声誉鹊起，那时王传淞已加入这个班子，此外一起搭班的还有周传瑛、沈传锟等一帮“传字辈”师兄弟们。他们听说张娴学过昆曲的“佳期”但至今还未登台上演过，就决定由周传瑛、沈传锟帮助复排加工，在“传字辈”师弟兄精心帮助下，张娴学的昆曲《佳期》终于在杭州三元坊解放剧场正式登台上演，从此张娴真正步入了昆界，圆了她的“昆曲梦”。
　　张娴精湛细腻的表演，得益于“传字辈”师兄弟们的精心帮教，她那字正腔圆、婉转悦耳的唱工，则依仗江南笛王许鸿宾老先生的指点。
　　许鸿宾世居嘉兴，幼年从其父许少岩习曲。许老先生谙晓音律，分寸合度，独守海盐旧腔余生，人称“炳炳曲师”。他能单手压笛，左右开弓，与名扬海上的许伯猷、俞振飞、李永圻合称“江南四笛”。
　　1956年国风剧团赴嘉兴工人文化宫演出，这次组合可谓群英荟萃，除了“传字辈”艺人外，他们还特邀上海的昆界名流助阵，并特请许鸿宾加盟担当首笛同台演出。因而当大红海报一经张贴，便轰动了禾城的曲友和知音。那晚演出的剧目虽未经排练，但因为许老先生坐台伴奏，显得珠联璧合，天衣无缝，让观众赞叹不已。
　　许鸿宾系嘉兴曲界名流。为施地主之礼，他在演出之余邀请全团艺人去他寓所雅聚。那日老人高兴至极，席间为来宾唱了数段昆曲，有板有眼，余音缭绕，使众艺人一齐陶醉在美妙的昆曲中。
　　不惑之年的张娴见许老先生和颜慈目，十分随和且又精通音律，便一心想拜他为师，她推着周传瑛说：“你请许老先生帮帮忙，收下我这个学生。”周传瑛上前向许老先生表明了张娴的心愿。许老先生听罢，看了张娴一眼，顺手拿过笛子吹奏起来要张娴试唱一段，并要求张娴往高音发声。少许，张娴随曲起腔，尽兴唱来。雅曲一罢，许老先生十分满意，频频点头赞扬说：“嗓子不错”，当即同意收张娴为徒。
　　当时许老先生与九旬老娘等三代同住一起，许家对张娴十分喜欢，一定要张娴与他们吃住在一起。张娴过意不去，一定要交伙食费，许老先生推手说：“吃饭不过添双筷，粗茶淡饭，不要客气。”就这样，张娴在许老先生家一呆就是一个多月。
　　开课第一天，许老先生挑选了《孽海记・思凡》一折，这是张娴入室求教的第一折开口曲。许老先生教学甚严，一板一眼从不马虎。张娴记得那日光景：老先生在曲台上放了一包火柴，数十根为一簇，学一遍曲移一根火柴，十根一满方可上笛引唱。三日一曲，五日一戏，当时张娴年轻，悟性又好，不到三两天就学完一折戏，可谓与日俱进。
　　1958年10月浙江戏曲艺术学校成立，周传瑛又邀请许老先生出山，为解放后浙江第一个昆曲班执教。那年许老先生已74岁高龄，但还是那么执著，那么痴迷昆曲。
　　近日，相遇张娴，问及许家拍曲之事，张娴无不感慨地说起往事。她说：“做一世人，我觉得在许家的一个多月生活过得最为舒心，像一家人一样，十分亲热!人在江湖漂泊那么多年，没有感受过如此温馨的家庭气氛。今年我已90多岁了，至今还念念不忘在许家的一个多月。”
　　正当本文刚刚杀青、尚未付印之前，老人于2月14日中午12点20分在寓所安详逝世。其实老人早预知不久人世，曾对我说：“小潘啊！这本书写好，我要做的事也就做完了。”我说：“你无病无痛，有得活活来！”她一笑说：“人活着要开心，要健康，太长也不好。”据老人的小儿子世璋说：“娘是无疾而终，前些日子老人已在准备后事，把相册理好，把衣服叠好，把自己梳洗得干干净净，说她要做的事已经做完了，要走了，还说我没什么病，用不着住院，我是喜丧，骨灰撒在大海里。”
　　
　　Story ofa Kunqu Opera Singer
　　The 92-year-old Zhang Xian is known as Mom Kunqu within the circle of the 600-year-old world's intangible heritage proclaimed by UNESCO in 2001. She suffered from poor health in her younger years. For a long while from her youth to middle age, she never stopped taking medicine. But mysteriously she now enjoys robust golden years in her 90s. Whenever asked about her secret of health, she always replies smilingly: “Kunqu is my secret of longevity”
　　Many believe Zhang received professional Kunqu training from the very start of her career. They were wrong. At age 6, Zhang went to Shanghai with her father, a performing artist of Suzhou Tanhuang, a singing art indigenous to Suzhou, a city close to Shanghai. After years of training in the family tradition, her debut as a Suzhou Tanhuang artist began at age 16. She learned Kunqu Opera at age 18. But the first formal professional training in Kunqu she received was in the years when she was at Great World, a popular recreation center in downtown Shanghai.

　　
　　During these years she enjoyed a modest popularity as a Suzhou Tanhuang singer. And her troupe staged performances regularly all the year round at Great World. One day, Wang Chuansong, a Kunqu Opera artist, came to visit the recreation center. He met Zhu Guoliang, head artist of the troupe. The two men hit off immediately. One day when the two chatted about Kunqu Opera, and Zhu wanted the best singers of the troupe to learn some Kunqu from Wang. Wang agreed most gladly. Zhang Xian was chosen. She finished learning a highlight of The West Chamber in less than half a month. However, compared with the same highlight of Suzhou Tanhuang, the Kunqu aria required more sophisticated performance and more rigorous training. Zhang dared not to stage an immediate performance, so she continued to learn from Wang Chuansong.
　　She waited for several decades before her dream of Kunqu Opera came true. In 1954, Zhu Guoliang was the head of Guofeng Troupe which enjoyed booming popularity among Kunqu fans. Many Kunqu artists including Wang Chuansong and his fellows joined the troupe. When it was mentioned that Zhang had learned a highlight named Wedding Day, Wang Chuansong and his fellows agreed to help Zhang to polish her performance. After a period of intensive learning, Zhang debuted as a Kunqu Opera performer in the Liberation Opera House in Hangzhou. Her Kunqu Opera career took off.
　　In 1956 when Guofeng Troupe staged a Kunqu gala in Jiaxing, a central city in northern Zhejiang Province, Zhang Xian had another opportunity to improve her Kunqu skills. Xu Hongbing, a prominent Kunqu Opera flute player, was invited to play for the performances. During the troupe's stay in Jiaxing, Xu invited all the artists to his home for dinner. In the tradition of Kunqu Opera, a flute player is usually a lead musician of the Kunqu Opera band for his lead role in the accompaniment and his profound knowledge of arias and singing skills.
　　During the dinner, Zhang urged a colleague to ask the flute master if he would accept her as a pupil. The master fetched the flute and tried a few notes and then asked Zhang to sing an aria. Xu was satisfied and nodded smilingly that her voice was superb. Then and there he agreed to instruct Zhang.
　　For over a month, Zhang lived as a student at Xu's house where a family of three generations lived under the same roof. In the training, the master would use a lot of match sticks on the table to record the number of her drills. For a new aria, she must practice ten times before the master played the flute accompaniment. Zhang was fast at learning. Sometimes it took just two or three days for her to master a highlight.
　　In October 1958 when the Zhejiang Theater Academy was founded, Xu was engaged as a teacher at the academy. He was 74 years old that year.
　　Just the other day, Zhang Xian reminisced about her days at Xu's house. She said, “Of all my life, the best time I have had was that month at Xu's house. We were like a family. Never have I experienced so welcoming a family atmosphere over all the years. Now in my 90s, I still miss the days at the master's house.”
　　 (Translated by David)

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