Review of Bion Tsang's latest CD
Times News
Lehighton, PA
March 27, 2010
Absorbing the Music
The first time I listened to the CD was in my car on the way to work, during a recent snowstorm. This is a drive that usually has me arriving at the office white-knuckled, with my heart pounding. Although my ride took about twice as long as usual I pulled into the parking lot feeling surprisingly calm and refreshed, and almost wishing my ride would have taken about a half-hour longer!
For as much as I enjoyed listening to this CD while driving, as my friend Tom Dressler, another talented musician, taught me years ago, the best way to listen to music is to just listen. Make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, relax and just let the music wash over you. While I rarely have the time or the inclination to settle in and listen, this CD has made me want to do just that to not just listen to the music, but actually absorb it so that I may appreciate it fully.
While listening to the sonatas I again get goose bumps; and the lively Hungarian Dances make me smile. At the end of the Sonata in E minor, Op. 38, as I hear the audience rise to its feet with wild applause, I want to join them, I am so enraptured.
There are times when great works of visual art have brought me to tears. I easily admit the performances captured on this CD have the same effect.
By Karen Cimms.
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Bion Tsang and Anton Nel appear on WGBH 99.5 All Classical's "Live from Fraser", which was broadcast on Thursday, April 22 at 7 PM. Tsang and Nel played works of Schumann, Chopin and Barber as well as two selections from their latest CD, Bion Tsang and Anton Nel Live in Concert: Brahms Cello Sonatas and Four Hungarian Dances. Recorded in WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio, Alan McLellan hosted and chatted with the artists. Listen to the podcast online at www.wgbh.org.