Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

A CONCERT by Wu Man, “The Silk Road Musicians and Huayin Shadow Puppet,” held at the Shenzhen Concert Hall on Friday, was probably the one most pertinent to the theme of the Shenzhen Belt and Road International Music Festival, as it presented music from the countries along the ancient Silk Road.

Pipa virtuoso and ethnomusicologist Wu collaborated with Uygur singer Senuber Tursun, Tajik Dutar master Sirojiddin Juraev and Italian Tamburello master Andrea Piccioni to perform famous folk songs, including “Joyous Pamirs” and “A Song of Kazakhstan.” Wu also played solo pieces “Dance of the Yi People” and “Sanliu.”

The performance received applause from the audience. “While I was watching the performance, it was like having a variety of delicacies from different cities along the Belt and Road,” said an audience member.

Wu said, “Different musical instruments have different personalities.” If the first half conveyed an image of a pretty lady dancing to gentle, lyrical tunes, the second half was a rock and roll band gleefully shouting and banging their way on primitive instruments.

The Huayin Shadow Puppet Band joined Wu to present classic pieces, including “Ancient Song of Central Shaanxi Plain” and “The Spirit of Han Dynasty.”

The concert ended with the shadow puppet show, “Three Heroes Fighting Against Lyu Bu,” adapted from the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The puppet show was accompanied by Wu’s pipa tunes.