Album of the week: 'Earth Requiem'
Purported to be the first Chinese requiem, this mammoth work for orchestra and chorus by Guan Xia mourns the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
China National Symphony Orchestra
Virgin Classics
4 stars
Purported to be the first Chinese requiem, this mammoth work for orchestra and chorus by Guan Xia mourns the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Melancholy aside, its musical form and non-liturgical setting differ little from programme music. But under French conductor Michel Plasson, the China National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus outperform themselves and the musical scores, turning banal melodies and ingenuous orchestration into an attractive organic whole.
The excellent recording brings out a balance and real presence of both the instruments and voices.
The work opens with Gazing at the Stars, which depicts the sense of tragedy after the earthquake that stunned the nation on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. The long cor anglais solo passage conveys the solitude of the remote interior, and the violins' vibraharp sound effect may cause goose bumps.
The chiming of the celesta and tubular bells in the final passage is memorable.