Search - Wu Man :: Chinese Pipa Music

Sparkling, Shimmering, Passionate!

o dubhthaigh | north rustico, pei, canada | 03/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having recently caught Wu Man in concert with Orchestra 2001 in Swarthmore, where I was totally blown out of my seat by the dynamics and intensity and passion of her performance, I hurriedly picked up this disc, hoping it would reflect the power and majesty I had witnessed. It does! In spades!
This is a blend of traditional pieces and 20th Century pieces and it is a stunner top to bottom. Wu Man is an exquisitely beautiful woman who is regarded as a master of the Pudong school of pipa playing. I know nothing about that. What I can tell you is that her fretwork and absorption into the soul of the music is compelling!
In concert, she played pieces by contemporary Chinese composers Zhou Long, May-Tchi Chen, and Tan Dun. This disc includes a masterpiece by Chen Yi, "Dian", written in 1999. Wu Man takes this piece and flies with it. It is breathtaking. In the course of the entire disc, you'll find yourself swept away, exhilarating and seduced by her uncompromising command and devoted passion to this music. Supremely sublime, intensely performed, the music crosses all cultural boundaries and gets inside you, all as a result of Wu Man's commitment to the music. Nimbus did a great job recording her. You owe it to yourself to check this out and to catch her in performance. If you thought Michelle Kwon was amazing in "Crouching Tiger," wait til you see Wu Man command a concert audience. When she finished at Swarthmore, the crowd would not let her leave! Her encores included 2 traditional pieces, "White Snow in Spring", exhilaratingly passionate, and "Bright Moon," sublimely sensual and soothing, and in the afterglow of that spellbinding moment, she disappeared. Go, purchase this, catch her live!"