Gala concert marks Party centenary
Orchestras ring in the New Year with rousing renditions of classics, moderns
Under the baton of conductor Yu Long, the China Philharmonic Orchestra welcomed the new year with a concert at Beijing’s Poly Theater on Dec 30. They performed along with musicians from two other Chinese symphony orchestras: the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.
On Oct 1, 2019, more than 1,000 musicians from 16 Chinese symphony orchestras, including the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, performed together in a concert marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
At the concert on Dec 30, the three symphony orchestras performed programs marking the 100th anniversary this year of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
The concert opened with a classic Chinese song, titled Sing a Song for the Party, featuring soprano Gong Shuang. The song, first released in 1963 and written by Zhu Jian’er and Jiao Ping, has been adapted by Chinese composer Zou Ye.
Another popular Chinese song, I Love You, China, which was released in 1979 and written by composer Zheng Qiufeng and lyricist Qu Cong, closed the concert featuring soprano Huang Ying.
“Every year we bring the audience a New Year concert and (this time), we chose some classic Chinese songs to dedicate to our country,” said conductor Yu, who was appointed as principal conductor of the China National Opera House in Beijing in 1992 and was involved in the planning of the first Beijing New Year’s Concert later that year.
In 2000, Yu founded the China Philharmonic Orchestra and as the orchestra’s artistic director, chief conductor, he led the orchestra to perform its first New Year concert on Dec 31, 2000. Since then, the New Year concert has become a tradition for the orchestra.
The music channel of CCTV has live-broadcast the New Year concert by the orchestra every year since 2000.
“The coronavirus hasn’t slowed classical music, though many live performances have been canceled. We (were) emotional when preparing for this year’s New Year concert, which will be memorable and special under the circumstances,” said Yu.
He also noted that the year marks the 20th anniversary of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and he is excited to have witnessed the vibrancy of the country’s classical music scene during the past 20 years.
“One of the most important things about the development of the classical music scene is the younger generation
musicians. When I was a young conductor, many older generation musicians helped and inspired me. Now, we need to do the same thing for the young people,” said Yu.
Three young Chinese musicians were invited to perform with the orchestras in the New Year concert, which, as Yu said, showcases the future of the country’s classical music scene.
Pianist Serena Wang, also known as Wang Yalun, played Ode to the Yellow River, the second movement of The Yellow River Piano Concerto, written by composer Xian Xinghai (1905-1945).
“I’ve been listening to the piece since I was very young and I tried to capture the spirit of it. Though it was written decades ago, long before I was born, I could still relate to the
music,” said Wang, who was born in San Francisco in 2004 and learned to play piano at 4 years old.
She made her concerto debut at the age of 6, performing Haydn’s Piano Concerto No 11 with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, led by Zhang Guoyong, at the Third Beijing International Piano Festival.
During the concert, Wang also gave a solo performance of Dedication, an art song written by Robert Schumann in 1840 and which was later arranged for piano solo by Franz Liszt.
Namisa Sun, 20-year-old cellist, performed Father’s Grassland, Mother’s River, a music piece adapted by composer Zou from a folk song of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
As a member of the Ewenki ethnic group, Sun learned to play cello at the age of 4. She will also play Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Andante cantabile from String Quartet No 1 in D major, Op 11, arranged by the composer for cello and strings.
Dancing Poetry, a music piece written by composer Huang Anlun for cello and piano, was played by 16-year-old flutist Li Xiaoxi, with the adaptation by composer Zou.
“I’ve been watching performances by China Philharmonic Orchestra since childhood as my father is a bassoon player with the orchestra. I am happy to play with the orchestra for the first time,” said Li.
The concert also featured the premiere of three new works by three Chinese composers from different generations, including Ode to China by Yu Yang, Our Fathers by Yang Fan and The Wave of the Surging Thoughts by Jia Daqun.