Artist Thanh Hoai: "Golden bells, silver gongs" of the Cheo village, passionate about recreating the Tale of Kieu

Artist Thanh Hoai is a native of Thai Binh, born into a family with a long tradition of art. She is passionate about Cheo art and the Tale of Kieu, and even after her retirement, she is still a person who inspires and teaches the younger generation of Cheo artists.

There is an artist who was born and raised in the rice-growing land of Thai Binh, matured from the Vietnamese Cheo Theater but whose name is always associated with the Cheo singing and van singing program of VTV, that is People's Artist Thanh Hoai.

People's Artist Thanh Hoai was born in the rice fields of Hung Ha - Thai Binh. Growing up in the breath of the famous Cheo opera of the North with sweet Cheo songs that lulled the rivers carrying heavy alluvium, lulled the quiet, peaceful communal houses and banyan trees... and then, without knowing when, those songs turned into a passion that brought the girl Thanh Hoai to the Vietnam Cheo Theater when she turned 15, that was in 1965.

After being accepted, Thanh Hoai was allowed by the Theater to attend a 3-year training course at the School of Performing Arts. With a smooth, expressive voice, a love of singing and enthusiasm, and the guidance and dedicated teaching of talented masters such as People's Artist Minh Ly, Diu Huong, and Bui Trong Dang, after 3 years of studying, Thanh Hoai graduated with the highest score for the role of Suy Van in the class of students "Suy Van pretending to be crazy" in the ancient Cheo play "Kim Nham".

During her decades as an actress at the Vietnam Cheo Theatre, Thanh Hoai has always played the main roles with complex inner feelings and she has always been successful in portraying the characters' inner feelings. The medals she won after each performance festival are a confirmation of her talent. In 1981, when participating in the National Cheo Singing Festival held in Thai Binh, with the chant "Kieu in Ngung Bich Tower", she won a gold medal for her success in portraying the sorrow and sadness of Kieu when she was locked in Ngung Bich Tower. In 1985, she also won a silver medal at the National Cheo and Tuong Theatre Festival held in Quy Nhon, this was a special award because she was successful in the role of "hat de", a term for the singer who introduces the character's mood before the actor goes on stage.

In addition, she also won a gold medal for her role as Giang Huong in the play "Tu Thuc meets the fairy" at the National Cheo Theatre Festival in 1990; a silver medal for her role as Ba Chua Lieu in the play "Vua Chom" at the National Cheo Theatre Festival in 1994; in 1992, with the song "Ke Bon Mua" (played by Luu Binh Duong Le), she won a gold medal at the National Cheo and Tuong Singing Festival; also in this year, Thanh Hoai won a gold medal on another "stage", which was the National Folk Music Competition with the song "Xam Hue Tinh". With her great contributions to art, in 1992, artist Thanh Hoai was honored by the state with the noble title - Meritorious Artist. And in 2007, a great honor came to her, artist Thanh Hoai was one of the few artists in the Cheo industry to be awarded the noble title of People's Artist.

Besides singing cheo, People's Artist Thanh Hoai was also very successful with singing van. It was People's Artist Bui Trong Dang who was the teacher who guided her in the art of singing van. In 1994, with the singing van "Thu Huong Son", Thanh Hoai contributed to winning a special prize for the Vietnamese delegation at the International Folk Song Festival held in Guangzhou, China with the participation of 38 countries around the world.

It can be said that Thanh Hoai is an artist who not only has a "golden" voice but is also a dedicated artist to her profession. Not only studying singing and performing Cheo, she also studied many other types of singing art such as Ca Tru, Hat Van, Hat Xam, Hat Quan Ho, and reciting poetry. In each field, she left a certain mark in the hearts of the public. Until now, when she has passed her sixties, artist Thanh Hoai has not stopped studying and improving her professional ethics. What is precious and admirable about artist Thanh Hoai is that she performs and sings for no other purpose than to serve the public.

In 2021, once again, audiences who love the voice of People's Artist Thanh Hoai will be able to enjoy her special, emotional recitation voice through the project "Reciting the Complete Tale of Kieu" which was launched to the audience in early April 2021... The project "Reciting the Complete Tale of Kieu" has been cherished by musician and music theorist Nguyen Quang Long for a long time with the desire to "revive" the Tale of Kieu in contemporary spiritual life. But this is indeed a large project, to carry it out requires the participation of many talented artists and also requires a large source of funding to operate, so it is beyond personal capacity.

People's Artist Thanh Hoai, along with People's Artist Thuy Ngan and Meritorious Artists: Quoc Khanh, Van Phuong, Thuy Nga, will recite the entire Tale of Kieu with a total duration of nearly 10 hours of sound with the "wings" of an orchestra including artists: Tran Que Huong (zither), Pham Duc Binh (moon lute), Le Tien Trung (flute, monochord), Meritorious Artist Xuan Hai (two-string fiddle)... The artists together expressed their desire to contribute to honoring a unique recitation style "derived" from the masterpiece "Truyen Kieu" by the great poet Nguyen Du, while also contributing to making "Truyen Kieu" more familiar and popular among Vietnamese people.

People's Artist Thanh Hoai confided: "Our ancestors sang Kieu in their joys and sorrows. The Tale of Kieu has entered the lives of the people, so whether it is a mother singing a lullaby to her child, an older sister singing a lullaby to her younger sibling beside a hammock, they all sang it in Kieu. Now, young people like musician Quang Long know how to return to their roots, honoring the traditional values of their ancestors, so we must support and help them lest they are lost! I accepted to help them with the first chapter "Kieu visits Dam Tien's grave" and the last chapter "Kieu and Kim Trong reunite". I am also old this year, over 70 years old, but no matter how difficult it is, I will help! Since the project was launched, I have traveled back and forth 7-8 times, but I am still excited and love this job! Well, if the children have "heart", then I also have "merit"!".

According to People's Artist Thanh Hoai, since she was a child, she has listened to her grandmother, mother, and grandmother sing Kieu, so she gradually absorbed it over the years. When she entered art school, she was extremely fortunate to hear teachers like People's Artist Minh Ly and People's Artist Bui Trong Dang teach her the "standard" Kieu singing skills. That is why she wants to pass on these techniques to the next generation to preserve, maintain, and develop them.

For her, "The Tale of Kieu" is not only a masterpiece, but also a philosophy of life, a philosophy of being human, and moral lessons to teach her children and grandchildren such as: "The root of goodness lies in our hearts/ A heart is worth three times more than talent". Therefore, the more the value of the Tale of Kieu is spread, the better.

When mentioning the name of People's Artist Thanh Hoai, people often remember her with her standard "resonant, deep, deep, bouncy" voice in cheo melodies, literary songs or ca tru more than her acting roles. Having been successful with the role of Giang Huong in the play "Tu Thuc", the role of Co Ba in "Lo nuoc than", Ba Chua Lieu in "Vua Chom" and won many Gold Medals in performance festivals, but the reason why Thanh Hoai's name still resonates in the hearts of the public until today is because she has passionately loved, devoted herself and devoted herself to each traditional cheo melody: Whenever there is an invitation to perform, she accepts without worrying about the long distance and also does not care about the remuneration.

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