FRANKFURT—Musicians Mr. Oliver Krenz and his friend, Ms. Jana Cuske, were delighted to see a show that represents true Chinese culture, as performed by the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company.
Shen Yun has honored Frankfurt with its performance for many years, performing again in the Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, a well-known culture and conference center, in 2013.
Mr. Krenz plays the trumpet, and Ms. Cuske plays the German flute, also called the transverse flute, a side-blown flute that is held horizontally when played. Her instrument is similar to the Chinese dizi, or bamboo flute, which is one of the most popular instruments in traditional Chinese music and is used in the Shen Yun’s performances.
The Shen Yun Performing Arts website tells its audiences, “Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture.”
The friends saw the opening show Friday and attended the Shen Yun show again on Saturday night because they felt inspired and wanted to learn more.
“First, it was the excitement of seeing something new, something we had not seen before—including the contact with a different culture, new people, and new music,” said Ms. Cuske. “All these were the reasons for seeing the show a second time.”
“We wanted to discover the real reason for bringing this show to Frankfurt,” she added. “Today we learned so much more and found undreamed-of possibilities. Discovering more of a culture we had not learned about was included in the possibilities.”
“Loved the show,” said Mr. Krenz. “Wonderful,” added Ms. Cuske.
“This is our first and second time watching a show about true Chinese culture and what is of importance is that we finally learned something about that culture,” explained Mr. Krenz. “China is so far removed from Germany—well, from Europe—so this is a great opportunity.”
“The Shen Yun Orchestra combines the spirit, beauty, and distinctiveness of Chinese music with the precision, power, and grandeur of the Western symphony orchestra. The result—two great traditions producing one refreshing sound,” states an entry on the Shen Yun website.
As a musician, Ms. Cuske listened to the orchestra with her acoustically fine-tuned musician’s ears.
“I can only say that I loved the music. Also, having included original Chinese instruments in the orchestra was a splendid idea,” said Ms. Cuske.
There was much more she wanted to say about the music: “I felt great harmony emanating from the orchestra. Yes, there are different tonal qualities in Chinese music than we are used to, but it was a marvelous sound. What made it especially pleasurable was the inclusion of flutes and plucked string instruments. Chinese instruments elicit a much softer tone than we are used to.”
Mr. Krenz could not agree more with his friend’s observations, adding, “I was amazed by the tones—especially the one coming from the soft sounding instrument, [the erhu]. That was just out of this world. The tone pleased my ears. It was a tone that I had heard before and just can’t remember when and where.”
Bringing the dance performance into the conversation, Ms. Cuske said, “The dance performance—the dancers—to see for the first time, especially since it is something that has been kept hidden for so long, is fantastic.”
She added, “It is quite something to learn about and get into contact with Chinese culture through the Shen Yun show.”
Mr. Krenz said that the show exhibited “softness, pureness, and flowing movements, which are representations of pureness, grace, and respect for each other.”
With reporting by Wen Jing.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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