Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2020-2021 Music Season Closing End
Hangzhou Daily News This summer, the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra ushered in a “quietest” concert in the 2020-2021 music season. Affected by the typhoon “fireworks”, the closing ceremony of the music season and the concert “Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Saint-Saëns” originally scheduled to be held on the evening of July 24 were temporarily recorded and broadcast live.
“Farewell” to everyone in a special way is destined to be unforgettable. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of French musician Camille Saint-Saëns. The Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra will use Saint-Saëns’ “Samson and Dalila: “Dance of Bacchus””, the Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor and C minor. The third symphony, “Across Time and Space”, along with music fans in the city, pays tribute to this all-rounder of romantic music.
For twelve years, Hangai has invited a well-known and influential musician every year to light up the music season as an artist-in-residence. This year, he is the famous violinist Lu Siqing. The solo guest at the closing ceremony of this year’s music season is of course the gentleman who astounded the world with the song “Blessings of Love” at the Hangzhou G20 Summit.
Lu Siqing took his Stradivarius violin named “Miss Christie” to the stage. Thirty years ago, at the Aspen Music Festival, the most prestigious music event in the United States, this high-spirited and talented young man replaced the popular violinist Sarah Zhang on stage and conquered the audience with the almost perfect third violin concerto in b minor. All the audience. This year, Lu Siqing, who was showing off his brilliance, began to become the focus of attention in the American classical music scene.
This time the closing ceremony is still this song. Lu Siqing presented it to the audience in a seemingly natural but more extreme way in terms of the speed and strength of his performance. In the works, the arias sometimes low octave, and the sweet memories sometimes high octave, also make people think of the obsessive and timelessness in his masterpiece “The Butterfly Lovers”.
The concert started with the fanaticism of “Dance of Bacchus” and ended with Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of Animals” as an extra egg. Enhegino from the High School Attached to the Central Conservatory of Music and Liu Xiangcheng from the Elementary School Attached to the Central Conservatory of Music played two pianos respectively, igniting the stage of the Grand Theater with youthful dreams and energy.
The last note fell, there was no audience or applause in the audience, just like the Olympic Games being held in Tokyo. Even so, every musician, like the athletes, is going all out, playing their hearts, and ushering in their own bright moments at the finish line. At 10:00 pm on August 4 (next Wednesday), this concert will be officially aired on the Culture Channel of Hangzhou TV Station.
Over the past year, the global music industry, which has not yet fully recovered from the impact of the epidemic, is still struggling. For Hang Ai this music season, the entry of foreign artists is even more difficult. However, a particularly difficult beginning is also destined to have far-reaching significance.
Although many international heavyweight conductors and solo masters were absent due to the epidemic, this music season is still full of rivers and stars. The local classical music force in China has begun to provoke the main beams, especially the musicians of the younger generation of China, who have played an increasingly important role. Shui Lan, Yu Feng, Li Xincao, Zhang Guoyong, Lin Daye and other Chinese artists stood up and formed a group with the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, and presented a symphony “Song of Four Seasons” to our fans.
As the head of the group Li Liang said at the opening: “In this music season, we will boost confidence and drive the domestic music industry under the influence of the epidemic through innovations in performance styles, viewing methods, and management models.” Hangzhou Philharmonic The orchestra did it, with its continuously improving artistic level and continuously improving performance quality, it played a symphony of the entire season. In the midsummer, the orchestra will bid farewell to the audience temporarily, and when the autumn winds prevail, it will open a new and vast interval.
[Dialogue with Lu Siqing]
Music is “appreciated”, and culture can be “rich”
Q: For a long time, you have been committed to the charity activities of “Going Out of Elegant Music”. What is the significance of letting classical music play at the grassroots level in building a spiritual home of common prosperity?
A: I always believe that art comes from life and is higher than life, and ultimately it must return to life. The May Music Festival, where I was the art director, sent charity performances from the second ring to the sixth ring. Now they have all left Beijing to Xiong’an and Zhangjiakou in Hebei. Symphony can be heard not only in schools, communities, museums, enterprises and institutions, but also in subways, bus stations, and villages in counties and districts. I just want to use practical actions to tell people that elegant art and classic art are not luxury items. Classical music can also be very close to the people.
I always remember that performance in Baiyu Village, Zhaitang Town, Mentougou District, one spring. When I put the violin on my shoulders and pulled up Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, the grandparents’ eyes were full of curiosity, but they listened very seriously. When the melody of “Spring” came to an end, an uncle shouted, “Yes, it’s the song of birds!” I suddenly realized that they didn’t have classical music in their hearts, but they never had the opportunity to touch it. No matter what music is, it should flow in the blood of the city and the country.
Q: In recent years, how have you promoted and supported talented “back waves” in your own way? For future musicians, what are your heartfelt suggestions?
A: In my performances in recent years, I am more willing to cooperate with younger talented piano boys such as “post-00s”, and promote the development of the music scene through performance plans such as “Lu Siqing and the Future Star”. At the same time, she also founded Shenzhen Futian International String Art Week and Qingdao Yehudi Menuhin School, which has just set sail. I have always felt that the talents of children should be brought to the extreme, and I hope that under the guidance of our generation, these children can avoid detours. One more thing, they can maintain their continued love of music. A healthy and positive attitude is more important than anything else. There is communication, sharing, and moving, so that you will not be “lost” and become a true “star of the future.”
Q: The Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra will soon have its own Hangzhou Concert Hall. How do you think a professional concert hall will promote the development of urban elegant art?
A: The concert hall should be one of the most artistic places in a city. I hope that the Hangzhou Concert Hall in the future will be like Lincoln Center in New York. It is not only a stage dreamed by all artists, but also every place from the piazza to the public art center can be truly integrated into the minutiae of the citizens’ cultural life.