Search - Leaper, Cssr So, Cheng-Zong :: Yellow River

Beautiful Piano concerto coupled with bland piano pieces

06/21/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The "Yellow River Concerto" is a work of genious. Each movement describes the river with ease and clarity. The concerto opens with a sweeping view of the majestic river, followed by a cheerful description of the fisherman. It is interluded with a thoughtful tribute to the riches the river provides to the fisherman. The ode to the Yellow River is a beautiful track in ballad style. It is very peaceful with a tint of lament. The Yellow River in Wrath opens with the peaceful river and then follows to the river in storm, portrayed by heavy piano chords and excessive orchestration. Defend the Yellow River concludes the concerto with a triumphant battle and march scene to bring an end to this concerto illustrating the Yellow River, and ultimately Chinese river life. The short piano works that couple the concerto are rather uninspired and tasteless. A few of the works have their short moments but the rest of the short piano tracks end up being tiresome."

Best around--and it's a Naxos!

Santo Esmeraldo | NYC | 08/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a Naxos production, so I didn't really expect much. However, I was pleasantly surprised.



Yellow River Concerto is interesting in its structure, themes, and history. It successfully combines the Western symphonic concept with the old Chinese melodies. Although there are many renditions of this music, most are unfortunately bad--PAINFULLY, horribly, horrendously BAD, with numerous errors. Clearly, this is an extremely difficult piece to play, for both the pianist and the orchestra.



With this said, this Naxos-Marco Polo production "cleanly" delivers this concerto, without noticeable errors or "unnecessary drama." It is just very, very fine. Granted, it is a bit "generic," in that they don't really take any risks--but such risks are only meaningful given the solid foundation. Most other interesting/dramatic renditions lack that. This version, though not as interesting, has very strong foundations, which others lack.



All in all, I think this version may be the best around. My favorite would be Eugene Ormandy's rendition, but it isn't being marketed... If I were to have to pick one, therefore, I'd pick this CD.



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