Karel Ancerl was one of the most tragic Conductors of the Twentieth century: he survived the Extermination Camps, in which he lost his wife and children. After the war, with Vaclav Talich, he was certainly the greatest Bohemian Conductor. Known above all for his recordings of Smetana and Dvorak, he stood out for his interpretations (early 1960s) of the great European repertoire of the 19th century. This double CD testifies to his approach to three very different, and significant, composers such as Mahler, Sibelius and Janacek. High quality Studio recordings.

DING: Long March Symphony

Popular Chinese Piano Pieces

Chinese Evergreens contains timeless pieces of Chinese folk music. Performed by Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kenneth Jean, these songs are given new life for a new generation of listeners. Songs include Plum Blossoms in the Snow, The Evening Bells from Nanping, Flowers Are Not Flowers, and many more.

Popular Pipa Music: King Chu Doffs His Armour

Liu Dehai Plays Pipa Favourites

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with conductors Kenneth Schermerhorn and Jordan Tang present this album of the First Contemporary Chinese Composers Festival of 1986. The album also features pianist Joseph Banowetz. Composers featured on this release include Chan Wing Wah, Tan Dun, Huang Anlun, Qu Xiaosong, Jordan Tang, and Ye Xiaogang.

Mingxin Du: Symphony "Great Wall"

Jin-xuan Yan, Huan Zhi Li & Wei Qu: Orchestral Music

Mingxin Du: Violin Concerto & Piano Concerto "Spirit of Spri

Modern Chinese music continues the national tradition of following a program, or at least evoking a mood. Cheerful or melancholy impressions of the countryside are frequent. At the same time the musical material used is often borrowed from folk song, or in direct imitation of it. In writing or the violin, many composers have in mind the sound and technique of the two-string Chinese instrument, the erhu. This involves many more glissando than are now customary in Western music, the finger sliding from note to note on a string that has no finger-board to support it. The erhu is, o course, capable of considerable agility, but it relatively limited in range.

The two kinds of Chinese music most widely heard are folk songs and songs made popular by television. This release includes a number of melodies taken from Hong Kong television series, as well as Chinese folk songs and melodies drawn from Chinese operas. Chinese music is traditionally programmatic, based on a character of story which is similar to Western programmed music, whether in narrative or evocative description. A highly respected and influential figure in Asia's orchestral music scene, Yip Wing-Sie has been the Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic since 2002. The Hong Kong Philharmonic is a vital part of Hong Kong's cultural lie, as the city's largest and busiest musical organization.

Violin Concerto "Hung Hu" & Other Popular Chinese Orchestral

Everlasting Chinese Love Songs: Message from the Moon

BEST CHINESE EVERGREENS

HE / DING / HUANG: Chinese Orchestral Works

Includes concerto for zghonghu, op. 1 "su wu". Ensemble: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Wing-Sie Yip.

MASTERS OF THE PIPA

ZHU, J.: Symphonic Fantasia / Symphony No. 4

Includes spring festival overture. Ensemble: Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Lim Kek-Tjiang.
Includes the white-haired girl. Ensemble: Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Lim Kek-Tjiang.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Choo Hoey.

First Contemporary Chinese Composers Festival 1986

GREAT WALL SYMPHONY

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

With an unparalleled potential for expressivity as well as for virtuoso display, the violin is one of the Western instruments that have been most warmly embraced by non-Western musical cultures. One example of this is The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto, one of the best-loved classical compositions in China, and probably the Chinese work that is most often performed in Western concert halls. In China, the solo part is often transcribed for one of the traditional virtuoso instruments such as the erhu, but on the present recording it is instead the orchestral part that has been arranged for Chinese traditional orchestra, the eminent violinist Lu Siqing performing the concerto with the support of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra conducted by Chung Yiu-Kwong. The 25-minute concerto forms the grand finale of a programme which mixes Western and Chinese violin favourites, beginning most appropriately with Fritz Kreisler's Tambourin Chinois, but also taking in Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen and Tchaikovsky's Mélodie, all in arrangements made especially for this recording. The disc forms the sixth instalment in a series which features Western solo instruments against the thrilling soundscapes of the Chinese traditional orchestra. Reviewing previous discs, critics have been bowled over by an orchestra capable of 'evoking delicate playfulness, high drama, or the tranquillity of a misty Chinese valley with equal atmosphere' (Classic FM Magazine) and creating 'sounds that are mysterious, biting, intoxicating, and darned close to delirious' (Fanfare).

Classical Music