执棒音乐人生，让世界“听见”中国——《大师列传》走近中国首位女指挥家郑小瑛
自幼打下的音乐基础让郑小瑛在文工团里表现突出，担任了乐团指挥。几年的文工团生活让郑小瑛感受到了大量来自民间的音乐元素，也令她有了铭记一生的感悟——音乐是人民创造的，音乐家来自普通百姓。
Born in Shanghai, Zheng Xiaoying began learning to play the piano at six. She initially went to medical school, but finally decided to devote herself to a career in art. Since then, performances and music have become the most important things in her life.
In 1960, she pursued higher studies in opera, symphony and conducting at the National Moscow Conservatory of Music. Two years later, she conducted Giacomo Puccini's opera, Tosca, in Moscow, becoming the first Chinese conductor to have performed in an international opera house.
Zheng always worked towards letting more people appreciate the beauty of music.
At first, Chinese audiences could not understand the Western operas and symphonies because of cultural differences. Zheng noticed that the audience could not feel the charm of the opera when she performed the Western classical opera La Traviata in 1979.
In order to change the situation, Zheng would give a lecture to the audience before the performance to help them understand the cultural background of the Western operas.
In 2007, Zheng brought "The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings," an original Chinese music piece to tour France, German and Austria, which received a magnificent response from the audience. This is an original piece composed by Liu Yuan about the Hakka people's history and lives.
Zheng herself is from a Hakka family. The ancestors of the Hakka people built the famous Fujian Tulou, also known as the earthen buildings. The houses are built in a circular or square pattern and designed for defense purposes and were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
In 1997, Zheng was diagnosed with rectal cancer when she was about to perform abroad. She went to the hospital for treatment during the day and gave lectures as scheduled at night. Zheng would even stand on the table and lead a students' chorus during the lecture on a whim. When she had to be admitted to the hospital, all she cared about was whether she could conduct again. "To spend my last seconds on the podium would be the most romantic thing in my life," said Zheng.
Although Zheng is 93 years old now, her life in art has never grown old and will continue to stir the hearts of everyone who has great enthusiasm for music just like her.
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