Composer: Isaac Albéniz, Stephen Goss, Enrique Granados, Francisco Tárrega, Wang Hui-Ran
Performer: Xuefei Yang
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 2063222
Release: 2008
Size: 263 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Albéniz: Sevilla (from Suite Española, Op. 47)
Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232
02. IV. Córdoba. Andantino (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
03. V. Seguidillas. Allegro molto (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
Goss: The Chinese Garden
04. I. Jasmine Flower
05. II. Red Flowers Blooming All Over the Mountain
06. III. Blue Orchid
07. Tárrega: The Carnival of Venice (Variations on a Theme of Paganini)
Chen: Violin Concerto, “Butterfly Lovers”
08. I. Falling in Love (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
Granados: Valses poéticos
09. I. Preludio. Vivace molto (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
10. II. Vals melódico. Melodioso (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
11. III. Vals apasionado. Tempo de Valse noble (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
12. IV. Vals lento. Tempo de Valse lente (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
13 .V. Vals humorístico. Allegro umoristico (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
14. VI. Vals brillante. Allegretto (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
15. VII. Vals sentimental. Quasi ad libitum (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
16. VIII. Vals mariposa. Vivo (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
17. IX. Vals ideal. Presto – Andante – Tempo de Valse (Arr. for Guitar by Xuefei Yang)
18. Hui-Ran: Yi Dance
19. Huang: Plum Blossoms in the Snow (Arr. for Guitar by Gerald Garcia)
20. Luobin: A La Mu Han, Chinese Traditional (Arr. for Guitar by Gerald Garcia)
Supremely talented guitarist Xuefei Yang’s second disc for EMI Classics, 40 Degrees North, comprises guitar music from Spain and China.
Xuefei Yang was not only the first guitarist in China to enter music school and later to graduate from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with a Bachelor of Arts degree, but she was also the first Chinese guitarist to study classical guitar in the West.
The disc is so titled because the capital cities of both countries lie near latitude 40 degrees north. As Yang says: “To me, this parallel has come to symbolize the connection I feel to the music of both countries.”
The Spanish repertoire includes original solo guitar compositions (such as Tárrega’s Carnival of Venice) as well as arrangements of pieces written for piano or two guitars (Albéniz’s Seguidillas). Many of these works appear in new arrangements by Yang herself.
Since China has no established guitar repertoire of its own, the Chinese pieces on this recording originate either from arrangements of traditional Chinese pieces (including two traditional Chinese folk songs arranged for guitar by Gerald Garcia), or new compositions based on Chinese themes (such as Welsh composer Stephen Goss’s Chinese Garden, written especially for Yang).
Also included on this recording is Butterfly Lovers, originally written as a violin concerto using Western orchestral instruments and arguably the best known piece of Chinese music.