MUSIC REVIEW : FESTIVAL SHOW STOLEN BY 7-YEAR-OLD VIOLINIST

Seven-year-old violinist Chuan Yun Li stole the show at the Chinese Moon Festival on Saturday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Walking awkwardly onto the stage in a smart baby-blue suit tied with a red sash, the pint-sized Li boldly launched into the complex arpeggios and traceries of Kreisler’s “Praeludium und Allegro,” (originally attributed by the composer to Pugnani), while the 40-some woody voices of the Hong Kong Yip’s Children’s Choir discretely vocalized accompaniment.

Li’s eyes were shut tight in concentration but a myriad of expressions--some frighteningly intense--flitted across his face, beguiling the audience with the complex phenomenon of encountering a genuine prodigy: consciousness swiftly shuttling between amusement and amazement.

Led by its animated founder Wai Hong Yip, the versatile choir, ages 4 to 17, floated light, pure piping tones in Purcell’s “Sound the Trumpet” and various Chinese folk tunes, among other works.

So taken was the audience with Li, however, that recognition came haltingly to the mature artistry that Taiwan-born violinist Nai Yuan Hu brought to Sarasate’s “Carmen” Fantasy. Hu, 26 and a first-prize winner at the 1985 Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition in Belgium, infused a sensual melancholy, a sense of foreboding and expressivity into each section, until Sarasate’s interest in pure razzle-dazzle took over, and Lu handled that just fine. Pianist Sandy McCune was the able accompanist.

Members of the Fu Hsing Chinese Opera Troupe from Taiwan presented one scene each from “Cross Road Inn” and “The White Snake.” In the first, two men stalked and fought each other in the dark (although, following the conventions of Chinese opera, the stage remained brightly lit).

In the second, the heroine-serpent fought to obtain a magical herb of resurrection to revive her dead husband. The distinctive, dazzling flying acrobatics of Chinese opera were used for comic effect in the first scene and to impart mythical status to the characters in the second.

Pianist Paulina Drake (replacing tenor Jian Wang, who should have replaced the originally scheduled soprano Helen Chen Lee) played Chopin’s Scherzo in B-flat minor with crystalline precision and restrained temperament. The Lanyang Dancers from Taiwan, ranging in age from 11 to 17, appeared in several colorful works.