Silk Road sounds for the Chinese New Year

The Chinese community celebrated the Year of the Dog with a spectacular display of fireworks Sunday evening in Corbett Auditorium. The fireworks were provided by Xu Ke, virtuoso of the Chinese erhu and a native of Nanjing, China.

Xu Ke joined cellist Edward Arron and pianist Wang Li for an unforgettable evening of "Music Along the Silk Road" -- music inspired by the exotic sounds from many cultures along the ancient Silk Road trade route. Both Xu Ke and Arron toured with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project.

(Arron's parents, by the way, were well-known members of Cincinnati's musical community: His father, Ron, was a violist in the Cincinnati Symphony and recently retired from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. His mother, Judith Arron, who died several years ago, left her post as manager of the symphony to become executive director of Carnegie Hall.)

The program opened with a familiar "Czardas" by Monti. But unlike anything you've ever heard, it was arranged for erhu and piano. The erhu, a 2,000-year-old instrument that probably originated in Mongolia, only has two strings that must be played without benefit of finger board or frets -- sort of suspended in mid-air. So it was jaw-dropping to see what Xu Ke could do in myriad showstopping numbers throughout the evening.

The Czardas is a well-known Hungarian showstopper, but the soloist, who held his erhu in his lap, showed that he not only possesses phenomenal technique, but is an artist of the highest musicianship. Everything was at his disposal, and somehow he made it look easy -- glissandos, left hand pizzicatos, double-stops and an expanded range of four octaves (from the usual two) up to the highest of the high harmonics.

The music on the program was a blend of East and West in several ways. The musicians commissioned Chinese composers to write "authentic" music -- using folk rhythms, Asian scales and improvisatory melodies, but written in Western forms and notation so that anyone could play it.

"Scenery of Tianshan" was nostalgic and exotic, with moments of Indian-like rhythms and a kind of serene beauty that was like walking down an ever-changing ancient road.

There was also a blend of instruments: the modern cello and piano, set against the ancient erhu. The combination resulted a fusion that was both accessible and stunning for its color, inventiveness and earthy folk quality.

Arron, 29, a young lion of the cello, was able to "bend" a pitch to evoke the high-pitched wail of the erhu, an instrument he believes is the ancestor of the cello. In the piece "Taiping Drum," the two instruments imitated the drum in absolute synch with split-second precision and a great deal of flair.

The "Atoshi Suite" -- a trio written by the pianist's father, Wang Yanqiao -- was beautifully written and full of atmosphere. It unfolded almost cinematically, through "Morning of the Atoshi," followed by a somewhat mournful lullaby and an exuberant wedding dance that included some virtuoso "spiccato" for the cello. (It's still perhaps a work in progress; the players announced that one movement was getting its U.S. premiere, and another its world premiere.)

Xu Ke, with Arron and Wang Li, treated with some bon-bons of the string encore repertory: Godard's deeply moving "Berceuse de Jocelyn" and Edward Elgar's "Salut d'amour." If you closed your eyes, you might have thought it was Mischa Elman.

After intermission came more amazing feats. The chirping quality Xu Ke achieved on his erhu in "Song of birds in a desolate mountain" was simply unbelievable. "First Erhu Rhapsody" had all the fireworks one associates with a Hungarian rhapsody and more. Xu Ke played the collage of irresistible tunes with tremendous passion, building to a frenzy at breakneck speed. He also used his erhu as a percussion instrument, slapping its bottom with his hands, or slapping bow against wood.

The grand finale was a selection of numbers with the CCM Philharmonia led by Chinese native Chen Lin, newest member of CCM's conducting faculty. The erhu player composed "Wind and Rhythm" to evoke the scenery of Shanbei in the north of China. It opened with an exquisite "bird call" in a flute, and featured gently melodic folk tunes, built on a pentatonic scale.

It took you to a different place and it took my breath away.

This was also our first look at Chen Lin, part of a new wave of talent bursting out of China. Not much older than her students, the 27-year-old led with an easy grace and confidence, becoming animated in the joyous moments.

Xu Ke brought down the house (a near-capacity crowd was there) in a joyful Chinese New Year piece, using a smaller erhu that projected a harsher, more extroverted tone.

He ended with another showstopper: Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee."

"Everyone knows the violin, piano and cello, but not everyone knows Chinese instruments," he explained to the audience in broken English. "I am trying to revolutionize the use of the instrument."

Surely, he has done just that.

The concert benefits the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Music Society.