On this occasion, Lao Dong Newspaper reporter had a conversation with Meritorious Artist Viet Hoan . He has been attached to revolutionary music and red music throughout his career.
Surely these days, Meritorious Artist Viet Hoan receives many invitations to perform at National Day celebrations. What songs do you usually like to sing on this occasion?
- As an artist standing on stage, I love all the songs assigned to me, especially the revolutionary songs . I can't choose my favorite song, but my voice tends towards lyrical music, for example "Dat Nuoc" or "Tam Ao Me Va Nam Xua". Songs with folk melodies suit me and make me more emotional.
During your career, you must have sung heroic revolutionary songs many times such as: "Melody of the Fatherland", "The Fatherland Calls My Name", "Color of Red Flowers"... Have your feelings when singing revolutionary songs changed over time?
- Every time he performs on stage, the singer's emotions always have new ones, the depth comes out from the lyrics and the notes that the artist creates. The musician has devoted sacred emotions when turning to the Fatherland, directing gratitude to the generation of fallen heroes, to the mothers and wives who have gone through the war... I am just the one who performs the song.
Every time I sing, I try to sing better. Over time, with practice, through some shaky performances, and through reading more about history... I find myself singing better and feeling the work better.
Can you share some memories about your favorite song in your career?
- I remember singing abroad once. When I performed the song "The shirt my mother patched in the past", everyone supported me and applauded enthusiastically. There was a Vietnamese man living abroad who came up and hugged me tightly and gave me flowers. He burst into tears and said that although he had not visited his homeland for a long time, through that song he felt like his homeland was present, and he missed his mother very much. That is one of the songs that I have performed on many stages, and every time the audience was moved.
When you sing about history, about the Revolution, about love for your homeland, how do you feel the audience receives it?
- In 1985, I went with a group to the northern border, to visit a historical site, and saw bullet holes still stuck on the wall. There, among the broken pieces of the wall, a small branch of sim flowers grew. I remembered the song "Border sim flowers" by musician Minh Quang, which was also the song I performed for the border guards. That time, I sang a song that I felt, directly saw the image of sim flowers blooming on the bullet holes left behind, I sang with a lot of genuine emotions.
At that time, there were not many means of entertainment or electronic devices like today. It was a long time since the soldiers had an art night, so when they saw a singer singing, they always clapped their hands, clapped their hands forever for the singer to continue singing. There were songs that I sang the same part 3-4 times, I just walked in, the audience clapped my hands, I went out and sang again.
There are many genres of music in the music market, in which Revolutionary music as well as traditional music are facing great competition when world music trends strongly impact the tastes of young Vietnamese audiences. How do you evaluate the vitality of Revolutionary music in the face of competition from Rap, Ballad... genres that are currently loved by young people?
- I think art is a hundred flowers blooming. Pop music, contemporary music can be entertaining, while classical music, chamber music or red music, revolutionary music is to serve the country, the Fatherland, and above all, to serve the Vietnamese people. That is the music that Viet Hoan, Trong Tan, Anh Tho, Dang Duong and many other singers pursue. I think there is no competition here, because depending on age, people listen to different music genres. When we are 10 years old, we like to listen to children's music, when we are 20-30 years old, we like to listen to pop music, and many audiences over 40 years old like to listen to revolutionary music.
Many audiences say that from the age of 35 onwards, they like to listen to songs praising their homeland and country. Red music, revolutionary music, will not be overwhelmed by any other genre of music. The Vietnamese soul permeates the hearts of every citizen, so this genre of music will never disappear.
There was a time when people were worried that music, with the integration of many new, catchy, modern genres such as R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop, could overwhelm traditional music and revolutionary music. Have you ever worried about this?
- I have a belief that wherever there are Vietnamese people, there will be singers singing Vietnamese music. I myself am an open-minded person in music when trying different genres of music, from pop music, reformed opera, red music, Bolero. I also admire many young singers such as: Son Tung M-TP, Soobin Hoang Son, Hoa Minzy, Tien Tien, Den Vau... I think they are very talented, and they represent the young generation. In my opinion, red music, revolutionary music and music of the youth will always go together, cannot overwhelm each other.
Vietnamese people love music, they listen to both pop music, Bolero, and revolutionary music. And if you are a true artist, a talented person, a person with a beautiful soul, you will definitely have an audience following you.
I listen to a lot of music, including young singers like Hoang Yen Chibi, Hoang Thuy Linh, Rap - I listen to Den Vau's music. I also love it because every time the song "Let Mi tell you" is played, all four of my father and I dance and turn up the volume. I live in the suburbs, sometimes I get to play loud music, so I like listening to young music.
Artists who pursue revolutionary music, music with the sound of the homeland like you, Anh Tho, Trong Tan... are under pressure to innovate, to have new arrangements that are more up to date with tastes and the market?
- This is a question I really like. Innovation is the main task of the artist. Nowadays, we cannot perform the version of "Hello, Lam Hong girl" from the 1960s and 1970s. The song "Hello, Lam Hong girl" carries the spirit of those years, but now it must be expressed with the passion and youthfulness of today's people.
In particular, we cannot let the audience listen to the same old arrangement or remix over and over again. The musician who arranges the music for me must make the arrangement better than previous years, and my job is to exploit the song more deeply, changing the lyrics so that the audience can see that it is an old song but with a new style.
The creativity of the artists makes the songs not boring. There are many revolutionary songs such as: “Song of Hope”, “Song of People’s Teacher”, each singer sings in a different style. I find that the later the singers sing, the better they sing.
Some people say that young singers singing red music and revolutionary music do not have the same heroism and emotion as the older generation of singers. What is your opinion?
- I was lucky to study at the conservatory and learn from excellent teachers such as Ms. Le Dung, Mr. Gia Khanh, Mr. Quang Tho... The teachers witnessed the war of the country, they understood the Vietnamese people in the difficult days. Then, the teachers passed it on to me. Personally, I am also the last generation to experience the subsidized life, seeing the country in the difficult years, I understand and appreciate the lyrics in the songs I sing.
The young generation of singers, they sing very well, have very good voices, they just lack the experience and life experience of their predecessors. After a while, the young singers will read more books, learn more about history, surely they will sing better. Not to mention that in addition to having better voices, their appearance is more attractive, more beautiful than my generation.
Artists' emotions greatly influence the way they sing. What is the greatest emotion of Meritorious Artist Viet Hoan when singing Revolutionary music?
- It's wonderful, I feel extremely proud. The years of history appear in each verse, I sing it very deeply. (I want to convey those emotions, convey love for the homeland, national pride in each verse, each word when I sing.
