People’s Artist and People’s Teacher Thai Thi Lien is one of the first female pianists in Vietnam, one of the seven founding members of the Vietnam National Academy of Music. She used to hold the position of the first Dean of the Academy’s Piano Department, participating in the compilation of the first piano curriculum. Therefore, many Vietnamese artists and piano teachers today are her students.
Living fully for more than a century, her life is like a thriller with many glory and bitterness, with ups and downs according to the nation’s destiny.
A time of vibrant revolutionary activity
Ms. Thai Thi Lien learned piano from the age of four. At the age of 16, she had her first concert at Saigon City Hall. She joined the revolution in 1946, was assigned the task of communicating and transferring documents following her brother – lawyer Thai Van Lung died.
Some time later, she went to France, passed the entrance exam to the Paris Conservatory of Music, and continued her revolutionary activities in the Vietnamese national communist group. She participated in many activities with groups of French and international artists fighting for democracy such as Yves Montand, Pablo Picasso, Jorge Amado… She also represented Vietnam to attend and speak at the World Conference of Women in Africa. .
During this time, she met and married Mr. Tran Ngoc Danh, a Vietnamese diplomat in France. In 1948, Ms. Thai Thi Lien followed her husband to live in Prague (former Czechoslovakia) and became the first Vietnamese to have a university degree at the prestigious Prague Conservatory.
[‘Cây đại thụ’ piano Thái Thị Liên: Phím dương cầm đã thôi ngân]
In 1952, from Czechoslovakia, she followed her husband to Viet Bac, but soon following, her husband contracted tuberculosis and died. At that time, her eldest daughter (People’s Artist Tran Thu Ha) was only three years old, and she was pregnant with her second son (architect Tran Thanh Binh). She joined the Central People’s Dance Troupe and then met poet Dang Dinh Hung – then a political member of the troupe. The two married. In 1958, she gave birth to People’s Artist Dang Thai Son.
People’s Artist Thai Thi Lien and her son, People’s Artist Dang Thai Son. (Photo: GDCC)During her time in Viet Bac, she transcribed and recorded many piano songs, many of which were inspired by folk music, such as the Drum Rice melody. Leaving the war zone, she embarked on a career as a teacher, laying the foundation for domestic piano art.
In 1956, she was one of the seven founding members of the Vietnam School of Music, now the Vietnam National Academy of Music, in charge of piano for 20 years.
For her dedication in the teaching profession, she was later conferred the noble title of People’s Teacher and awarded the Third Class Labor Medal (1982) and First Class (1998).
The teacher of many talented artists
People’s Artist Dang Thai Son once shared that his mother (People’s Artist Thai Thi Lien) was the most influential person in his musical career. The first music he heard was by women.
In 1970, Ms. Thai Thi Lien attended the Chopin International Piano Competition in Poland. When she returned, she brought a full set of Chopin books and records. Chopin songs from his mother’s piano instilled in Dang Thai Son his love of music and love for Chopin, and then in 1980, Dang Thai Son won the First Prize of the Chopin International Piano Competition, becoming a phenomenon for him. world classical music world because for the first time a Vietnamese was honored at this prestigious and longstanding contest.
People’s Artist Dang Thai Son affirmed that People’s Artist Thai Thi Lien was his first piano teacher. When he started performing, his mother also gave him a lot of experience, giving advice on style, walking, or how to handle time between songs. Above all, her mother instilled in him the energy needed in life as well as the path of making art.
Her eldest son Thai Thi Lien, People’s Artist Tran Thu Ha also followed in her mother’s footsteps, not only as a pianist but also as a People’s Teacher. She has 10 years as the Director of the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
Pianist Dang Hong Quang, step-son of poet Dang Dinh Hung, was also taught, taught by Ms. Lien, and became Dean of the Piano Department at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music.
“Through a life full of glory and bitterness, she has always devoted herself to her art, her family and generations of students,” said People’s Artist-Teacher Tran Thu Ha.
Artist Dang Huu Phuc has a piano duet with artist Dang Thai Son. (Photo: Nguyen Dinh Toan)Musician Dang Huu Phuc, a student of People’s Artist Thai Thi Lien, shared this opinion.
Sharing with a reporter from VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper, musician Dang Huu Phuc said that he studied in high school with architect Tran Thanh Binh, studied piano with People’s Artist. Dang Thai Son and from 1973, he became a student of Ms. Thai Thi Lien at the Vietnam School of Music (now ). National music academy Vietnam).
Musician Dang Huu Phuc said that Ms. Thai Thi Lien was the one who had the merit of establishing the Vietnam Music School. She was the first piano dean of the school and contributed to making piano teaching very professional from the very beginning through the textbooks she brought back from abroad.
“Through lessons on 24 scales (scales) in music, songs by Johann Sebastian Bach, she has built very basic and professional ‘beginner’ knowledge for Vietnamese piano training. , close to world classical music,” musician Dang Huu Phuc To share.
Memorabilia regarding teacher Thai Thi Lien that musician Dang Huu Phuc cherishes. (Photo: NVCC)In his eyes, People’s Artist Thai Thi Lien was such a strict teacher that many students were afraid of her every time she returned a lesson.
“Playing the piano is a process of hard work with many thorns and tears. Many students cried when they might not express what the teacher asked. She did not let go of any small mistakes. The seriousness, rigor and enthusiasm in our work have also inspired us a lot in our future teaching process,” said Mr. Phuc.
Strict in her profession and teaching, but artist Thai Thi Lien is also a very emotional person in daily life.
Composer Dang Huu Phuc still treasures the handwritten note of Mrs. Thai Thi Lien, saying that she asked Ms. Kim Dung to lend me the book I Sonates Beethoven for Mr. Phuc to practice and return the lesson. When Ms. Lien returned from attending the Chopin Competition in Poland, she also brought Mr. Phuc a butterfly song by Rachmaninoff.
Thai Thi Lien’s reputation is not only famous at home but also abroad. Pianist Snezana Panovska (Macedonia) met her several times and had the opportunity to hear her play a famous song. “Mazurka” by Chopin in concert “One Hundred Golden Autumn” celebrate her 100th birthday.
“We will always remember and appreciate her great contribution in building the Vietnam Academy of Music in general and the Piano Faculty in particular. This is the place to train hundreds of pianists in the most difficult time of Vietnam. With her hard work, will, vision and courage, she will always be an inspiration to us,” shared the artist.
The sound of Mrs. Thai Thi Lien’s piano no longer plays, but her contributions to Vietnamese music will never be forgotten. The students she teaches will continue their career of training and performing so that Vietnamese classical music continues to make its mark in the world.
Minh Thu (Vietnam+)