Song Zu Ying is considered by many in the know as the most artistically accomplished and beauteous interpreter of traditional Chinese folk songs at the beginning of the 21st century; indeed, Song's reputation as such is nothing new, as it was already being established around 1990. However, news travels slowly about musical developments in China, and this review may very well be the first instance where many listeners stateside have heard mention of Song. The Diva Goes to the Movies: A Centennial Celebration of Chinese Film Song is, in China, a release that enjoys the same kind of prestige that albums like The Three Tenors enjoys in the West. It features the top Chinese folksinger in 14 of the best-known movie songs taken from 1934, when the first Chinese synchronized sound films were produced, to 1979, a period just short of the time when the quality of Chinese motion pictures gained recognition in other parts of the world.

The production quality of this set is very high indeed; it is housed in a sturdy digipack with 20 pages of notes and loaded with attractive, full-color photographs of Song Zu Ying. The text is given in Chinese and in well-transliterated English, and the information about each film is usefully given on its own page. The China National Symphony Orchestra provides a lush and expansive backdrop to Song's voice, comparable to that of Lalo Schifrin's arrangements for the Three Tenors, which may be a blessing or a curse depending on how responsive one is to these kinds of backings. The recording quality is outstanding. One possible barrier to enjoying this music from a Western point of view is the traditional style of singing employed by Song, which comes from the milieu of Peking Opera. While it isn't as stylized and generic as the singing employed by Indian playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar, it is superficially similar enough to this that some Western ears might not be able to adjust to it. For those who have no problem with such singing styles, Song's voice strikes just the right balance between popular and classic forms of Chinese music, in addition to being an instrument that is as beautiful as the singer is attractive.

Nonetheless, The Diva Goes to the Movies: A Centennial Celebration of Chinese Film Song is amazing in that just a few years before it was produced such a project might have been considered impossible. Pre-Revolutionary motion pictures were once considered both obsolete and culturally unacceptable, and many film archives in China buried their copies of such films rather than see them torched by authorities. This disc consists mostly of songs from 1930s films such as Street Angel and Song of the Fisherman that take pride of place alongside more standard Revolutionary-era films readily familiar to Chinese audiences. Although not for every Westerner, The Diva Goes to the Movies: A Centennial Celebration of Chinese Film Song is a artistic triumph for China and a lovely objet d'art for collectors, and those who have an understanding and interest in Chinese music will find much to enjoy in it.
Review by Uncle Dave Lewis


Tracklist
01 My Motherland, song (for the film Sangkamryung)
02 The Fisherman's Daughter At The Seaside, song (from the film Red Sea Clouds)
03 The Limpid Eyes of a Lady, song (from the film A Strange Case of Ancient Tower)
04 All Red the Hill, song (from the film "Sparkling Red Stars")
05 Small Bamboo Pole, song (from the film "Li Shuang-Shuang")
06 The Vagrant Songstress, song (arranged froma Jiangsu Folk Song) (from the film "Street Angel")
07 Flying Petal Song, song (from the film "Flying-Flower Village")
08 The Fisherman's Song, song (from the film "Song of the Fishermen")
09 Our Sunny Lives, song (from the film "Happy Enterprise")
10 Velvet Flowers, song (from the film "Little Flowers")
11 Why the Flowers Are So Red?, song (from the film "Guest on an Iceberg")
12 The Flower Is Gay, song (from the film "Ashima")
13 The Inhaled Fragrance, song (from the film "Mystical Travelling Companion")
14 The Oath of Marriage, song (from the film "Lusheng Love Song")

FLAC

http://www.adrive.com/public/gYvZds/SZyingMv.rar

Thanks a lot!

Xiao mei mei wo yao guo he,na ge lai bei wo yo?
Jiang ye ye lai bei ni!

This is great. Thanks for this collection.

May I reciprocate with another collection Chinese (mostly) movie songs, all standards once performed by the great Zhou Xuan (Street Angel, Wandering Singer)?

There are no "Beijing opera" tunes here, mostly typical 1930/40s pop music/swing, with Chinese folk elements. Intensely "hummable" stuff!

These are also new recordings, made in 1991 with soprano Cheng Yong-Ling, accompanied by the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China (which later became
the China National Symphony). Some songs overlap with the ones above, but because of different translations from the Chinese, this may not be immediately obvious
(e.g. "The Vagrant Songstress" = "Wandering Singer", and so on.).

Enjoy! :)




"Zhou Xuan: Wandering Singer"
Performed by the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China
With Cheng Yong-Ling (soprano)
Conducted by Hu Bing-Xu

1. Peddling Bric-a-Brac
2. The Wind in May
3. Picking Betel Nuts
4. Wandering Singer
5. At the Summit
6. A Prayer in Moonlight
7. Susan Picking Tea Leaves
8. Cherish Your Youth
9. Moon over the Street Corner
10. Phoenix in Flight
11. Thinking of My Beloved One
12. Hot Cakes
13. Cross - Examinig Hongniang
14. At a Meeting After Three Years...
15. Song of Boat - Rowing
16. The Road is Long
17. A Mad World
18. Cupid's Arrow
19. The Spring in Zhongshan

Zhou Xuan (August 1, 1918 or 1920 � September 22, 1957) was a popular Chinese singer and film
actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably
the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953. Zhou was born
Su Pu (蘇璞), but was separated from her natural parents at a young age and raised by adoptive
parents. She spent her entire life searching for her biological parents but her parentage was never
established until after her death. According to later family research, a relative who was an opium
addict took her at the age of 3 to another city and sold her to a family named Wang, who named
her Wang Xiaohong. She was later adopted by a family named Zhou, changing her name to
Zhou Xiaohong. In 1932, Zhou began acting as a member of the Bright Moonlight Song and
Dance Troupe. She later achieved stardom in 1937 in Street Angel (馬路天使), when director
Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl.

The "Golden Voice" (金嗓子) was Zhou's nickname to commend her singing talents after
a singing competition in Shanghai, where she came in second. Zhou rapidly became the
most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing
many famous tunes from her own movies. Her light but eminently musical voice captured
the hearts of millions of Chinese of her time. Between 1946 and 1950, she often went to
Hong Kong to make films such as "All-Consuming Love" (長相思), "Hua wai liu ying" (花外流鶯),
"Qinggong mishi" (清宮秘史), and "Rainbow Song" (彩虹曲). After introducing "Shanghai Nights"
(夜上海) in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of
mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated
and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts.
Having made a total of 43 movies, her favourite film was always Street Angel. This contained
two theme songs: "Four Seasons Song" (四季歌) and "The Wandering Songstress" (天涯歌女),
which enjoyed long-lasting popularity.





Source: Hugo Records CD (my rip!)
Format: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo
File Size: 315 MB

Download Link - https://mega.co.nz/#!sBxH0ArS!NXnKq1rt50lqhCmpKP42khrZiS1LPTQkGnyJpGk PPjQ

Enjoy! Don't share! Buy the original! :)

Thanks to both of you....

Thank you very much for this!!!... Wenderfull!!!...

this is great, thanks both

Thank you ^^

Thanks both of you :)

Thank you share!

Many thanks to both of you!