FANG Liu
Le Son du Soie

AC116


Accords Croises
Cina

 

Finely balanced meeting of minds and instruments

For Chinese expatriate Liu Fang, this CD represents a return to her roots, even if the title is a misnomer: the silk strings of the pipa lute have been replaced by metal ones, while the silk of her guzheng zither has given way to nylon. The rationale is familiar, however – like other virtuosi from refined and exclusive cultures, she has reached out to collaborate with musicians worlds far removed from her own.

So here come oud (lute) player Alla from Algeria, flautist Henri Tournier, and kora (harp-lute) master Ballaké Sissoko from Mali, but the nice thing is that they have all willingly immersed themselves in Liu Fang’s quintessentially Chinese philosophy. In a charming song called ‘Primary Meeting’, Sissoko creates a bed of soft warmth over which Liu’s brightly plangent instrument can descant. Alla’s approach to the oud recalls that of the late Hamza El-Din, but the unlikely confluence of pipa and oud – light and heavy wood respectively – permits a wonderfully dreamy improvisation.

As a soloist, Liu Fang does not generate the drama we get from her compatriot Wu Man, whose pipa can roar thunderously, but in a long piece like ‘The King of Chu doffs his Armour’ she plays a long and patient game, delicately calibrating the mood and colour changes. Some of these pieces display a ceremonial seriousness, others the poised stillness of Chinese landscape art. The whole thing is beautifully paced.
Michael Church
(from Songlines # 39)