The CD of the month has been chosen by Pieter de Rooij
(see: ‘Introducing...’). He explains the reasons for this choice.
“Chinese pipa-muziek is almost never heard on Dutch radio or television and only
very rarely performed live in the Netherlands. However it is worth
listening to and so I am taking this opportunity to bring
this form of classical Chinese music to your attention. The album
‘Xu Lai’ is a beautiful recording of the pipa
player Lingling Yu that was issued on the Felmay label. The
following text is taken from my review of the album that was
published in the magazine Mixed in 2009 ”
“Lingling Yu is a multi-talented and highly appreciated perfor-
mer on the pipa, a
lute that has a history in Chinese traditional music going back over
2000 years. She plays solo pieces
with both precision and subtlety in
the serene and lyrical style called 'Wen' and in the more forceful
style called 'Wu'. The musical evocation of moonlight over a
river, waves breaking on
a seashore, a group of geese and a heroic
historical tableau are breathtaking.
The expressive
possibilities of the pipa seem almost unlimited. The dream-like,
pentatonic melo-
dies are not easy to remember (at least to our Western
ears), but the evocative sound of the instrument that encompasses
refined ornamentations, trills, bowed notes and mysteriously droning
overtones
is immediately fascinating. The recording of Lingling Yu
captures the masterful performance perfectly and adds to the listeners
enjoyment of this album. ‘Xu Lai’
is an exceptionally successful
album and is recommended to every connoisseur of music.”
The album ‘Xu Lai’ by Lingling Yu is available on Spotify and elsewhere.
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