CD Review | Orchestre FILMharmonique, Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra “Dragon”

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GFN Classics
3.5
User Ratings (1 Votes)
5

Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra “Dragon”

Liu Fang, pipa; Orchestre FILMharmonique; Francis Choinière, conductor

GFN Classics, 2024

In this album, Conductor Francis Choinière leads the FILMharmonique orchestra in a concerto for pipa and orchestra, composed by Christian Thomas. The pipa is an ancient Chinese string instrument which, since the 1980s, has been increasingly incorporated into Western musical idioms. There have been various concertos written for the instrument by both Chinese and Western composers.

Thomas’s concerto is particularly cinematic, with a lot of colourful orchestration and rhythmic variety. It sounds like a typical movie score and, while there is nothing particularly original about this piece, it is quite well constructed. There is a good balance between the pipa and orchestra. One does not overwhelm the other, and there is a strong sense of dialogue between both parts throughout the piece.

The four movements centre around the life of a dragon. The first movement, The Dance of the Baby Dragon, evokes the “young Dragon’s awe at nature, still unaware of his power.” The last movement, The Dragon Emperor, is a “musical celebration of the Dragon’s wisdom and respect, embodying the cultural dialogue between East and West.”

My biggest issue with this album is its sheer abundance of clichés. Firstly, I would be hard-pressed to find a more clichéd stereotype for Chinese culture than the dragon. Why is this piece necessarily about the dragon? Although 2024 was the year of the dragon, the impetus behind this project seems to be more ambitious than simply celebrating a zodiac sign. Liu Fang suggests it is meant to “help define a new vision of the dragon for (Western) audiences.”

To me, the stated purpose of this project seems rather forced. I do not feel this piece represents any sort of groundbreaking dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures. There have been many concertos for pipa and orchestra before this one, and there will likely be many after. It should be appreciated for what it is: a solid cinematic piece of music.