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| Prelude to the Markgrafler guitar festival with the Chinese soloist Xuefei Yang – a virtuoso of refined sounds. |
| Mullheim, Germany – The opening of the seventh “Markgrafler Gitarrentage” festival was something of a sensation: the young Chinese soloist Xuefei Yang inspired her listeners with her virtuosity and a programme of select masterpieces. |
| The enthusiastic reviews that have appeared in the press about this far-eastern prodigy do not seem in the slightest exaggerated after hearing this concert. Xuefei Yang is already among the best guitarists in the world. |
| The motto of the festival “small but refined” was also reflected in the programme which began with three movements from the “Suite del recuerdo” by Jose Luis Merlin. At this point it was already clear: Xuefei Yang is a virtuoso of refined sounds; of the perfect balance between impression and expressiveness. She uses both of these in accordance with her awareness of style. In Regondi’s “Nocturne” she evoked a tender moonlit scene with a very precise tremelo and created an atmosphere of warmth and contentment. The studies of Heitor Villa Lobos were a marked contrast that at times revealed a demonic streak. Xuefei Yang knows where the strong accents belong. To close the first half of the programme she gave a breathtaking rendition of Carlo Domenicioni’s Koyunbaba, which revealed her understanding of the devilishly difficult structure of the work. Even the most difficult passages seem gracious and elegant in her hands. |
| This astonishing ease in her playing is indicative of the personal style of this performer and is combined with absolute concentration and gripping tension. In the second half of the programme Xuefei Yang makes a leap back in time and plays a Chaconne by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1004). This showed a subtle increase in drama, starting with a deliberate study in slow playing and finishing with a display of perfectly executed scales. |
| Then she demonstrated a surprising folkloric touch with her multi-textured and introverted interpretation of J. K. Mertz’s “Fantasie Hungroise”. |
| Exotic Soundscapes |
| And then yet another contrast: Huiran Wang’s “Yi Dance”, a staging of exotic soundscapes and lightly dancing sounds. Xue Fei Yang arranged this piece for guitar herself. The degree of her dynamic music making is evident in the fact that one finds oneself enraptured even when she plays quiet, subtle music. With William Walton’s “Five Bagatelles” demonstrated once again the whole, broad range of her ability, with capricious atmospheres, floating textures and generous use of strong accents. This was no superficial display of fine fingerwork. Xue Fei Yang stands totally in the service of the music. |
| Even in the encores she resisted the temptation the show off. “Sueno en la floresta (Augustin Barrios) and “Tango en Skai” (Roland Dyens) were further evidence of her truly phenomenal art. |
| Xue Fei Yang can be heard again on Saturday 13th July together with Hucky Eichelmann in the second part of the closing concert. |
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