Xiaogang Ye - The Road to the Republic; Cantonese Suite (Jia Lü; Franck Ollu)

Information

Composer: Xiaogang Ye

• The Road to the Republic, Op. 64
• Cantonese Suite, Op. 51

Liping Zhang, soprano

Guang Yang, mezzo-soprano

Yijie Shi, tenor

Chenye Yuan, baritone

Beijing Philharmonic Choir

China National Symphony Chorus & Orchestra

Jia Lü, conductor

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz

Franck Ollu, conductor

Date: 2021

Label: Naxos

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Review

There is a sorry history of cantatas setting texts which promulgate political ideologies. We think of those by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and others working in the Soviet Union, often written more to appease their authoritarian leaders than to purvey a genuinely personal espousal of an ideology. In China, investing both the past and real geographical locations with current ideologies is more the style, and many of the more substantial works to have emerged from Chinese symphonic composers over the past century have done this, with often rather more success than did their Soviet peers. Certainly, several of them have proved enduringly popular amongst Chinese audiences, but few have resonated with audiences in the west. The problem invariably lies in the literary quality of the texts themselves, often written by politically-motivated scribblers rather than true literary figures. “Which comes first”, asked Arnold Perris in a piece published in the January 1983 edition of Ethnomusicology “the aesthetic quality of the art or the success of the ideological message?” Presented with a rambling text collaboratively written by Liguo Li, Zhirong Hu or Hang Zou, one can only pity Xiaogang Ye, tasked with phrases ranging from the banal to the rabid (“In a proposal of eight thousand words submitted to the premier”, “Toured southeast Asia to solicit donations”, and “Found the republic and divide the land evenly, Expel the Manchus, and restore China”) for a large-scale cantata (described in the booklet as a “symphonic epic poem”) marking the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. (For those unfamiliar with Chinese history, this was the point when the last Imperial Dynasty – the Qing Dynasty – was overthrown and a republic established under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen.)

The Road to the Republic celebrates the events leading up to the 1911 Revolution, and while it is, on the face of it, a narrative concerning a historical event, there is clearly an underlying political message in the work; as well it might, since it tells of an event which had great and lasting influence over modern China. So important is the story of the 1911 Revolution to modern-day China, that its centenary was also marked by the composition of a western-style opera, Dr, Sun Yat-sen, by another Chinese-born composer, Huang Ruo. This was well received both at its Hong Kong premiere in 2011 and even more warmly in an American production in 2014, but does not seem to have been performed since, and I can find no commercial recording of it. The Road to the Republic does not seem to have been performed outside China since its premiere in 2011, and this recording would seem to have been made either during or shortly after that premiere. Whether having the work in the global domain via CD will attract any more interest is yet to be seen, but there is a great deal here to enjoy on purely musical and performance terms; not least the well-judged direction of Jiu Lu, who avoids too much emphasis n the work’s many dramatic climaxes and draws some lovely playing from the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Much of the piece is big, bold, and barnstorming, but never entirely overwhelming. A lovely moment of lightness comes with the third of the piece’s eight sections, “Kapok Blooming”, where traditional Chinese instruments meld comfortably with the western orchestra, a well-drilled children’s choir adds its quality of innocence, while soprano Liping Zhang delivers her declamatory phrases with suitably wide-eyed rapture. The other soloists also seem entirely at home with the music world Ye creates for them; a strange but largely successful blending of a Janacek-style tonality with the pentatonic feel of traditional Chinese music, all richly decorated by vividly colourful orchestration. Sung in Putonghua, a dialect which sounds, when sung, somewhat chewy, the translations of the text in the booklet is useful to understand the historic/political context, but Ye’s music is sufficiently vivid and descriptive to ensure that the drama of the narrative is powerfully evoked in a way which far surpasses the banalities of the text.

If the English translation of the text for The Road to the Republic provides something of a barrier to those who may not necessarily share the ideological message, no such problems face a western audience hearing one of Ye’s early orchestral showpieces, the Cantonese Suite. Drawing on Cantonese folk tunes (the dialect dominant in the southern Guangdong Province – the work was commissioned in 2005 by the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra), this is a suite of colourful and jovial pieces which easily combines Chinese musical gestures with standard western orchestral practices. This performance was given by a German orchestra under a French conductor, but all involved seem entirely at ease with Ye’s style, which has just enough spice and character to add a pleasing level of intrigue (notably with the muted horn, jaunty bassoon and clopping wood blocks which set the second movement -“Horses Jingles” – off on its jolly course).

— Marc Rochester

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Xiaogang Ye (born 23 September 1955) is a Chinese composer who was educated at the Central Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music. His extensive oeuvre spans orchestral, chamber, stage and film music, often integrating Chinese cultural, philosophical and natural themes. Major works have been performed internationally, including The Song of the Earth and music premiered at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Ye has held prominent cultural and academic leadership roles in China and abroad, received numerous prestigious awards, and was the first Chinese composer signed by Schott Music.

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Jia Lü (born 1964 in Shanghai) is a Chinese-born Italian conductor. Trained in Shanghai, Beijing and Berlin, he launched his career after winning top prizes at the Antonio Pedeotti International Conducting Competition. Lü has conducted more than 2,000 performances and was the first Asian artistic director of a major Italian opera house, as well as the first Chinese conductor to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Renowned for his interpretations of German Romanticism, French Impressionism and Italian opera, he currently serves as Artistic Director of Music at China's National Centre for the Performing Arts.

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Franck Ollu is a conductor recognized for his expertise in contemporary and French music. He has led numerous world premieres and productions at major opera houses and festivals, including works by Thierry Escaich, Pascal Dusapin, George Benjamin, Wolfgang Rihm and Kaija Saariaho. His repertoire spans from Baroque to 21st-century music, with performances at institutions such as the Opéra de Lyon, La Monnaie, Salzburg Festival, Dutch National Opera and Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. Ollu has collaborated with leading orchestras across Europe and maintains a particularly close artistic partnership with Ensemble Modern.

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