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Physical albums come with beautiful design, photos, and bilingual (CH/EN) liner notes about the compositions and the composer, it's worth the collection for physical album collectors! If you prefer digital album, it is available on major online streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, QQ Music, Netease Music, KKBOX... etc.!
Watch the CD Release Promotion:
Watch the Promotion from the Musicians on this Album:
About the Album:
Nikolai Kapustin is a Russian pianist and composer known for his distinctive compositional style combining both jazz and classical genres. His styles adapt jazz elements blending within classical forms. His compositions include music for big band instruments and symphonic instruments, and a large repertoire for solo piano. Kapustin’s music has slowly gained popularity in recent years but his string works, particularly the violin-related repertoire, remain less well-known as he has written one violin sonata and two published string quartet works. These highly crafted compositions possess specific challenges for not only in techniques, but also in the understanding of jazz language, articulation, and stylistic interpretation. These two genres merge with full vibrancy and provide fresh new sounds to the modern string repertoire.
Violinist Dr. Wang comes from a unique background. Her experience of the 12 years studying in the States exposed her with opportunities to get to know and collaborate with the local jazz musicians. She found other special string musicians during her classical studies who are also passionate about cross-genre and jazz music, whom she invited to record on this album. These unique string jazz players leaned for the jazzy style, aiming for the bluesy elements when interpreting the compositions recorded in this album. The liner notes include bilingual and academic information about the compositions and the composer, which is worth for the collection! This is an album for any string or jazz audience, you won't want to miss this uniquely interpreted album!
Review and Recommendations from Artists:
“…The quartet’s sense of groove and their attention to the stylistic details of the music really come through in the way that they lean in to the bluesy elements of Kapustin’s piece, milking every scoop and smear for all it’s worth... [They] sound as if the Basie band traded in their horns for some violins! …Although the piece is entirely notated, there’s a beautiful improvisatory quality to Kapustin’s Violin Sonata. Ching-Hsuan Wang’s joyful interpretation manages to capture the feeling of spontaneity that is at the core of jazz music. Where many violinists with different sensibilities might approach the sections of laid-back swing and bluesy dissonance with some trepidation, Ching-Hsuan Wang revels in these moments, highlighting them in a sincere and convincing way.”
- Mike Conrad, Downbeat Awards winning jazz composer
“Nikolai Kapustin, who is highly influenced by jazz, composed the Violin Sonata and String Quartet No. 1 recorded in this album. However, the pieces are rarely performed by string musicians with a jazz background, articulating with precise jazz language. Ching-Hsuan Wang and Dynamix String Quartet bring traditional jazz idioms such as swing, blues, and improvisation alive, blending into the modern classical genre with grace and knit-tight forms. Their interpretation indeed makes Kapustin’s music come to live.”
- Chang Su, big band director of Beijing Contemporary Music Academy
“Compositions by Nikolai Kapustin are considered highly crafted contributions to the modern music repertoire, as they illustrate the true meaning of cross-genre music. It not only requires the performers’ solid classical foundations, but also an in-depth comprehension of grooves in jazz music. This album by Dr. Ching-Hsuan Wang demonstrates that the two distinct genres do not conflict at all, but in fact merge with full vibrancy!”
- Stephen Huang, Golden Indie Music Awards winning jazz violinist
“With her virtuosic techniques and high caliber musicality, Violinist Ching-Hsuan Wang ought to be gaining spotlights in the Asian community in the 21st century! This album of Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin’s string compositions, combing essential jazz and classical musical elements, is highly recommended to be the album that you can’t miss from your collection!”
- Li-Pin Cheng，General Director of Taipei Chinese Orchestra
Maestro Kapustin passed away on July 2nd, 2020, a few weeks after this album was released.
Watch the Video of Ching-Hsuan's words to Maestro Kapustin, sharing the ballad movement of the Violin Sonata Op. 70: