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China children's choir Penang concert |
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China astonishes CHINA never ceases to astonish us with its musical prodigies. The great Fu Tsong gave us an unforgettable lesson in the playing of Chopin’s “gossip between two hands on the piano” in Sonata No 2 in B flat minor Op 35. After him came Yundi Li, Siheng Song and the prodigious Lang Lang, whose Liszt reminds us of the genius of Bolet. And there are singers too. There was Guang Yang the mezzo-soprano who startled the world at Cardiff in 1997, Zhang Jieyi, the tenor, Zhan Manhua, mezzo-soprano and the baritone Liao Chang Yong. And we hear of the island of Gulangu in Fujian province where almost everyone plays the piano and boasts of housing Asia’s largest piano museum. In 1949, after the proclamation of the People’s Republic, China produced its first piano. By the year 2000, it was producing 200,000 a year With this background knowledge we expected The Children and Young Women Chorus of the China National Symphony Orchestra to be of the highest standards; they did not disappoint us when they visited Penang. They were equally at home with Johan Strauss, Kodaly, Mendelssohn and Franck as they were with songs of their native land. This group of 50 young singers has sung in many countries all over the world and proved itself to be first class.. It was founded in 1983 by Yang Hongnian who demonstrated that he is not only a great teacher but a talented showman too, endowed with a gift for the humourous touch We thought their Ave Maria lacked the hushed religiosity required yet their version of Swing Low Sweet Chariot could well have been sung by an inspired black group. The loudest cheers were reserved for the couple of Malay songs cheerfully sung by the choir clad in sarongs directed by Penang born Peng Yikai. We missed the first night in order not to be discomfited by late VIPs and long speeches but enjoyed ourselves thoroughly the second night, largely helped by the highly disciplined but enthusiastic full house.# |
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