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| Playing the classical guitar is an understated sort of art; even the biggest moments tend to be relatively subtle and thoughtful. Subtle and thoughtful are not exactly mass-market commodities, however. That made it a pleasure to find a sold-out house Saturday night for the St. Louis Classical Guitar Society. |
| The artist turned out to be very special. Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang, in her local debut, combined technical brilliance with insight and charisma during the concert at the Ethical Social Society of St. Louis. |
| In the program's first half, yang established her Spanish guitar creed with a selection of well-played familiar works: Isaac Albeniz's "Asturias," Augustin Barrios Mangore's "Un Sueno en la Floresta," " Tres piezas espanolas" by Joaquin Rodrigo, and a selection of etudes by Heitor Villa-Lobos. There were no surprises here, but Yang performed all the works with a sense of freshness and commitment. |
| In the second half, she moved to music composed for her: Carlo Domeniconi's gorgeous "I Qing," Steve Goss' "Raise the Red Lantern" and Huian Wang's "Yi Dance." These pieces, in a wide-ranging variety of moods, used Asian harmonies and transitions to excellent effect. "Lantern" showed Yang's facility at the extreme upper end of the fingerboard and let her add a rhythm section. |
| "Yi Dance." in particular, was a beautiful adaptation of a Chinese idiom to a Western instrument, but there wasn't a bad choice on the program. |
| Completely engaged and completely engaging, Yang, who turns 30 this year, is an outstanding musican. The only drawback to he performance was in her speaking, which was so soft as to be inaudible even one-third of the way to the back. |
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| Sarah Bryan Miller |
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