The Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang and the Chinese-American pianist Lang Lang signed their latest albums for fans on Sunday at Beijing's FAB records store.
Chang signed copies of her Fire & Ice -- Popular Works for Violin and Orchestra album which was recorded under the label EMI with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and under the baton of Placido Domingo in 2001. And the pianist promoted his Deutsche Grammophon DVD Lang Lang Live at Carnegie Hall, which features his triumphant recital debut in November 2003.
"I am impressed that so many people here support classical music. These fans make me feel warmly welcomed although Beijing is so cold today," said Chang.
She also expressed her expectation to return to give a recital in Beijing.
Lang Lang was in high-spirits when he signed DVDs and posed with his fans for photos. He said that he was happy to see so many people buy his albums and wished less and less bought pirate discs.
Both musicians performed New Year concerts with the China Philharmonic Orchestra on January 1 and 2. Chang played Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Jules Massenet's Meditation, which are two pieces in the Fire & Ice Album.
Fire & Ice is one of 69 works the record label Jingwen has imported from EMI since October and 40 more will follow in January. The list includes records of most of contemporary instrumentalists such as violinists Itzhak Perlamn, Anne-Sopie Mutter and Maxim Vegnerov and pianist Mikhail Pletnev, conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Christoph Eschenbach and Simon Rattle, vocalists such as Domingo and Maria Callas and orchestras such as Viener Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.
"Jingwen has made a great effort to bring the domestic classical music fans these high-quality albums. It is a company specializing in pop music and not very experienced in classical." says Li Zizhao, Music China Exclusive Licensee of EMI.
"It is the first time that all the albums are 'Chinese version.' It means that all those introductions and reviews by the well-know foreign critics and attached in the original version of albums released for overseas markets have been translated into Chinese," she added.
Founded in 1994, Jingwen Disc Co Ltd is one of the most active recording companies in China. Starting with pop music and the promotion of Chinese singers, Jingwen is also one of the domestic companies to do business with world labels to import products such as Discovery, The American National Geography and Grammy albums.
(China Daily January 4, 2005)
