Zhengzhong Zhou
Songs in Sound: The Poetry of Music
German and French Art Song Recital
Guangming Culture and Art Center, Concert Hall
August 20, 2022
Overview
Baritone Zhengzhong Zhou, celebrated for his distinguished operatic career on international stages, presented an intimate evening of Lieder and mélodies under the poetic title Songs in Sound. The concert featured three monumental song cycles by Schubert, Mahler, and Duparc, weaving together a journey of emotion, reflection, and transcendence.
Zhou’s deeply expressive voice, combined with the nuanced accompaniment of pianist Ming Wen, brought to life the intricate emotional landscapes of these works. Their collaboration demonstrated an ideal balance of vocal line and pianistic color — embodying the concert’s theme: to sing poetry through sound.
Schubert’s Schwanengesang marked a culmination of the composer’s lifelong devotion to poetry. Through his profound understanding of rhythm and imagery, Schubert transformed verse into music that resonates with both simplicity and depth. The songs chosen for this recital explore solitude, longing, and the fleeting nature of human emotion — themes that echo throughout the Romantic imagination.
Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder delve into the eternal dialogue between life and death. Composed in 1901–1902 to the poems of Friedrich Rückert, these works embody Mahler’s private world — a balance between existential despair and spiritual serenity.
Henri Duparc’s Mélodies, meanwhile, stand as exquisite gems of the French art song tradition. Each song is a meticulously crafted miniature, blending rich harmony and refined poetry. Duparc’s sensitivity to text and sound creates an atmosphere of dreamlike introspection, where the piano and the voice intertwine as equal narrators of emotion.
Artists
Zhengzhong Zhou — Baritone
Internationally acclaimed baritone Zhengzhong Zhou has established himself as one of the leading Chinese opera singers of his generation. He is the First Prize winner of the Marmande International Vocal Competition (Opera Division) and Second Prize winner in the Mélodie Française category, as well as a laureate of the Toulouse International Singing Competition. Zhou was also a scholarship recipient of the CNIPAL (Centre National d’Insertion Professionnelle d’Artistes Lyriques) in Marseille, France.
In 2010, he joined the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as a member of the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, one of the world’s most competitive platforms for emerging vocal talents. In 2012, Zhou became a soloist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he performed leading baritone roles in the European operatic repertoire.
He has appeared under the baton of such distinguished conductors as Sir Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Andris Nelsons, Sir Mark Elder, Seiji Ozawa, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Oren, Yu Long, and Lü Jia, collaborating with ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and China National Symphony Orchestra.
His operatic repertoire encompasses over forty roles, including Don Giovanni, Figaro, Rigoletto, Tosca, Werther, Faust, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Carmen. Zhou’s recordings include Massenet’s Werther(Deutsche Grammophon), Manon’s Portrait (Opera Rara), and several DVDs from the Royal Opera House(Anna Nicole, Rigoletto, Tosca, Madama Butterfly).
Beyond performance, Zhou is committed to music education. He currently serves as Professor of Voice at Wuhan Conservatory of Music, giving masterclasses nationwide and nurturing the next generation of singers.
Ming Wen — Piano
Pianist Ming Wen is an accomplished collaborative artist and educator based in China. After graduating from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, she pursued advanced studies in Europe, earning dual Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Cannes National Conservatory in France, where she also studied vocal accompaniment, harpsichord, and historical performance practice.
Renowned for her refined sensitivity and musical insight, Wen has performed extensively across Asia and Europe, collaborating with distinguished vocalists at major venues such as Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall, Tokyo Yamaha Hall, Busan Cultural Centre, Xi’an Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, and Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall.
Since returning to China in 2015, she has been on faculty at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, where she teaches piano performance and serves as a principal vocal coach. Her classes, including Opera Workshopand Collaborative Piano Artistry, are widely praised for their creativity and practical focus.