Review by Denis Gibson

Xuefei Yang | Crossing Boundaries

at the Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton

on Saturday, 16th July 2022

Originally written in C major Bach’s Cello Suite No 3 BWV1009 (composed circa 1720) makes best use of the open strings of the standard cello tuning - C, G, D, A - making drones and double stops easier to play on the original instrument. Fei’s arrangement for guitar was in G major but from the very start we knew that none of the warm, wide resonance had been lost in this transcription and performance. The opening prelude was immediately engaging, with its scale and broken chord, running down two octaves, then back up. The largeness and tone of the sound Fei produces from her instrument grabs the attention. Her musicality says this is no ordinary performance.

The dances were an eye-opener, especially: the Sarabande, majestic and wistful, with its declamatory four-note chords; the two Bourrées - they came like an old friends with new things to say in the freshness of Fei’s performance; and the final Gigue with contrasting passages – the exuberance of the dance, interspersed with the rather sinister, repeating, dissonant double stops.

Then came two very different pieces from China. The first was Fei’s arrangement of a traditional tune originally composed for the pipa and popular in China since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). A Moonlight Night on the Spring River is a programmatic piece based on a poem by the earlier Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu (circa 660-circa 720 AD). The sections of the poem and the musical work describe a vivid riverside scene, including: Bells and Drums Echo from the River Tower; Moon over the Eastern Mountain; Breeze across the Meandering River; Fishing Song at Dusk; Singing Whilst Rowing Ashore. This composition for the pipa transcribes well to the modern classical guitar in Fei’s beautiful arrangement and performance of this Chinese classic.

The second in the Chinese set was Sword Dance by the contemporary composer Changjun Xu (1957-), currently Chancellor of the Tianjin Juilliard School. He wrote this piece for the liuqin, a four string instrument which sounds similar to the mandolin. The piece is inspired by another Tang Dynasty poet, Fu Du (712-770), whose ballad, On Seeing a Pupil of Madame Gongsun Dance the Sword, describes the most accomplished dancer of the time. The poet says, ‘For her combination of flowing rhythms with vigorous attack, Gongsun had stood alone even in an outstanding epoch.’ The music captures the contrasting tempos of the dance – elegant, gliding movements juxtaposed with frenetic flashes of bravura performance. This was another compelling arrangement for guitar with its melodic tremolo and slow drone, and a brilliant performance by Fei.

Based on the informative website INSTRUMENTS OF THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE ORCHESTRA

A return to Europe for the next two pieces, positioned either side the interval. We arrived in Spain, the spiritual home of the modern classical guitar. The next piece reminded Fei, she told us, of a holiday in Seville which she loved - a city filled with singing and dancing. Sevilla (1883) by Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) is from the composer’s Suite Española No. 1, premiered by Albeniz himself in a piano performance in 1886. Fei played her own arrangement of this classic in a performance that breathed life into an old favourite - accomplished, engaging, conjuring the vibrant musical life of Andalusia’s largest city.

And then, a wonderful anecdote from Fei. At the age of 14 she gave her first public performance in Spain, in Madrid. Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) was in the audience. At that time he was well into his 90s. One of Spain’s most famous 20^th century composers shook Fei by the hand, and posed with her for a photograph.

In 1927, Rodrigo travelled to Paris to study with Paul Dukas at the Ecole Normale de Musique. Other Spanish greats had made that journey before him: Albeniz, Falla and Turina. And it was Manuel da Falla who gave Rodrigo his first break. Falla was to be admitted as a member of the French Legion d'Honneur, and he insisted that the concert following the award ceremony should include not only his music, but also the music of young Spanish composers like Rodrigo. Rodrigo was always grateful to Falla for the opportunity to showcase his music. His Invocación y Danza - Homenaje a Manuel de Falla (1961) is dedicated to the memory of his friend and mentor. It proved to be a fiendishly difficult piece to play, written originally for the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza but never played by him. The score languished unseen for years. A fair copy of the manuscript was rescued from de la Maza in 1961, edited and corrected by Rodrigo and entered in a competition run by the French broadcaster, ORTF. The piece won first prize in this Coupe International de Gitarre. The following year Invocación y Danza received its premier, performed by de la Maza’s pupil, Alirio Diaz, in a highly edited and simplified version. Fei delivered a remarkable tour de force, with such variety of tone and dynamics in this modern masterpiece - perhaps the highlight, for me, of this treasure trove of a recital.

Then, a new continent and an extended stay in Latin America, beginning with Manhã de Carnaval (1959) by Luiz Floriano Bonfá (1922-2001) and A Felicidade (1958) by Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994). Both pieces featured on the soundtrack of the 1959 film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. Manhã de Carnaval was Fei’s combination of arrangements for guitar by the Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell de Aquino and by the American Brian Hodel. In his collection The Brazilian Masters (The Music of Jobim, Bonfá and Baden Powel, arranged for Solo Guitar), Hodel notes, ‘Perhaps the greatest difficulty for players not familiar with the style is to get the “Brazilian swing”’. No problem for Fei in these pieces as her whole body moved to the Latin rhythm of this joyous dance, delivered with her immaculate technique and wonderful sense of fun. Rather bitter-sweet was Roland Dyen’s arrangement of A Felicidade (Happiness), a bossa nova song whose lyrics touch upon the impermanence of happiness and the loss of loved ones. In the context of the film this piece underscores Orpheus’ search for Euridice after her death.

Lingering in the Americas, Fei gave us the complete Suite del Recuerdo (1990) by the Argentinian composer and guitarist José Luis Merlin (1952-). Merlin was forced to flee the military junta and later emigrated to Spain. The Suite del Recuerdo (Suite of Memories) is dedicated to the many thousands of ‘disappeared ones’ from that turbulent and tragic time in Argentina. Merlin’s suite has two reflective movements (both entitled Evocacion) – nostalgic moments with a palpable sense of longing for the country of his birth. They are interspersed with four pacey folk dances. The emotional range of this piece was beautifully captured in Fei’s performance.

We were taken across a final boundary to the UK for the two pieces that closed the programme. Fei gave us a track from her latest recording, Magna Carta:. The piece was Romance No 4 Saharan Sunrise by John Brunning (1954-), part of a suite for guitar composed between 2007 and 2019, and performed here without the subtle strings of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra which accompanies Fei on her album recording. Saharan Sunrise was an evocative piece, beautifully played in this version for solo guitar.

The second piece from within our borders was an unlikely association with the UK. But, as a nation. we enjoy an eclectic mix. One of our saving graces is that, at our best, we celebrate diversity in our cultural life. We borrow from genres, countries, cuisines and talents from across the globe. On our behalf, Fei embraced Paco Peña (1942-) as representative of our islands. He moved to London from his native Córdoba in the 1960s and started his career as a soloist here. He has kept a home in the capital since. Fei played his El Nuevo Dia (A New Day), a colombianas - a form of flamenco song which has roots in Colombian folk music. So, there we are. We crossed all sorts of borders in the concert finale.

The recital ended with sustained and heartfelt applause that delivered two Latin American encores. The first was the famous Una limosna por amor de Dios (Alms for the love of God) by the Paraguayan virtuoso Agustín Barrios (1885–1944), composed at the end of his colourful life and, possibly, his last written work. Brief and beautiful, the piece showed Fei’s adeptness in tremolo technique, with the melody soaring on the treble strings and a rhythmic ostinato in the middle voice. Masterly!

Last of all came Interrogando by the Brazilian guitarist/composer João Pernambuco (1983-1947)*, a contemporary and friend of Villa Lobos. Permambuca learnt guitar from street musicians. He was poor and illiterate and relied on others to notate his compositions. His work was sometimes stolen by unscrupulous musicians who claimed it as their own. Villa Lobos rescued him from this peril and his later work was properly transcribed and attributed. This was a jaunty encore - a kind of Latin Handel in the Strand - a fun ending to a delightful concert that will live long in the memories of SCGS members.

* I am indebted to Michael Hulmes for identifying this unannounced encore and confirming it with Fei.

Fei performed her recital at Turner Sims on a guitar made by the Australian luthier, Greg Smallman.