Listening to Wang Zhen's new CD "Granada," you begin to understand his deep love for the guitar. From the serene "Evocation," the saltatorial "Sad Tango in You," to the desolate "Pyramids," with a single guitar Wang depicts a rich world of human feelings.
"To me, the charm of the guitar lies in its timbre," Wang said. "Though the volume of the guitar is inferior to the piano and its continuity inferior to the violin, guitar has a sound more tender than the piano and richer than the violin."
For his new CD, Wang selected master works by contemporary and modern composers including Jose luis Merin, Maximo Diego Pujol, Marshall Crutcher, Fernando Bustamante, Agustin Barrios, Josep Broca, Joaquin Turina and Isaac Albeniz.
Although the guitar has been traced to Asia thousands of years ago, it was quite foreign to Chinese people until the 1970s.
Wang said it was not easy for him to learn the instrument some 25 years ago.
With neither experienced teachers nor good textbooks, Wang taught himself to play.
Born in 1962 in Tianjin, Wang was influenced by his music-loving father and brother.
Wang first studied yangqin (Chinese zither) with his elder brother who later became a professor of the instrument.
However, when he heard the guitar for the first time at the age of 16, Wang was immediately captivated by what he called its "heaven sound."
Wang said that when he began to play the guitar, he had no idea that it would lead him to become a professional player and only felt that he "just liked playing it and could not give it up."
At first, Wang even did not have the nylon strings for classical guitars.
So he started with metal strings. He copied music scores by hand and dubbed tape cassettes of classical guitar music.
At 18, Wang got his first standard classical guitar and delved deeper into the art of guitar playing.
Soon he could make a living by teaching guitar.
Guitar gained popularity in China in the 1980s, when there were at least 10 million guitar players in the country, official production and sales figures of guitars show.
At the same time, various guitar competitions were being held in many big cities.
Wang won the first prize in the "Parrot Cup" guitar competition in 1988 in Tianjin.
As the winner in the Tianjin competition, he took part in a national competition, where he met superb players from other cities.
Due to limited access to new music, they focused on guitar works of the classical period, mainly playing works by Fernando Sor, Mauro Giuliani and Ferdinando Carulli and some others.
In 1989 and 1990, Wang held concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Hangzhou.
In 1991, Wang's first classical guitar album was released by Shanghai Audio and Video Press.
However, Wang had always longed to further study his chosen instrument.
In 1992, renowned Spanish guitarist Jose Henriquez gave a lecture at the Segovia Guitar Training Center, an organization established in Beijing with the help of the Spanish Government.
Henriquez met Wang, and impressed by his talent, invited him to study guitar in Spain.
In 1994 Wang, as one of the first Chinese guitarists to study in Spain, went to the Conservatorio Granolles de Barcelona and Conservatorio de Liceu to pursue advanced studies.
It was there that he was exposed to the whole repertory and different styles of classical guitar, Wang said.
At the same time, he began to learn the latest guitar music, much of which requires the use of new performing skills.
However, music was not his only gain.
Wang said that the life, folk arts and architecture in Spain greatly influenced the development of his own performing style.
"I was astonished when standing before the Alhambra, the ruins of the Moors," said Wang.
"Only when you are surrounded by the marvelous arches, labyrinthic gardens and quiet sculptures can you really understand where Tarrega got his inspiration to compose 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra'."
Wang's travels to Spain also exposed him to local Spanish music elements, with which Albeniz composed many of his works that are entitled after the names of places, such as "Sevilla," "Asturias" and "Malaguena."
In 1997, Wang finished his study in Spain and came back to Beijing. Returning from the hometown of guitar to China, which is home to the largest guitar population in the world and an even larger population that knows virtually nothing of the instrument, Wang said he felt responsible for promoting guitar music.
Together with Li Huizhe, a guitarist who also studied in Spain, and Guo Yucheng, a teacher of classical guitar with the Capital Union University, Wang founded the Beijing Guitar Trio.
"I enjoy playing onstage with other musicians," said Wang. "By performing as a group, we can introduce guitar to more people."
The guitar group released a CD in 1999 titled "Spain Impression," including solo, duo and trio works.
They have held concerts in a number of cities including Chengdu, Shenzhen and Kunming.
They consider their concerts to be successful both artistically and commercially, Wang said.
In his homebase - the Beijing Concert Hall - Wang holds about 10 regular concerts every year, half of which are low-price concerts with lecture sessions.
With the cheapest tickets priced at a mere 10 yuan (US$1.20), these lectures and concerts attract a great number of audiences.
Besides solos, duos and trios, Wang also employs various other performing forms in his concerts.
He has incorporated the sounds of the violin, flute, string quartet and orchestra into his performances.
Wang participated in two successive Beijing Music Festivals in 1998 and 1999.
Talking about the development of classical guitar in China, Wang said there are two obstacles now.
The first one is the lack of good instruments. China's guitar manufacturing industry is still in its early stages and does not produce guitars that satisfy professional players.
The second one is the lack of professional teachers. Few Chinese conservatories offer formal education courses in classical guitar performance, so it is still difficult for guitar players to receive adequate direction.
To share what he learned in Spain, Wang established two "Wang Zhen Guitar Classrooms," one at the Beijing Concert Hall Music School and the other at the Arts Training Centre of China National Symphony Orchestra.
Wang is building a larger and larger repertoire including works from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods and works by modern composers.
"The classical works are an important part of my repertory. But I am more attracted by modern works now since they are closer to modern people," said Wang.
However, Chinese composers have not contributed much in terms of composition for the guitar. Besides Tan Dun's "Concerto for Guitar 'Yi2'," there are very few, if any, well-known guitar works by Chinese composers, Wang pointed out.
"Guitar developed from Spain, but became an international instrument," said Wang. "I hope China will have more guitarists and guitar works."
(China Daily February 20, 2002)
