INTERNET users in China have praised a student in Italy for "saving the concert" after he "stood in" for a male singer during an encore performance.
In a report by SCMP, Liu Jianwei said he was just lending a hand during the concert by Cuban American operatic soprano Lisette Oropesa.
Liu, who is studying for a master's degree at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Nicolini di Piacenza in Italy, said he has been a fan of Oropesa for many years.
Oropesa was performing in Teatro Regio di Parma in Palma, a city in northern Italy. During the encore, Liu joined Oropesa in singing the male part while she was singing a classic opera.
This took place at the end of the concert when Oropesa sang four encores at the encouragement of the audience. For the last song, she chose La Traviata, which required a male partner.
Liu, 24, said no one sang during the first bar, for the male singer's part. So he joined in for the second bar.
“I stood up to sing because Lisette Oropesa is a musician I love very much and I happened to have learned this opera before,” he said.
A surprised Oropesa smiled. During her part of the song, she changed the lyrics of “lover” to “thank you”.
According to reports, Liu said he felt his participation was “rude” and apologised to the singer after the concert.
Oropesa later took photos with him and gave him her autograph, which Liu posted on Weibo.
Reactions on Chinese social media were positive with many people calling him “a Chinese hero at the concert”.
“Hats off for this young guy,” wrote one person on Weibo.
“If there are more such kinds of Chinese compatriots, the image of China in overseas regions will be improved,” another user said.
But Liu advised Internet users otherwise in a video last week.
“Please don’t interrupt singers when they are singing on stage. It’s impolite behaviour,” he said. “Don’t imitate me and I will never do this again in future.”
“It is definitely not something worthy of pride, nor something worthy of being advocated,” Liu wrote on Weibo. – The Vibes, October 27, 2021
