A hundred performers come from more than 20 orchestras across the country. How was this special orchestra built?
Photo by our reporter Fang Fei
On the evening of the 9th, a very special orchestra made its debut at the Poly Theater-100 performers, all party members, came from more than 20 domestic orchestras, rushed to Beijing from various cities, and assembled into the China Music Association Symphony Orchestra Union—BMF Festival Orchestra. Under the leadership of the famous conductor Zhang Guoyong, who is also a party member, they joined hands with the Lanzhou Concert Hall Chorus to open the curtain of the 24th Beijing International Music Festival with a chorus symphony concert “Under the Bright Sun”.
At the moment when the epidemic is not over, it is almost impossible to form such a huge orchestra and complete the running-in rehearsal within two and a half days. At the moment when classical music continues to circulate, this orchestra may be able to bring a lot of enlightenment.
How to gather a hundred party performers
On the morning of October 5th, at the Poly Building, the program director of the Beijing International Music Festival, Tu Song, waited for two performers from the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra. They took a group photo as a memento. The time displayed on their mobile phone was just after 11 o’clock. And when the early morning of the 6th came quietly, another performer hurriedly arrived under the rain. Sha Lei, deputy chief flute of the Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra, and his colleagues took the first intercity train from Tianjin to Beijing at 5 a.m. on the 6th-Chinese Music Association Symphony Orchestra Alliance-BMF Festival Orchestra performers from all over the country , It is really a big project to bring everyone together.
Tu Song recalled that related preparatory work began roughly in May of this year. It took nearly three weeks to find out which part of the Union Orchestra had party performers. After the preliminary list was drawn up, the epidemic situation in various places repeated. Taking into account the actual arrangements of the orchestra’s respective performances, the candidates have been constantly changing. When checking into the hotel, Tu Song received a call, and a bass trombone player was unable to come due to a problem with the itinerary code. Zhang Guoyong immediately contacted the chief trombone of the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra. The performer got on the plane and rushed to Beijing. The next day’s rehearsal went smoothly. Sha Lei was also ordered in danger. On October 3, she received an urgent notice to replace the musicians who could not come to play the piccolo. Because she was performing in a field, she didn’t have all the musical instruments, so Sha Lei used to borrow the piccolo from her colleagues temporarily.
“A concert is not long, but it cannot be easily presented.” said Zou Shuang, the artistic director of the Beijing International Music Festival. The format of the festival orchestra is not the first time in the history of the music festival. In 2017, at the 20th Beijing International Music Festival, a festival orchestra composed of 9 domestic orchestra chiefs made a grand debut for the 10-hour symphony marathon. official. With the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, it is more difficult to form a festival orchestra. Every time you change candidates, you will further involve hotel check-in, nucleic acid testing and other links, which is extremely cumbersome. While the executive team of the festival has gone through the test, it has also accumulated more experience for its peers.
How to unify the styles of more than 20 orchestras
With 100 performers and more than 20 orchestras, Zhang Guoyong has basically worked together. He knows very well that “each group has its own history and style.” How to combine different styles in one furnace? After the rehearsal started on the 6th, this problem became apparent as expected.
Zeng Cheng, chief of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, was nervous for a time. In this festival orchestra, Zeng Cheng served as the chief chief. At noon on the 9th, after the stage walk less than half a day before the official performance, Zeng Cheng put his heart back in his stomach. After two and a half days of intense rehearsal, the orchestra has become a lot better in the collision and running-in.
On the morning of the 6th, the performers assembled for the first time. There are nearly 70 people in the string part with the largest number of people. Except for the chief who is determined by Zhang Guoyong, the rest of the seats are all drawn by lottery.
The deputy chief of the festival orchestra on the same stage as Zeng Cheng is from the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Zeng Cheng noticed that there is a subtle difference between the two’s handling of music: “The deputy chief looks at the conductor’s point, obviously a’hair strand’ ahead of me.” These small or large discords exist everywhere in the rehearsal. It is the imprint of the unique temperament of each symphony orchestra on the performers. “To the audience, the same piece of music may have the same speed, but the inner rhythm is like the pulse. Should we go forward a little bit, or Be more stable? The bowing must be adjusted accordingly. It is also the easiest way for the orchestra to achieve the desired effect of the conductor.”
“Zhang Guoyong conducted the rehearsal in a concise and concise manner.” Zeng Cheng could feel that he was very specific. For example, on the afternoon of the 6th, Zhang Guoyong specially trained the wind part and carefully corrected the pitch and other problems. But it’s no easy task to lead a 100-person orchestra and a 70-person choir. “The legato music has to change the tone and mood, and there are four bars in the middle. It is not only slow, but also has tension. Everyone sees that the distance of the conductor is different, and the voice heard is not the same.” In this case, the signal given by the conductor is not enough, so Zhang Guoyong asked everyone to look at Zeng Cheng’s upper and lower bow and other limbs. Language. With the “helmsman” and “leader”, the huge establishment of nearly 200 people on the stage can operate smoothly.
“I will bring this learning experience back to the orchestra.” Sha Lei was born in 1995 and joined the orchestra last year. She lives in the northwest inland where the foundation of symphony is relatively weak, and there are not many opportunities to cooperate with first-line orchestras and musicians. . “If we say that in the past, the exchanges between the various orchestras were more concentrated on the management, this time, the musicians have really conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions.” Zeng Cheng said.
Review the development level of Chinese symphony
Composer Zou Ye believes that “this concert is a test of the level of development of Chinese symphony.” Before arranging the repertoire, taking into account the tight rehearsal time, heavy tasks, and large numbers of people, Zou Ye and Zhang Guoyong discussed and removed the performance. The more difficult “Song of the Guerrillas”, but after listening to the rehearsal, they decided to add this piece back, because the professional level of the performers can be controlled. Although some orchestras come from remote areas, it is clear that symphonies have also taken root there, and have developed rapidly.
Tu Song confessed that after initially proposing the idea of a hundred party member performers, everyone was playing drums in their hearts: What if there are no party members in some voices? Facts have proved that party members cover all parts of the orchestra. Yu Long, chairman of the Art Committee of the Beijing International Music Festival, believes that this reflects from one aspect: “Since the 21st century, China’s symphony career has undergone earth-shaking changes.”
In the context of the era when the epidemic hinders international cultural exchanges, the continuous internal circulation of classical music has brought many enlightenments. Yu Long saw the vitality bursting out of young people. This time the Lanzhou Concert Hall Choir has only been established for more than four years. Many of its members are born in the 1990s, but their singing is very infectious when performing classic works such as “Defense of the Yellow River”. Li Nan, director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, suggested that the festival orchestra format could continue. He also expects the China Music Association Symphony Orchestra Alliance to play more roles in the future. (Our reporter Gao Qian)