Of course, the Chinese media has nothing but glowing comments for our performances in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia of the Buddhist Symphony. I say of course not because the glowing comments are not necessarily deserved, but because in the spirit of glorifying everything Chinese, Xinhua is making this concert incredibly larger than life. The performances were acceptable for this orchestra, though I do believe the chorus could have done with several more rehearsals. Still, I enjoyed the way the work came off. The real problems during the tour happened behind the scenes, but I’ll save that dirty little story for another day. Other reviews are available at the following links:
- http://english.sz.gov.cn/ln/200705/t20070511_199224.htm
- http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_37/node_84/2007/05/11/117884474119512.shtml
I have to say that I quite enjoyed performing the work, its 80-minute length notwithstanding. I in fact gave an interview to CCTV while in Jakarta detailing some of what I most appreciated about the work, mainly that it doesn’t sound like a Chinese work trying to sound Western, a “symphony with Chinese Characteristics” as it were. The Buddhist and Chinese themes all sound organic to the work as opposed to so much of the music we play, which ends up sounding like cheesy orchestrations a la 19th century of Chinese folk tunes done badly.
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