China | Liu Fang | Spring Rain

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Description

Composed by Zhu Yin and Wen Bo in the 1980s, "Spring Rain" (Zhu Yin and Wen Bo) derives its theme from a ballad of Southeastern China. Technically very demanding, it describes the experience of a rain storm in spring season and of the ensuing refreshment of the air.
Liu Fang is an internationally renowned virtuoso of pipa and guzheng. Born in the province of Yunnan, she studied at the Shangai Conservatory and is now living in Montreal where she performs traditional Chinese music as well as contemporary compositions (www.liufangmusic.net).
The pipa, a four-stringed pear-shaped lute with short neck and 30 frets is one of the most virtuoso instruments in contemporary classical Chinese music. Fast fingering and a variety of sounds such as vibrato, glissato, pizzicato, harmonics, even noise produced on the soundboard, are combined to give expressiveness and a descriptive character to the music.
Concert held within the project ‘Music from China’ organized by the Intercultural Institute for Comparative Music Studies of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, in cooperation with the Confucius Institute of Venice, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research (CHIME) of Leiden, and the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove.

Teatro Fondamenta Nuove, Venice, 21 March 2011
Video: Ivan Battain (Fondazione Scuola di San Giorgio)

http://www.cini.it
http://www.cini.it/fondazione/istituti-e-centri/studi-musicali-comparati