Chris Devonshire-Ellis: A Classic Expat Mad About Mozart

Paul Ryding | Sep 16, 2012 10:00 am | 10 comments | 5401 reads

Chinaexpat.com founder Chris Devonshire-Ellis is many things, including a Scottish baron. He’s also quite the classical music enthusiast.

On his musical background
I used to be an amateur opera singer. I’m a tenor, which means you get all the great parts, although much of my work was choral. But I sang with Opera North a few times. I was in it for meeting girl sopranos, to be honest, rather than actually being any good.

On the best performance he saw in the last year
Probably Bertrand Haitinck conducting the Chicago Philharmonic at the Egg. They played Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, which is a huge piece, and they’d brought over 100 musicians with them. They had this little Chinese-American girl on timpani at the back of the orchestra. She just sat there, for ages, with this other guy in evening dress with a triangle, waiting for their moment. Towards the end of the piece, Bruckner describes a thunderstorm, and all of a sudden these two musicians became quite animated and then – crash! This girl banged the cymbals together – once – and the triangle player just went “tinkle tinkle tinkle.” Two musicians, all the way from Chicago to Beijing just to perform one cymbal crash and three notes on the triangle. Now that’s attention to detail.

On the best new act he’s seen recently
Yuja Wang, playing Rachmaninoff’s Third. Brilliant. She’s tiny, but really talented, and she scandalized the Americans earlier this year by playing a classical concert at the Hollywood Bowl while wearing a tiny orange miniskirt. That’s what you want: music and sex appeal, and she’s got both.

On the future of classical music in China
I’d like to see Chinese composers and musicians follow the real point of music, which is to aurally describe. But at present most are just rehashing old works. No one dares improvise or write anything new and meaningful. But down that path leads atrophy and boredom.

On the need for new compositions
I’m working with some local musicians now and have commissioned a piece to mark my firm’s 20th anniversary in China this year. It’s important if one is in a position to do so to encourage the arts.

On the NCPA
The Egg is a pretty good place – but they need to pay some attention and get drinks and champagne available in the bars at half-time!

Click here to see the September issue of the Beijinger in full.

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China-Expat's picture China-Expat Submitted by Guest on Wed, 01/02/2013 - 19:06

(Not Chris's China Expat) ignore the idiots above, Chris is one of Beijing's expat Gentlemen. Plus he made good on his promise on the need for new local compositions and his working with musicians in Beijing. His latest musical endeavor - including free downloads - can be accessed here:
www.fourcornersquartet.com

So I think the naysayers can shut up for a bit.
Good job CDE!!

BJnerd's picture BJnerd Submitted by Guest on Thu, 09/20/2012 - 22:58

gdbill wrote:
BJnerd wrote:
gdbill wrote:
Ah, yes ... Chris Devonshire-Ellis is quite accomplished.

He's an accomplished fraud:

1. The Scottish barony was purchased for about 65,000 pounds sterling and not 'awarded" to him or handed down to him as he implies.

An accomplished liar:

Remember all those periodic personal interviews he had with various Chinese ministers and other high-ranking government officials? They were all lies. Finally it came back to bite him in the rear when the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China publicly labeled him a liar for inventing stuff that never -- ever -- happened.

There are also his claims of being an attorney and even to this day his claims of having a legal degree when the fact is he doesn't even have a university education.

Ah, but he does like his music. Smile

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, but I grow a bit tired of all of the CDE bashing on the China blogs.

Purchasing of the noble titles is something that has been going on for many, many years. I understand it was fashionable in the earlier part of the last century for the rich US industrialists to marry into the (increasingly broke)aristocratic families in the UK, just to pick up some of these titles.

While the purchase of titles of nobility may not be uncommon, lying about it and claiming that you inherited the title is not.

I do hope you can actually name a few of the US industrialists who married into aristocratic families for the title. In any event, I wonder how many of those same US industrialists actually had to solicit clients based on fraudulent claims of connections to high-level Chinese officials.

I must confess that I can't name names. I just know I've read this before. I think it was in Bill Bryson's new(ish) book about the Home but I don't have it nearby to check. Not that what he says is authoritative, but the idea of new money chasing old seemed sensible enough. Anyway - I don't have anything further to add to this discussion.

Newest comments here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/new/0

gdbill's picture gdbill Submitted by Guest on Tue, 09/18/2012 - 15:00

BJnerd wrote:
gdbill wrote:
Ah, yes ... Chris Devonshire-Ellis is quite accomplished.

He's an accomplished fraud:

1. The Scottish barony was purchased for about 65,000 pounds sterling and not 'awarded" to him or handed down to him as he implies.

An accomplished liar:

Remember all those periodic personal interviews he had with various Chinese ministers and other high-ranking government officials? They were all lies. Finally it came back to bite him in the rear when the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China publicly labeled him a liar for inventing stuff that never -- ever -- happened.

There are also his claims of being an attorney and even to this day his claims of having a legal degree when the fact is he doesn't even have a university education.

Ah, but he does like his music. Smile

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, but I grow a bit tired of all of the CDE bashing on the China blogs.

Purchasing of the noble titles is something that has been going on for many, many years. I understand it was fashionable in the earlier part of the last century for the rich US industrialists to marry into the (increasingly broke)aristocratic families in the UK, just to pick up some of these titles.

While the purchase of titles of nobility may not be uncommon, lying about it and claiming that you inherited the title is not.

I do hope you can actually name a few of the US industrialists who married into aristocratic families for the title. In any event, I wonder how many of those same US industrialists actually had to solicit clients based on fraudulent claims of connections to high-level Chinese officials.

"Truth is not a commodity in short supply: The problem is, there's very little demand for it." -- ???

BJnerd's picture BJnerd Submitted by Guest on Tue, 09/18/2012 - 14:20

gdbill wrote:
Ah, yes ... Chris Devonshire-Ellis is quite accomplished.

He's an accomplished fraud:

1. The Scottish barony was purchased for about 65,000 pounds sterling and not 'awarded" to him or handed down to him as he implies.

An accomplished liar:

Remember all those periodic personal interviews he had with various Chinese ministers and other high-ranking government officials? They were all lies. Finally it came back to bite him in the rear when the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China publicly labeled him a liar for inventing stuff that never -- ever -- happened.

There are also his claims of being an attorney and even to this day his claims of having a legal degree when the fact is he doesn't even have a university education.

Ah, but he does like his music. Smile

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, but I grow a bit tired of all of the CDE bashing on the China blogs.

Purchasing of the noble titles is something that has been going on for many, many years. I understand it was fashionable in the earlier part of the last century for the rich US industrialists to marry into the (increasingly broke)aristocratic families in the UK, just to pick up some of these titles.

Newest comments here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/new/0

gdbill's picture gdbill Submitted by Guest on Sun, 09/16/2012 - 14:48

Ah, yes ... Chris Devonshire-Ellis is quite accomplished.

He's an accomplished fraud:

1. The Scottish barony was purchased for about 65,000 pounds sterling and not 'awarded" to him or handed down to him as he implies.

An accomplished liar:

Remember all those periodic personal interviews he had with various Chinese ministers and other high-ranking government officials? They were all lies. Finally it came back to bite him in the rear when the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China publicly labeled him a liar for inventing stuff that never -- ever -- happened.

There are also his claims of being an attorney and even to this day his claims of having a legal degree when the fact is he doesn't even have a university education.

Ah, but he does like his music. Smile

"Truth is not a commodity in short supply: The problem is, there's very little demand for it." -- ???

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