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Written 28/11/07
Our first professional concert of the new season got off to a cracking
start with the amazing Xeufei Yang. The concert Hall was filled to
capacity with many extra chairs being required. Some of the audience had
travelled from all over the South of England to see a concert of some of
the best pieces in the guitar repertoire. Xuefei had forsaken her usual
Greg Smallman guitar for the evening and played a Jose Ramirez Elite
Model 2006 guitar.
 Xuefei was born in Beijing and has played the guitar since the age of 7.
She is credited with many firsts - the 1st guitarist from her country to
study classical guitar in the West; the 1st Chinese student to receive
an international scholarship from the Associated Board of the Royal
Schools of Music. Xuefei has given concerts all over the world - China,
Hong Kong, Macau, Spain, Australia, Taiwan, Japan, Portugal, Singapore,
Holland and the USA. It was therefore a great honour and privilege to
have her return to Bognor Regis for our opening concert of the season.
The programme was a selection of varied pieces which gave Xuefei the
chance to ably demonstrate the different techniques and styles of
playing. Bach's Suite in E major demonstrated Bach at his best - bright
and sparkling, then stately and majestic through to joyful. Sor's
Variations on Mozart's Magic Flute was played with great conviction and
never dragged as can sometimes happen.
The pieces by Albeniz, the haunting Asturias, the romantic Cordoba and
the vibrant Sevilla were all vividly brought to life. The more recent
South American pieces by Barrios, Villa Lobos, Lauro and Morel were
executed with great dexterity and exhibited a wide range of dynamics
being strong and powerful and then extremely delicate. Some pieces were
played so quickly that the fingers could not be seen to move presumably
strobed by the lighting or too fast for the eye to see! However, the
interpretation of the music was always paramount in the playing.
Xuefei rewarded the enthusiastic applause from the audience with two
encores - the oriental Spring Breeze by Deng and Li, and La Cumpasita by
Rodriguez. A truly wonderful tango played with so much panache and
greatly enjoyed by all. I cannot help but think of Jack Lemmon and Joe E
Brown's dance sequence in the film Some Like it Hot whenever I hear this
piece.
It is not often that I buy cds, but on this occasion I bought Xuefei's
Romance de Amor and it is the best buy I have made in a long while. I
just cannot stop playing it! Xuefei is one of those musicians who just
ooze music. I am sure she could have carried on playing all night
without repeating any piece. It is truly a privilege to be able to see
and hear such world class performers in our small recital hall. Let us
hope that it will not be too long before Xuefei returns to play for us
again.
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