Customer Reviews

Never Far Away: Music Of Bright Sheng

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This amazing piece of work is a wonderful, contemporary, Asian-themed collection of emotions. Bright Sheng's compositions are given inspiring performances by Ms. Kondonassis, under the direction of Jahja Ling and superb playing by the San Diego Symphony. Each listening is a new experience.

Bright Sheng's status as arguably the best-known contemporary composer to come out of China is made quite clear on this impressive recording made by the great American harpist Yolanda Kondonassis. Ms. Kondonassis ably brings to life the composer's "Never Far Away", in essence a traditional three-movement concerto for harp and orchestra that is both strikingly ancient and modern, reflecting its composer's homeland's history and integrating a totally contemporary sensibility. With three other of Mr. Sheng's compositions--"Shanghai Overture"; "The Nightingale And The Rose" (a ballet score inspired by Oscar Wilde); and "Tibetan Love Song And Swing"--we get a great melding of Chinese and Western cultures.

Equally significant (and one must give credit to Telarc for doing it), this recording also shines a spotlight on a rather overlooked American orchestra, namely the San Diego Symphony, which has managed to stage a significant comeback as of late after it came close to bankruptcy not too many years ago. Under the direction of their current music director Jahja Ling, who had also served as an assistant to Christoph von Dohnanyi at the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony has shown itself to be a resilient orchestra in all styles of music, from Classical to Contemporary. Bringing contemporary works to classical audiences who might otherwise want only well-established warhorses is never easy, especially for US orchestras, but Mr. Ling, Ms. Kondonassis, and the San Diego Symphony have worked wonders on this impressive recording. One hopes to hear more of this kind of excellence in the not too distant future.