Projects like this “East meets West” hybrid will either reek of kitsch or become a delectable, guilty pleasure. Happily, Sharon Bezaly’s amazing technique and the sensitive accompaniments of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra under Yiu-Kwong Chung ensure that this release falls squarely in the latter category. In fact, you don’t even have to feel guilty to feel the pleasure in Chung’s exuberant Whirling Dance, or in his skillfully-wrought Flute Concerto. The latter certainly could become a repertory piece if recast for Western symphony orchestra, and in fact its lucid textures for strings and harp, with winds and percussion skillfully touched in, should work perfectly. Tuneful but never tacky, it’s just plain beautiful, and (it goes without saying) Bezaly plays with impeccable tone and bewitching grace.
Shui-Long Ma’s Bamboo Flute Concerto, originally composed for said instrument and Western orchestra, has here been turned inside out and arranged for Chinese orchestra and piccolo. Okay, there are times when the tunes may get a bit cinematic in the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” sense, but having a piccolo as the solo instrument gives the piece the edge it needs, and at 16 minutes it doesn’t sound a second too long. The remaining numbers consist of “light music”–one traditional tune and two song arrangements, brief and full of charm.
Let’s face it: the music is so pretty and Bezaly’s playing so alluring that you’d have to be pretty miserable not to love it–and the engineering is stunning no matter how many channels you decide to employ in listening. I would very much like to hear some major works featuring the Taipei Chinese Orchestra as well. Chung Yiu-Kwong has the group playing with fine ensemble qualities, and the orchestra’s timbres are familiar enough to be immediately assimilable, but different enough to be intriguing. Yummy. [6/5/2009]
