Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    THERE is something new about “Le Grand Tango,” Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla’s masterpiece for cello and piano. The 1982 work is a Nuevo Tango piece renowned for expressing moods ranging from the fiery to the melancholic. Cellist Trey Lee will add his improvisation to the piece at his upcoming concert.

    “In Piazzolla’s tango music, when the solo instrument has a long note, it shouldn’t always just be a long note. That’s your chance to improvise. He’s saying ‘Go ahead, I’m just giving you the bass note, improvise!’” said Lee. “Good tango players never play the same piece twice. There’s always something new. I hope my interpretation will be interesting.”

    Will Lee’s improvisation put icing on the cake? If you want to hear his performance, go to the Shenzhen Concert Hall on May 11, where the Hong Kong-born cellist will play with Italian pianist Bruno Canino.

    For this concert, Lee has also selected Beethoven’s “12 Variations on ‘See the Conqu’ring Hero Comes’ WoO 45,” Chopin’s “Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op. 65,” Schumann’s “Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70” and Janacek’s “Pohadka” (“Fairy Tale”).

    “This Beethoven piece is a very nice way to open a concert,” Lee said.

    “It’s not typical heavy Beethoven. The music is light and accessible. When the audience settles down, you don’t jump right into something very heavy and deep. The piece is based on Handel’s oratorio, with Baroque melody in the late Classical and early Romantic interpretation, so your ears get to experience a lot of different types of characters and emotions in the 12-minute piece,” he said.

    “The concert will be an incredible journey. We have Argentine tango, Czech folk and a tender Schumann piece. It’s a mix of cultures. In terms of playing, going from such a strict interpretive style, like Beethoven, to a freer style, like Piazzolla, it’s very liberating.”

    Lee has been lauded for his elegant style that conveys emotional depth and understanding of musical ideas. Late maestro Lorin Maazel once praised him as “a superb cellist” after conducting him as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.

    He started playing the cello as a child, encouraged by his mother, a musician from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. His two elder sisters studied the piano and the violin because his mother hoped to form a trio. The three children later moved to the United States to study at the prestigious Julliard School Pre-College Division.

    Lee said his childhood dream was to be the president of a company, so he transferred to economics in his undergraduate study in Harvard University. “I didn’t hate the cello itself. I just hated practicing. When you were a kid, you didn’t want to be locked in a room practicing,” said Lee, who said he only practiced the cello for 45 minutes each day.

    After working as a consultant for a year, Lee felt he was not suited to the business world. He dusted off his cello at age 23 and began to practice six hours a day. Two years later, he obtained his master’s degree in music from the New England Conservatory of Music.

    “My teacher, Laurence Lesser, suggested I move to Europe because he believed music is important not just technically but also intellectually. In Europe, every country has a different style and it’s nice to listen to the same composer with different ideas,” said Lee.

    Lesser’s advice goes to the heart of how Lee approaches music. He subsequently studied in Madrid and Cologne and gained fame after winning first prize at the International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in 2004. He traveled and performed extensively in Europe, exploring European history and culture. His repertoire not only includes classical big names but also Finnish and Argentine tangos. On Lee’s first two EMI albums, The Strad magazine called Lee a master of the subtle transition between moods, delivering pieces with persuasive panache.

    “In Europe, the governments support classical music much more than in America, so there are more opportunities. In America, it’s more about the market, so if nobody wants to listen to classical music, then there are no concerts. In Europe, the government will pay for them even if there are not many audience members for some concerts,” said Lee, who now lives in Berlin and splits his performance season between Europe and China.

    “Another difference in Europe is that they respect the style of composers more, while in America, they emphasize more your own interpretation. Americans want you to be different from everybody else even if it is not respectful to composers. I think there’s good and bad to both, but I prefer the European style.”

    Having been in Europe for over 10 years, everything that he experienced as a traveling musician has made him think more about cultural connections. “My life straddles three cultures: I was from Hong Kong, grew up in America and now live in Europe, so I see music definitely as a cross-cultural collaboration.”

    This is the philosophy behind his Musicus Society, a nonprofit organization Lee founded in 2010 in Hong Kong to stimulate artistic exchange and nurture local young people.

    “In Europe and America, I see opportunities for young people getting support from the governments or private sponsors. While in Hong Kong, many aspiring musicians don’t think it’s possible for them to be professional or world-class. I think to fulfill your dream is not just about your own hard work but actually about the efforts from the entire community or society,” said Lee, the artistic director of the Musicus Society.

    A spinoff of the project is the Musicus Fest, which brings together international artists, local musicians and students. One part of the annual festival is Musicus Heritage. It brings world-class performers to historical sites in Hong Kong, putting the music in context with the historical and cultural significance of the surroundings.

    Lee said this form of performance is common in Europe but people here regard it as very unique. “It’s typical in Europe to play in a 1,000-year-old church. Hong Kong doesn’t have many old buildings so I think we really should focus or put the spotlight on the heritage buildings before they disappear.”

    It’s also that cross-cultural philosophy that has taken Lee into some interesting areas. In 2012, he re-arranged and co-composed “The Dream of the Red Chamber Suite” with Taiwanese composer Tung Chao-ming based on a 1980s original score by Beijing composer Wang Liping.

    “For musicians today, you have to be open-minded and flexible because you work with people from many different countries. Also like all artists you have to be accepting to absorb new ideas. My teacher Frans Helmerson told me to always look for more and push the limits,” said Lee. “I’m now collecting distinctive cultural-flavored melodies from around the world that I think will be good on the cello. I hope to bring them to the audience in the future.”

    Lee’s concert takes place at 8 p.m. May 11 at the Shenzhen Concert Hall. Tickets are 180 to 580 yuan at the door.