China Journal, pt. 1

As I have time here at JFK, let me share some notes with you:
1)  China is going to be a large part of the future of our music and our art.  It may not be exclusively the future, but let there be no doubt, the Chinese classical music scene is vibrant, rich and they are ready to go and grow.  Meanwhile, look at Detroit, Honolulu.  "Ni hao," anyone?
2)  Desire is not enough.  La voglia non basta.  Wanting to be a major player on the world classical music scene will demand much more of the Chinese than sheer numbers of talented musicians, new concert halls and countless hours of practicing.  Lang Lang is not representative, to the best of my awareness, of the general level in China.  There is still a lot of remedial work to do.
3)  Will somebody other than me please program some French music in China?  Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc, Faure, Saint-Saens, Bizet, Delibes .  Something, please.
4)  I am advised by Chinese colleagues that triple meter, in the form of waltz or dance, is foreign to the Chinese sensibility and to its traditions.  True, a lot of music for traditional Chinese orchestra (much of it very beautiful and very exciting) is in 2/4 time.  Still, the inability to negotiate or to feel in 3 is a limiting factor, even when playing Tchaikovsky 4.
5)  So many gifted singers, so few (if any) coaches.  Chinese singers are compromised by their unwillingness or inability to learn with precision either the meaning or the pronunciation of Western languages.  I know that rolled "r" is difficult, likewise a proper frontal "l," but if a boychick from New Jersey can do it, so can the Xianese.  Meanwhile, they must put away the Pavarotti recordings (hey, with all due respect, he didn't read music, may he rest in peace) and get out the dictionaries.  Let's make Nico Castel our patron saint.
6)  Just because you like the aria, it doesn't mean you get to sing it.  "L'altra notte" is a lovely piece; please leave it for Caballe.  No, you don't get to sing "Lamento di Federico" just because it is pretty.  By the way, if you sing too big in the middle, don't be surprised if your top is short.
7)  70 musicians sitting next to each other playing the same piece of music at the same time is not an orchestra, be it in China, in Cincinnati, in Toronto or in Dubai.  An orchestra is something else, something more.  Oh, and MUTES ARE NOT OPTIONAL.  Neither is a pencil.
8)  If I open your score and it is clean, it means you didn't study it, no matter how many recordings you listened to, no matter who was conducting them.  I want to see phrasing, harmony, zig-zag, be it in Beijing or Boston.
8)  Don't get me wrong, friends; I love being in China.  I love teaching there, I love eating there.  I love the history, the art, the writing.  I love the eagerness, the naivete, the drive, the talent.  Hate breathing there, but that's another story.  I love it so much I get impatient with it.  I want it all for them, NOW, just like I do with the CCM Philharmonia, which also I love beyond reason.
8)  Last but not least, for God's sake, attack from the string.  Once.  At least.  You might like it :)

Gotta plane to catch...more later.