From The Salt Lake Tribune

Wednesday, March 4, 1998 By Jeff Manookian

The sheer transparency of sound created by the Shanghai Quartet lent itself nicely to effortless listening.

The finely honed ensemble (violinists Weigang Li and Yiwen Jiang, violist Honggang Li and cellist James Wilson), under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City, presented a varied and highly entertaining program at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Sunday evening.

Schubert's Op. 125, No. 1 stradled the interpretive fence between seriousness and playfulness.

The centerpiece of the concert was the somewhat controversial "Poems From Tang," written in 1995 by composer Zhou Long, a Beijing native.

In four evocative movements, inspired by the writings of poets from the Tang Dynasty, "Poems" indeed captured the sweet and sour attention of the audience.

The menagerie of stringed instruments were veritably transformed into a sound-effects machine via the 44-year-old composer's demands of every possible type of timbre his players could muster. Making generous use of artificial harmonics, a difficult technique, the Shanghai played with effortless expertise.

A wry lyricism of pentatonic melodies, gingerly spiced with delicate tone-bending, permeated the composition. In addition, the composer included wrote in a quantity of percussive effects through a stir-fry of rambunctious pizzicatos and finger-tapping on their instruments' casings. The finale movement, "Song of Eight Unruly Tipsy Poets," realistically and humorously assimilated musical intoxication.

Brilliant in their all around ensemble, the Shanghai Quartet was razor-sharp in its bravura execution and played with a single mind and heart in this new and creative composition.

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