1. My Sentiments to the Yangtze
River Lyrics by Li Zhiyi (Song
Dynasty) Music by Qingzhu
2. Homeland Nostalgia Lyrics
by Qu Zong, Music by Zheng Qiufeng
3. How Can I Not Miss Her Lyrics
by Liu Bannong, Music by Zhao Yuanreng
4. The Moon Reflection Lyrics
by Peng Bangzhen, Music by Liu Zhuang
and Yan Shen
5. Emei Mountain Air Lyrics
by Li Bai (Tang Dynasty), Music by
Luo Zhongrong
6. Tristesse at the Yangguan Pass
(Tunes of Guqin) Arranged by Xia Yifeng
and Wang Zhenya
7. In the Silvery Moonlight
(Tatar folk song) Arranged by Wang
Luobin and Li Yinghai
8. The Sorrowing Shepherdess
Lyrics by Huo Fan, Music by Jin Sha
9. Mama in the Candlelight
Lyrics by Wang Jian and Li Chunli,
Music by Gu Jianfen
10. Gaolitai (Xinjiang folk
song) Arranged by Li Yinghai
11. A Lovely Rose (Kazak folk
song) Arranged by Lao Zhicheng
12. Swallow (Kazak folk song)
Lyrics translated by Aitowarff, Arranged
by Wu Zuqiang
13. Mayeela (Kazak folk song)
Lyrics and music by Mayeela Shamstodinowa,
Arranged by Wang Luobin and Ding Shande
14. The Running Stream (Yunnan
folk song)
15. Mongolian Madrigal Arranged
by An Bo
16. Grassland Serenade Lyrics
by Zhang Jiayi, Music by Tian Ge
In English Translation:
17. Mama in the Candlelight
18. Mayeela
19. Homeland Nostalgia
20. Gaolitai
My claim to an affinity
with Chinese culture derives almost
entirely from a period in which I
worked as a freelance text editor
– in English – for the Chinese embassy
in The Hague. Part of the rewards
for checking tourist brochures, speeches
and articles on subjects such as the
marvellous Hubei ‘Chime Bells’, a
replica set of which recently toured
in Europe, were gifts of numerous
CDs of Chinese music in a variety
of arrangements.
The idea of Chinese
folk or traditional songs arranged
as ‘Lieder’ with piano accompaniment,
and sung almost as if they were Western
in origin, might seem strange. If
there is one thing I have learned
however, there is no such thing as
‘strange’ when it comes to Chinese
music. There will always be traditionalists
and authentic ensembles which play
purely on instruments of the periods
from which the music derives, but
commercial Chinese recordings of ‘classical’
music often quite freely and happily
mix the old and the new. This can
take the form of a fondness for string
orchestras and the like, but also
goes as far as introducing new harmonies
with an abandon which make artists
like Stokowski and Horowitz sound
as if they were merely tinkering at
the sidelines.
Jingma Fan won the
third Cardiff Singer of the World
competition, and has since performed
all over the world in numerous operatic
roles. His is a secure and expressive
tone, with a fairly tight and rapid;
what the Dutch would call ‘strak’
vibrato. He has plenty of colour contrast
in his voice to be able to conjure
impressions of tenderness and passion,
even when one can’t understand the
words. As can be seen from the titles,
the songs are mostly about nostalgia
and romantic longings set in beautiful
landscapes and countryside. Reinild
Mees is a skilful and sensitive accompanist,
but the piano arrangements more often
than not sound like 1930s salon repertoire:
variously a bit like Puccini, any
number of operetta composers, or even
Gershwin at times. In other words,
there is nothing at all difficult
about the music, and anyone put off
by the idea of strange pentatonic
harmonies or exotic melodic shapes
will be pleasantly surprised by the
accessibility of what is on offer
here.
All of the texts
are given in English in the booklet,
and the last four songs are also sung
in English versions. It is logical
to zap straight to these in order
to gain some kind of comprehensibility
to the otherwise – to non-native speakers
– entirely abstract Chinese singing,
but these English versions of the
texts largely serve to show how idiomatically
the songs are written expressly for
the Chinese language. In a swift song
such as Mayeela it is easy
to hear where the words don’t quite
fit, or have been compacted in order
to retain their meaning, and the texts
generally show a pretty random sense
of non-poetry when translated. It
is nice to hear some of the songs
in English, but these examples provide
as good a reason as any for keeping
the original Chinese.
The SACD recording
has plenty of extra acoustic information
from Eindhoven’s substantial Frits
Philips concert hall. This is a location
which proves as good for chamber music
as for symphony orchestra however,
and the sound and balance are well
up to Challenge’s usual top quality.
With full text and listings in Chinese
characters, and Channel Classics’
"Channel of China" label
variant it is clear that the company
is targeting a growing market overseas.
With this fine product as a calling
card I’m sure they will do very well
indeed.
Dominy Clements
Jingma Fan (tenor) 
