Biography
Reviews
Boston Herald (U.S.A.) (2005.1.10)
"Xu Ke then offered Wang Jian-Min's ``First Erhu Rhapsody,'' demonstrating the surprising volume and clarity offered by that two-string violin, also played upright." (By Keith Powers)
The New York Times (U.S.A.) (2005.1.8)
"The Chinese works featured Xu Ke, a guest, who has been called the Paganini of the erhu... the plaintive, affectingly nasal-toned erhu, played with affecting beauty and stunning virtuosity by Mr. Xu..." (By Anthony Tommasini)
The Boston Globe (U.S.A.) (2002.10.15)
"He plays as well as any superstar virtuoso on Western instruments, yet serves new music more faithfully than most superstar virtuosos do."
Die Welt (Germany) (2000.11.1)
"Incisive Dawning of a Nation...a two-stringed instrument on which Xu Ke delivers an astonishingly masterly performance..."
Der Tagesspiegel (Germany) (2000.10.31)
"Volcanic Dance -- An excellent concert in the Berlin Concert House...an especially beautiful insight into the characteristics of the Erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument, in a concerto by the 1953-born Chen Yi. Performed by the internationally-renowned Chinese Erhu player Xu Ke, the Erhu Paganini of the Ear East, with passion and unparalleled artistry."
Richmond Times Dispatch (U.S.A.) (1996.5.13)
"He sounds like another Heifetz. He plays the erhu, the two-stringed traditional fiddle of China, with the speed, flexibility, dynamism and room-filling tone of a Western string virtuoso, and his arrangements of Chinese and Western violin music could usher the Erhu into the mainstream. If this plangent, wiry sounding instrument (an English horn of strings) finds a home in the concert world, Xu ke will have been it missionary, as Segovia was for classical guitar and Landoswska was for the harpsichord."
Ming Bao Monthly (Hong Kong) (1992.8.8)
"You are the hero who succeeded for the first time in playing the double concord on the Erhu."
HIFI Magazine (Hong Kong) (1992.7.3)
"Xu Ke is the Paganini in the world of erhu, and his perfect command of the techniques is probably unprecedented."
Asahi Shimbun (Japan) (1990.1.5)
"Xu ke is the best among Chinese erhu players... His exquisite and vivacious performances have given his audiences the sheer enjoyment of the beauty of music."
Youth Daily (China) (1988.1.3)
"Absorbing the special features of the techniques of the violin, and merging the Chinese with western, he has mostly deftly and exquisitely expressed the rich and profound inner soul of the Chinese music... The success of Xu Ke's recital has laid the foundation of the utmost realization of the ideal of great erhu master, Liu Tianhua, who believed that Chinese national music should keep pace with music of the world."
