It is a long way from singing traditional Chinese folk songs to winning five international bel canto vocal contests in two years.

But soprano Wu Bixia has achieved the feat.

In contrast to Chinese folk songs that require singers to produce controlled but often high-pitched and capricious tones, bel canto is a lyrical style of operatic singing that uses a rich broad tone and smooth phrasing. It is almost impossible to perform well in both styles.

However, the soprano has amazed at home and abroad with her versatility, bringing the house down at one competition after another.

Now, the time has come for Wu to combine both styles at home, to treat audiences with her impressive folk songs and Western opera arias.

Her Asian tour will start from Beijing with two recitals at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities, one featuring arias tomorrow and the other folk songs on next Tuesday.

She will then head to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Shenyang, Ningbo, Hong Kong and Taiwan. After that, she will give recitals in Singapore and Malaysia.

Wu has chosen a demanding programme for the aria concert, which includes Gliere's Concerto for Coloratura Soprano, the aria Les oiseaux dans la charmille from Jacques Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann, Ravel's Vocalise and Rossini's La Danza.

Most of the pieces are a great challenge for the coloratura soprano.

"The Gliere piece is among the most difficult for a soprano, especially the entrances on high notes. Wu can sustain her lines incredibly beautifully, leaping large intervals effortlessly," said Shi Weizheng, a critic with the journal Music Week.

Jin Tielin, her mentor and a professor at the China Conservatory of Music, said: "Wu's voice is neither overpowering nor throaty. It glides and blends with the orchestra wonderfully, every phrase having a beautiful arch. She also has great command over articulation."

The Chinese concert will feature a diverse programme from ancient works to contemporary pieces. Some are rearranged from pop music and others will be sung in bel canto style.

The accompaniment will also fascinate traditional music lovers with solo piano, solo traditional instruments such as the erhu(two stringed fiddle) and dizi(bamboo flute), and a chamber orchestra.

The last three songs will be accompanied by 80 musicians, who all play a variety of traditional Chinese plucked instruments such as the pipa(balloon guitar) and guzheng(zither).

Sweet start

Born into a family of local opera actors in Central China's Hunan Province, Wu inherited a naturally sweet voice from her mother and learned how to perform from her father.

At the age of 13, Wu signed up for the 1990 National Young Singers' TV contest. Although her age disqualified her from becoming a contestant, Jin Tielin, then president of the China Conservatory of Music and a member of the jury, heard the recording she had made for the application.

Upon Jin's advice, Wu took the entrance exams for the high school affiliated to the institute the following year and, three years later, she was recommended for admission to the conservatory.

Wu's rich voice first won her the silver prize in a national folk song contest in 1993 and the top award in the folk song category of a national vocal contest in 1996.

Majoring in Chinese folk singing at the college, Wu also tried various forms of performing arts such as bel canto and local opera.

Gradually and unconsciously, Wu developed an interest in bel canto, which was inspired by a vocal professor from Maryland University in the United States.

In her junior year, she attended the vocalist master's class, which was being offered at the conservatory, and during the last class, she finally mustered up the courage to ask the professor to listen to her sing Ah fors' e lui -- an aria sung by Violetta in La Traviata.

The professor was so impressed by her voice that he encouraged her to go to Maryland to study.

Wu did not go but decided to learn bel canto in her graduate years with Professor Guo Shuzhen, who had received her own vocal training in Moscow.

Guo was shocked by her choice at first. "Though it is good for a singer to try a variety of styles, these two are a real challenge," she said.

The veteran vocalist was worried Wu would not be able to reach the high notes, or even worse, that her voice might be ruined.

The fact is, Wu also had some initial misgivings about whether the two styles would interfere with each other. And as a result of her own mental anguish, her progress faltered over the following six months. But perseverance and hard work finally prevailed.

To test her ability and quality in singing operatic arias, Wu applied for several international vocal contests, winning awards one after another, from the First China International Vocal Competition in November 2000, to the Eighth Bilbao International Vocal Competition in Spain and the Fourth Moniuszko International Vocal Contest in Warsaw in April 2001.

Last year, she won second prize in the vocal category of the most prestigious Tchaikovsky International Music Competition.

Contest v entertainment

However, after winning a series of high-profile competitions and rising rapidly in the world of classical music, Wu has not promoted herself at home. She remains in the shadow of both popular folk singers and some Western opera sopranos.

The humble 26-year-old said in a recent interview with China Daily, "Competition is a way to test your achievement over a certain period. After winning a contest, it becomes part of the history of your career."

Wu said she refused many performances after she won the 12th Tchaikovsky Competition in December in Moscow, because she does not "want to be intoxicated with the joy of winning a competition for a long time."

"You know, taking part in contests is to earn some experience of singing under pressure and to learn from counterparts abroad," she said.

"Competitions are not my goals. As a singer, what I should do is improve my performance, try to get more contracts with opera houses and present better concerts and operas for classical music fans."

In May 2001, Wu performed at the Gala Lirica Musical Festival in Madrid at the invitation of the International Vocal Committee.

In November the same year, she successfully played the leading role of Gilda in Verdi's opera Rigoletto at the Arriaga Opera House in Bilbao, Spain.

Last year, she was Princess Blue in the opera Marco Polo and Princess Blue.

Her especially versatile voice has also fascinated contemporary Chinese musicians. Chinese-French composer Chen Qigang invited her to feature in the world premiere of Iris devoilee at the Presences Festival of Radio France in February 2002. Composer Guo Wenjing got her to sing in his opera, Night Banquet, which has won acclaim abroad and will be staged during next month's Beijing Music Festival.

Wu can now jump between Chinese folk music and classical Western opera arias with ease.

But Wu says singing bel canto does not mean having to give up folk songs, as she continues to explore the compatibility between the two distinctive vocal styles.

(China Daily September 4, 2003)