REVIEW
FOR:
THE AFTERLIFE OF LI JIANTONG
歌剧［自在魂］评论
… captivating; Liu Sola and Hillier managed well the extremely difficult union of the Western avant-garde with Eastern and early – baroque styles. … The work was most impressive when its textures built into something immaculate, something sublime.
Stephen Graham, Musical Criticism
吸引力…刘索拉与席勒（指挥）非常好的处理了一种极其困难的形式－西方先锋派与东西方早期音乐风格的结合。作品以它惊人完美的质地另人惊叹。
斯蒂芬.格瑞汉姆 ／ 音乐评论家
2008 -----
REVIEW FOR:
FANTASY OF THE RED QUEEN
歌剧[惊梦]评论This production is the brainchild of Liu Sola, …. The show offers eclectic blend of music style - ancient Chinese zither melodies give way to tango; Beijing opera is paired with expressionist declamation. But this is no "east meet west" gimmick. Allusions to the various styles made dramatic sense, revealing character or dictating the action on stage. … The overall structures was surprisingly tight and formal, … Her performance was both emotionally intense and superbly controlled over a wide vocal range.
MAK SU-YIN, [SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST]. NOV.13/08
这个作品是刘索拉的一个独创。。。它融合了不同类型的音乐—古老的中国古琴奏出了探戈的节奏，京剧与高调的表现主义相辅相成。但这并不是在玩弄中乐西奏的游戏。间接的多形式化创造出的戏剧效果彰显出个性，支配着舞台上的表现。。。整个结构出奇的紧凑和严肃，。。。她的表演情绪强烈，同时极好的控制了一个宽阔的音域。
MAK SU-YIN [南华早报] 08/11/03
2007 -----
［刘索拉与朋友们］"一晃十年"音乐会评论：
Review for
[Liu Sola & Friends] concert:除却时而大气磅礴时而滴流婉转的声音表现力，她的舞台表演可谓前无古人。她的身姿、手势、眼神都随着音乐而动，与她的音乐浑然一体，不是舞蹈，却比舞蹈有着更准确的情感传达能力，而这一切动作，又是极其自然的，不含一丝做作，完全是随心而动。你很难看见一个人声有那么丰富而且自然的肢体语言，有那么妖娆妩媚的面部表情，有那样飞波流转的眼神，很难看见一个人声有她那样忘我的投入。这种投入很可怕，仿佛阴魂附体，而且把观众的心神都带了进去，与她一道去与千百年的灵魂共舞、共哀伤。
纵观整场音乐会，忽高忽低，大起大落，像极了她的人生。高处高得光华灿烂，低处低得如一只隐没的鬼影，而每一个转折都那么惊心动魄。
Jin Yan／ 金燕 [中华民族音乐在线]
2006 -----
Frankfurter Rundschau, 8.5.2006 德国 (Translation from German):
In her chamber opera Fantasy of the Red Queen, the impressively gifted writer, composer, performer and vocal artist Liu Sola has abstracted from her story, distilling it into a myth: the myth of the woman who wins power with the help of powerful men. (…) In six scenes, with a stylized constellation of personae and a broadly eclectics musical setting, traditional figurative forms of Chinese musical theatre combine with modern psychology, traditional and contemporary musical idioms with elements of pop. Liu Sola has captured the story in a surprisingly clear, intense formal language: a national narrative whose many levels of meaning rise above regional limitations. (…) Close cooperation between the Ensemble Modern and an ensemble of Chinese musicians and performers working under the name “Liu Sola & Friends” has created a piece in which the music and the musicians themselves shape the action on stage. (…) The dramatic climax in act five is the revolution, portrayed by the musicians alone. In a striped down choreography, they march across the stage while the percussion instruments provide accompanying noise and structure. At present, concepts of this kind can only be staged with Ensemble Modern.
在她的室内歌剧［女皇狂想曲（又名：惊梦）］中，有惊人天赋的作家，作曲家，演员和声乐艺术家刘索拉，把她讲的故事浓缩成一个神话：一个女人如何在有权势的男人帮助下得到权利 … 在六场剧中，风格化的剧中人物和丰富精选的音乐安排，中国传统音乐戏剧的脸谱化较之现代心理学，传统和现代音乐各流派及流行音乐动机的运用。 刘索拉把故事构造在惊人清晰和紧凑的语言结构中：… 在由中国乐队和演员组成的名为［刘索拉与朋友们］的乐队与（德国）现代室内乐团紧密合作中，创造了一个由音乐家演出的作品… 当前，这种类型的演出只有现代室内乐团可以胜任。
2005 ------
(Translation in Chinese from German 德译中)
SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 南德日报 2005年6月9日
刘索拉是作为受过严格古典音乐教育（主要是学习作曲）的艺术家去到美国的，她一到美国面临的就是摇滚乐、布鲁斯和REGGAE的即兴文化。她同这些即兴表演的碰撞，主要表现在她的“东方布鲁斯”的CD中。但如果今天倾听刘索拉的音乐，我们几乎无法相信这点。那些音乐给她的影响几乎已荡然无存，她和谐和优美的音乐使她远离了摇滚乐、布鲁斯的特色。可以说传统重新主宰了刘索拉。
她的音乐会展示了人声音乐在有限的音域里的高超技艺，如她的歌曲《影子》，当然还插入了古筝的充满伤感的乐声。此外，不协调成为她这次音乐会的主线，不协调也为一种单调的音乐注入充满摩擦、持续不断的动力，这种单调的音乐通过琵琶演奏家杨靖出色的表演和她的充满节奏的力量，又在某种程度上牢牢地控制了听众。主要演员音程宽阔、充满活力的演唱征服了听众，这一点特别表现在刘索拉为了纪念中国的鸡年而创作的曲子里。看起来，她似乎是想通过鸡叫声进入一种心醉神迷的状态，不过肯定是一种中国式的心醉神迷状态。
BERLINER ZEITUNG 柏林日报 2005年6月20日
在经过了一段较长时间的即兴表演后，音乐会的组织者刘索拉进入（John Zone 的“止疼药”乐队）三人小组的表演。她的类似乐器的人声表演同普通的演唱有很大的不同，所以，她的声音是对这次艺术节的主题：故乡、国家和本体作出的一种非常奇特、非常极端的解释。
Liu Sola is looking for ways to avoid total surrender to Western classical and pop music.
刘索拉在寻求避免向西方古典音乐和流行音乐彻底投降的道路。
[ Suddeutsche Zeitung]. 2003.German [南德日报] 2003.
。。。。 compositions of Liu Sola for voice, pipa and piano achieve, in the more intimate atmosphere, the perfect blending of styles. When Liu and her Soul sister dance about on the stage, while the one vocally improvises Chinese, the other, African elements, it is clear; such globalization gives the West the cold shoulder.
Their forceful interplay seemed to hit a wellspring of indigenous music: part African, part Asian, …… Beyond language, they found a primal connection grounded in the physicality of the human voice.
1996 ------
[New York Times]. Jon Pareles. 1996 《纽约时报》 美国
…… emotive, free-form vocalizing, with echoes of Chinese operas, to simple folklike melodies; Ms. Sola could sound childlike or baleful, tender or fierce.
感人的、无拘无束的人声，带有中国戏曲的影子，和民族小调的特色；索拉女士的声音，可以表现出童贞或是狠毒、柔美或是凶猛….
1995 --------
[New York Press] 1995. USA《纽约新闻》1995 美国
The only Chinese artist who'd qualify to play the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
唯一有资格在新奥尔良爵士乐节演奏的中国音乐家。
[New York Times]. Neil Strauss. 1995. USA
《纽约时报》Neil Strauss 1995 美国
Sola took the music of one tradition and emphasized the differences within it… Sound rich and expressive…. (China Collage)
索拉运在一种传统文化的音乐的内部，着重强调了它本身的不同…音色丰富而富于表现力…（中国拼贴）
1994 --
《Billboard》 USA-UK 美国-英国. Spotlight 聚光灯. 1994.
(Blues in The East) ……. it's a potent genre brew sure to excite listeners whose ears know no boundaries.
（蓝调在东方）……. 对于耳朵不拘泥于任何界限的人来说，这无疑是一种令人兴奋的新流派的酝酿。
《Splatter Effect》. Brendon Mueller. 1994
(Blues in the EAST) …… takes music a step further in to the most unexplored and occasionally exploited (Paul Simon) genre of them all: a genre that has the potential to transcend the limitations of classification, geography, culture and context…. The coming together of musical style and cultures - a kind of global conceitedness.
（蓝调在东方）……把音乐推进到一种最无人探知而又偶然被探知的流派：一种有潜力能跨越阶层、地理、文化和时代等限制的流派…一种音乐流派和文化的结合体---一种世界的狂想。
《Might》. Rono Tse. 1994. 美国
I feel Liu Sola, Like I feel Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley.
我对刘索拉的感觉，就像对Marvin Gaye 和 Bob Marley一样。