China's pianist Zuo Zhang (Zee Zee) releases her second solo album Journey. Photo: Courtesy of Zuo Zhang

China's pianist Zuo Zhang (Zee Zee) releases her second solo album Journey. Photo: Courtesy of Zuo Zhang

Chinese pianist Zuo Zhang has recently shared her composing experience and her future ideas following the release of her solo album Journey, which is a tribute to Hungarian composer Franz Liszt and his Années de Pèlerinage.
 
The album was released on May 20 and is Zuo's second solo piano album. As the name indicates, the album is about the composer's journey and her thoughts along the road. 
 
"A journey can be interpreted in many ways. It is a trip from A to B and a period of time to see the spectacular world, during which you can learn different cultures as well as attitudes," Zuo said. 
 
"Travel and journeys make people grow spiritually and artistically, which is one thing that all musicians and artists have been doing for centuries, including Liszt."
 
During his active years in the 19th century, Liszt thrilled audiences with his music, which was partly inspired by the many trips he made.
 
He concentrated his works published in 1855, 1858 and 1883 into one collection named Années de Pèlerinage, meaning "years of pilgrimage."
 
Zuo wanted to follow in this spirit with her second album. "Liszt is one of the most important composers for the piano in the history of classical music. With his Années de Pèlerinage at its core, I made this album as a tribute to Liszt."
 
Zuo said Années de Pèlerinage shows Liszt's "innovative writing style. We can see the development, and difference, from his early to late styles." 
 
Journey was recorded at the Xinghai Concert Hall, which gave Zuo a stronger "sense of presence" than she would have felt in a recording room. "Though there wasn't an audience inside the hall, I still enjoyed it very much and could completely put myself into the music."

"As a sound engineer, we need to understand not only music, but also the musicians," sound engineer Yang Zhen said about working with Zuo. "We got to know each other and reached an agreement very quickly. During the recording, we tried to return to the music itself as much as possible," Yang said.

"There also were unexpected situations. For example, we experienced a sudden heavy rainfall so we were interrupted for three hours. During that time we discussed many details about the recording together, which was also very interesting," added Yang.

Zuo is also a musician who barely stops, but in the past few years she stopped travelling for a while due to the pandemic. "I am used to a fast working rhythm where I stop in one city a day, and move to a different country every two weeks. But recently I have had more time to slow down my pace."