José Serebrier/Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Not since Krzysztof Penderecki startled the music world with the novel idea of making the avant-garde accessible has there been such a refreshing sound as that of Chinese composer Ge Gan-Ru. He fuses the sounds of a Western orchestra with those of Chinese instruments and fuses their aesthetics as well. The earliest work on this album, “Six Pentatonic Tunes,” dates from Ge’s student days in Shanghai. It’s not just picturesque or pleasant, as many Westernized Chinese scores tend to be. The music takes its Asian character seriously the way Béla Bartók took Hungarian music seriously. Ge is a creative composer who loves the sounds he’s working with. And so will you. José Serebrier leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in fantastic Hybrid Super Audio sound.