Yi Yi

Chen was China's first woman to be awarded a master's degree in composition; she often incorporates Chinese instruments and melodies in her music. Born in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, Chen Yi (b. 1953) learned the violin at a young age and continued to play the instrument up to her graduate student years at Columbia University in the late 1980s. In fact, during the Cultural Revolution, Chen had continued to practise the violin even after having been sent to the countryside. By the early 1970s, she had returned to the city where she served as violinist with the local operatic troupe. All of these experiences provided inspiration for the compositions featured on this CD, whether in borrowed operatic and folk tunes, calligraphic gestures, huqin fiddling techniques, imitative sonorities of Chinese traditional instruments (sheng, suona, xiao or qin), inventive use of percussion, or in the vivid depiction of nature. Chen has lived and breathed Chinese operatic tradition and folk culture for decades, while at the same time steeping herself in the study of the Western canon of music.

An offering of two iconic British cello concertos, recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and distinguished cellist Li-Wei Qin, separated by an atmospheric and musically detailed recording of Britten’s Four Sea Interludes conducted by Zhang Yi.

On an isolated road passing through the vast barren plains of Tibet, a truck driver, who has accidentally run over a sheep, chances upon a young man, who is hitching a ride. As they drive and chat, the truck driver notices that his new friend has a silver dagger strapped to his leg. He comes to understand that his man is out to kill someone, who wronged him earlier in life. As he drops the hitchhiker off at a fork in the road, little does the truck driver realize that their short time together has changed everything, and that their destinies are inexorably intertwined.

The exceptionalism of eighteenth-century society marked every sector of contemporary culture, promoting not solely the liberation of humanity, but also profoundly affecting science, literature, philosophy, politics, and artistic traditions. This cultural transformation, called early on “Les Lumières,” was devoted to raising general education, while confronting superstition, dogma and prejudice. As Alexander Pope declared in the Essay on Man, “The proper study of mankind is man” indelibly locating the cultural movement in humanity itself. Yet, the Enlightenment, whose earliest stirrings were in French rationalism and English empiricism, transcended nationality and reached across European borders even to the shores of the Atlantic colonies. The relative and momentary peace in Europe after 1715 coupled to a rising prosperity and the premium placed on “knowledge,” fueled an increase in international travel. The affluent, educated, and often aristocratic travelers of the North headed south, primarily to Italy. Their collective travels to the Italian peninsula formed the “Grand Tour.”

At Pashupatinath, the oldest and most sacred temple in Kathmandu, crowds of devout Hindus come every day to cremate their dead at the edge of the Baghmati river. The bodies of the deceased are reduced to ashes according to custom, offerings floated out onto the water on banana leaves. For the homeless children who live among the alleyways, plazas, and ancient buildings of this holy complex, these funeral rites are integral to daily survival, as they collect food and money offerings brought by the mourners, scraping out a living in a place full of the dead and dying.

Grammy Award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman and fortepianist Yi-heng Yang transport the listener to Where Only Stars Can Hear Us with this album of songs by Franz Schubert that encapsulates emotions of joy and sorrow, darkness and light. In life and music, Grammy Award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman is a master storyteller. Where Only Stars Can Hear Us is a journey through the songs of Franz Schubert, a composer who was able to capture joy and sorrow in a single moment like no other. Karim's voyage traverses themes of darkness and yearning, guided throughout by moonbeams and shining stars. His partner is historical keyboardist Yi-heng Yang who plays on a fortepiano built by Joseph Simon in Vienna in 1830, adding an air of authenticity from Schubert's time.