The husband and wife team of Chen Yi and Zhou Long is getting a lot of attention both in concert and on disc, and deservedly so. Chen Yi's percussion concerto evocatively comprises three titled movements: The Night Deepens, Prelude to Water Tune, and Speedy Wind. The second movement asks the soloist to recite a beautiful Chinese poem while playing, and while Glennie seems to do a terrific job (or so a Chinese friend tells me), a male voice as originally intended would have made for a better contrast with the light and diaphanous orchestral and percussion sonorities. Still, it's a fine work.

Best of all, though, is Zhou Long's Out of Tang Court, for orchestra and traditional Chinese Tang ensemble (consisting of gu-zheng, er-hu, and pi-pa). The music is hard to describe--sometimes grand, sometimes mysterious, always ear-catching--and although thoroughly modern in tone and technique, it's obviously grounded in a rich musical tradition, and accordingly has a genuinely timeless quality. Zhou Long has a bunch of CDs out or on the way, and he's certainly a composer to watch. As with all of the music on this disc, the performance is stunning and the sonics are state-of-the-art. The Musgrave is kind of a dud, but if you're otherwise interested, don't let that put you off. [8/5/2004]