Bright Sheng: New Naxos Orchestral CD and Interview
8th April 2009
The featured works are Phoenix, Red Silk Dance, Tibetan Swing, and H'un (Lacerations), recorded by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony.
Phoenix, co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, was inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen tale, the mythical bird symbolizing for Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng “the muse of all peoples.” Aggressive fervor seeks meditative peace in H’un: In memoriam 1966–1976, hailed by The New York Times as “a searing portrait of the Cultural Revolution in China…deeply affecting.” Sheng’s exquisite Spring Dreams, Three Fantasies and Tibetan Dance are available on Naxos 8.570601, a unique recording using Chinese instruments by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. China Dreams and Nanking Nanking can be heard on Naxos 8.555866.
