BERLIN—Former opera singer Werner Heinen took his daughter to see a performance by the renowned Shen Yun Performing Arts on New Year’s Eve 2022 in Berlin, Germany, and was deeply impressed.
Heinen has performed at various European theaters, including the Staatsoperette in Dresden and the Semperoper. He has sung leading roles in 28 operas, musicals, and dance productions.
Heinen said he couldn’t find the right words to describe it because he was “still very emotional.”
He said he had trained to sing for more than 20 years and knew that “it’s not easy to sing such a difficult song, not many people can do it, it’s so admirable. The soprano’s technique was masterful and extremely good, her mouth was like a ‘ringing bell,’ a truly remarkable ability. I have not heard such a beautiful voice in many years. It really moved me deeply.”
The Shen Yun singer’s voice left him in awe: “She was divine, as if she came from heaven. The first note struck me immediately. For singers, the first and last notes are the most important, even technically; but to try to interpret a song of such great difficulty was really incredible!”
Heinen said that he not only admired the performers’ skills, but was even more moved by the content of Shen Yun’s performance, “Maybe through the performance, some people can also feel that we can have such a beautiful world. We can learn from each other, we should listen to each other, we should see and respect others. I think the performance expressed this message. We should do good things and think of others, especially have love and hope.”
For this, he would like to express his sincere gratitude to the artistic director of Shen Yun. He had managed to create “a connection between the individual pieces that runs like a thread through the performance and ultimately leads to this divine devotion and to our own transformation. The modern world is full of insidiousness and cunning, mostly devoid of the kindness, love, and affection that people should have for each other: a world that doesn’t want us to change for the better. Shen Yun’s artistic director has perfectly expressed these beautiful values through dance.”
Heinen said repeatedly that he was very excited: “There is something good buried in the hearts of everyone who saw the performance today, there must be.”
His whole family has been inspired by Shen Yun, Heinen said.
“The whole group and the behind-the-scenes work are really great. The live orchestra played to the point and was very good. I feel happy and satisfied and will go into the new year with that feeling.”
Heinen’s daughter Leandra, who plays piano in high school, is rehearsing for the school festival and says she listened carefully to Shen Yun’s music: “The music is very beautiful. I totally agree with what my father said. You could learn a lot from the music today, because it touches your heart.“
