Acclaimed Chinese-born pianist Fou Ts’ong, 86, dies from Covid-19 in the UK

The pianist Fou Ts’ong, one of the first Chinese-born soloists to achieve international stardom, died on Monday of Covid-19 at the age of 86.

Fou was particularly revered for his acclaimed interpretation of Chopin. Born in Shanghai in 1934, he studied under Western pianists in the city from an early age before winning a scholarship to the Warsaw Conservatory after taking third prize in the 5th International Chopin Competition in 1955. From then on, he toured widely and frequently, with London his home since 1958.

It was in London where he died, according to the announcement by the Alink-Argerich Foundation, an independent classical musical platform co-founded by Fou’s friend, the pianist Martha Argerich.

“We will always remember him as a great musician with a great personality,” the statement said.

Fou is also a household name among Sinophone communities because of being the recipient of the famed “Home Letters by Fu Lei”.

Fu, the pianist’s father, was a distinguished French translator who committed suicide with his wife Zhu Meifu in 1966 because of persecution during China’s Cultural Revolution. The couple wrote nearly 200 letters to their son, Fou, after he left for his scholarship in Warsaw, until their death. These were compiled and published in book form in 1981.

Fou did not return to China until 1979 when the Cultural Revolution ended and the country opened its doors to the world under Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms. Since then, he had often returned to the mainland, including four years when he held annual concerts in Shanghai (2006-09).

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His last performance in Shanghai was held in November 2014, when he played a Chopin programme to celebrate his 80th birthday. He also visited Hong Kong often, giving a memorable concert in 2007 with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta at the City Hall Concert Hall.

Since the news of Fou’s death was released on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, early on Tuesday morning, the story had been viewed 480 million times, with 33,000 comments posted.

Some have been critical of Fou’s choice to live in Britain instead of returning to his homeland to help nurture a new generation of musicians, but others came to his defence.

A blogger, called Geng Xiangshun, said it was unreasonable for anyone to say that Fou should have gone back to China, especially during the Cultural Revolution. “If he had gone back to China at that time, his career would be destroyed and his life would possibly not be guaranteed. The world would lose an art master,” he wrote.

Fou married three times. From 1960 to 1969, he was married to Zamira Menuhin, the daughter of American-born violinist Yehudi Menuhin. In the 1970s, he married Hijong Hyun, a daughter of South Korea’s Ambassador to Morocco. Both marriages ended in divorce.

Later, he married Chinese-born, London-based pianist Patsy Toh. Toh was also hospitalised with Covid-19 but was able to return home before Fou died.