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Debra Li
SHENZHEN Symphony Orchestra (SSO) will kick off its long-awaited spring and summer season Friday night.
The four-month season will feature works of Western classical and romantic masters as well as contemporary Chinese composers.
For Friday’s opening concert, SSO will debut Bruckner’s “Symphony No. 5,” conducted by artistic director Christian Ehwald. Not only will this be SSO’s first public performance of the work, it also will be the first time the piece is performed in Shenzhen.
The symphony was written at a time of much trouble and disillusion in the composer’s life, when his woes included legal iss
ues and a reduced salary. Working out those issues through the symphony created one of Bruckner’s most contrapuntally intricate pieces.
“The 90-minute grand piece is full of wit and profound thoughts,” said SSO spokeswoman Liu Xiaoyan.
The opening show will also feature modern French composer Jacques Ibert’s “Flute Concerto” of 1934. Ma Yong, chief flutist with SSO, will stage this highly demanding piece, which fully demonstrates the styles and skills of the French school of flutists.
Liu said the 13 concerts of SSO’s spring and summer season are arranged in three series.
“The classical series will feature the works of German and Austrian masters like Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms. The series will also touch the masterpieces of composers of Hungary, France and Russia,” she said. “For instance, we will perform Berlioz’s ‘Symphony Fantasy’ as well as works by Liszt and Modest Mussorgsky.”
The special production series will consist of four concerts themed, respectively, on martial arts and chivalry novels by Louis Cha; the works of modern and contemporary American musicians; the works of Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang; and a colorful collection of beloved pieces for wind instruments. Worth mentioning is the wind instrument concert, which is suited to popular tastes of modern audiences and showcases well-known works such as movie scores composed by John Williams and Joe Hisaishi.
The festival series will present special concerts for the cultural expo in May, Children’s Day and the anniversary of the Communist Party of China on July 1.
Guest performers for the season include celebrated American violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn; Shao En, chief conductor of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra; American conductor Scott Weiss; Italian alphorn soloist Carlo Torlontano; and young pianists Zuo Zhang and Yuan Jie, both studying at the Juilliard School in New York.
“To better serve the citizens and attract more people into the concert hall, we have lowered ticket prices this season,” Liu said.
For each concert, 800 tickets, nearly half of all seats, are priced below 100 yuan (US$16), only a little higher than that of a film ticket.
Students can buy tickets for five concerts in a package for only 100 yuan. There are also discounts for SSO fan club members.
SSO spring and
summer schedule
Opening concert,
flute and symphony
Time: 8 p.m., March 9
Conductor: Christian Ehwald
Flutist: Ma Yong
German romantic masters
Time: 8 p.m., March 16
Conductor: Christian Ehwald
Violinist: Elizabeth Pitcairn
Night of Brahms
Time: 8 p.m., March 23
Conductor: Christian Ehwald
Pianist: Zuo Zhang
Symphony concert themed
on martial arts and chivalry
novels by Louis Cha
Time: 8 p.m., March 30
Conductor: Wong Fu-tong
Music of America
Time: 8 p.m., April 13
Conductor: Dai Zhonghui
Flutist: Ma Yong
Saxophonist: Clifford Leaman
Revival of classics
Time: 8 p.m., April 20
Conductor: Shao En
Alphorn: Carlo Torlontano
Romantic masters,
piano and symphony
Time: 8 p.m., April 28
Conductor: Shao En
Pianist: Yuan Jie
Cultural Expo Art Festival opening concert, Hakka symphony
Time: 8 p.m., May 13
Conductor: Zhang Guoyong
Concert for children,
fairy-tale themes
Time: 8 p.m., May 31
Conductor: Zhang Lu
Works by Ye Xiaogang
Time: 8 p.m., June 8
Conductor: Zhang Lu
German, Austrian and
Russian masters
Time: 8 p.m., June 15
Conductor: Scott Weiss
Wind music special night
Time: 8 p.m., June 23
Confucian-themed symphony
Time: 8 p.m., June 29
Conductor: Zhang Guoyong
(All concerts will be held at Shenzhen Concert Hall. Tickets will cost between 50 and 280 yuan.)
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