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CD Review

	Scarlatti Keyboard Sonatas (cassette)
	Zhang Guoping, classical accordion
	Zhang Guoping
	10th March 2000
	Sonata in F Major K 107 Sonata in f minor K 184 Sonata in E Major K 474 Sonata in G Major K 13 Sonata in A Major K 208 Sonata in C Major K 357 Sonata in E Major K 193 Sonata in d minor K 141 Sonata in b minor K 87 Sonata in D Major K 491 Sonata in E Major K 380 Sonata in f minor K 519

Zgang Guoping was born in 1960 and began learning to play the accordion when he was ten years old. In November 1983 he gave his first accordion recital in the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. It was a great success and the China Record Service released a record and cassette tape of his performance.

At the 1987 Klingenthal International Accordion Competition, Zhang Guoping was placed 6th and was the first Chinese accordionist to play at this, one of the most prestigious accordion competitions. Zhang Guoping has performed in Germany, USA, Canada, Poland, Switzerland and France as well as appearances in China's Beijing Music Hall and other major city auditoriums. He has appeared regularly on radio and television.

Not often, do I get have the chance to review accordion recordings from China, and I was pleased to receive this one, which proves that the accordion as a classical instrument, is developing in that part of the world with great speed. Zhang Guoping is obviously in control of his instrument, performs with confidence and rhythmical stability. Although Zhang Guoping plays this selection of 12 Scarlatti's Sonatas with breathless technical freedom, I would have liked to hear it more refined stylistically and tonally.