Ma Xiaohui - Criticism

Criticism

Xiaohui Ma has redefined the erhu, elevating it to a fine classical standing, stretching her ancient, versatile instrument's boundaries with new tone colors and techniques. The German Saale newspaper recognized this: "Miss Ma is a brilliant interpreter, mastering virtuously all possibilities of her tender instrument and playing her truly personal interpretation with enormous humor and refinement . . . in which she could show, once again, her breathtaking virtuosity." Shanghai Grand Theatre Magazine noted she "demonstrates her continuous creativity and truthfulness to her own personality, touching, through her music, the entire audience." The South Bend Tribune added: "Ma Xiaohui's Erhu is able to evoke not just traditional Chinese musical themes—the twitter of bird song or the distinct cadence and intonation of Chinese speech—but the emotional variety of Western music as well. She strives to span cultural divides and emphasizes the universality of music."

Diverse Europeans critics particularly praise China's rare flower in the garden of traditional music. Nuremberg Daily said, "Erhu, an ordinary instrument in appearance, gains an incredible strength through the interpretation of Ma Xiaohui." Munich Times said "with nimble virtuosity… that we fully believed again in music as a universal language." Oxford Times agreed that "she drew a kind of alto human voice bereft of words," and her playing "sounds so culture-free and universal, that Ma Xiaohui's gift, and vibrant musicality, shone out on us like light." The Swiss press wrote that one is "almost startled by the powerful sound of the instrument that reminds of a human voice and how this is able to express itself emotionally." Germany's Donaukurier captured the artist‘s essence: "Ma Xiaohui proved to be a magnificent Erhu player who, as if by magic, produced out of the two strings fantastic sound effects. The fantastic virtuosity and musicality of the soloist unified the poetic imitations of singing birds, subtly drawn and melodious bows, elegiac songs, and comedian dialogues…the disparate elements drawn from the Chinese tradition and the western modernity were blended into a unity through the intensive creative power of the artist."