by Seby D’Souza
On Sunday the 22nd of September, the University of Aberdeen’s Confucius Institute took Cowdray Hall for an afternoon of Chinese music, both modern and traditional. The first half of the performance consisted of three soloists: Yichun Feng, Lavinia Marin, and Yuqiu Fang. Feng and Marin sung pieces from across Chinese culture (from pop and TV soundtracks, to opera) while Fang took the stage with a guzheng: a traditional Chinese zither.
From each of the solo pieces, I loved Marin’s Upwards to the Moon the most, being the aforementioned theme from a TV show, which shone through the tune’s epic nature. The piece allowed for Marin’s tessitura and timbre to stand out amidst a backdrop of piano, guitar, drums, and synths. Matching Marin’s spectacle, my highlight of Feng’s set was ‘Casta Diva O Pure Goddess’ from Bellini’s Norma. When watching a performance, I love being able to see how much work went into perfecting it, and being a part of the audience to witness Feng’s work was an honour. The control Feng had over the melismatic lines of the piece made for a truly haunting performance.
As for our final soloist, Fang was mesmerising to watch. Despite technical difficulties with feedback, she stayed calm and was a commanding presence on stage. Having never seen a guzheng before, I was enamoured with Feng’s precision. One thing I loved was the ordering of her two pieces: while the first served as an introduction to the instrument, the second used a wider variety of techniques. These included knocking on the instrument, wide pitch bends and sweeping glissandos. My favourite technique was an authoritative strum which filled the room. While Fang may have slipped out of time at points due to her instrument overpowering the backing track, she was quick to catch her errors and played through it like a professional, not letting it bring her down.
Finally, the second half of the show was done by the Edinburgh Chinese Community Orchestra. This was made up of three erhus (a two stringed bowed instrument), a suona (a double reeded instrument with a nasally timbre), a tambourine, a liuqin (a short, lute-like instrument), and a guzheng. They graced our ears with five pieces, my favourite of which was Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon, which featured some beautiful harmonies between the two plucked strings. Throughout their set I was fascinated by the erhu. The section was expressive in their playing in such a way that speaks to the years of honing their craft. The tone produced felt like that of a choir in how dialectical it was.
Despite the fact that the title of favourite has been taken, I’d be remiss to not mention the final piece of the concert: Auld Lang Syne. To hear a traditional Scottish tune be covered by traditional Chinese instruments was simply wonderful. I clearly wasn’t the only one to think so, as some audience members could be heard joining in. The meeting of the two cultures musically made for a beautiful moment.