This year's Beijing Music Festival will fire up the enthusiasm of classical music fans more than ever before. Starting from next week and running for most of October, there will be 10 symphonic concerts, five chamber concerts, four operas and three recitals. The biggest names in French, Austrian, Russian, Italian and British classical music will grace the stages of Beijing together with the best Chinese performers.
For the first time, the Beijing Music Festival has attracted the BBC Symphony Orchestra to play the same programme it played at this year's BBC Proms. The BBC Proms is a 111-year-old classical music festival, which many rate as the finest in the world. Many Chinese classical musical fans travel to London specifically to attend the Proms. This year the Proms is coming to them.
The greater variety of talent is aimed at broadening the audience and this is a crucial element of the festival's artistic director Yu Long's policy of sparking more Chinese interest in classical music.
"It's great that every year at this time we share music and the happiness that the music brings us. And every year, I hope to attract more and more people into the concerts to enjoy music," said Yu.
The festival, which used to open in mid October, now opens during the National Day celebrations, because more people, including a large number of tourists, will have time to go to the concerts during the seven-day holiday.
More than just advancing the time schedule, the festival will organize master classes at the music conservatories, artists' lectures at Peking University and send more promotion events to the communities.
For children, the classical music fans of the future, the visiting National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain will offer two free concerts playing Mozart's music and telling stories of the musical genius. The Beijing Music Festival Foundation has sent free tickets to Soong Ching-Ling Foundation, China Children and Teenagers Fund, Beijing Sun Orchestra of the Children and the Dulwich College Beijing.
This year's festival also highlights four themes: the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich's birth; the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birthday; the Year of Russia in China and the Year of Italy in China.
Italian conductor Riccardo Muti and pianist Maurizio Pollini will perform their China debut, while Valery Gergiev will return with the Mariinsky Orchestra. Russian conductor Pavel Kogan and the US pianist Barry Douglas will collaborate with China Philharmonic Orchestra.
Meanwhile, pianist Paul Badura Skoda from Vienna will give a recital of Mozart; and French violinist Augustin Dumay plays his interpretation of Chinese concerto "Butterfly Lovers."
Theatrical bills
Opera remains a major part of the festival each year. In the past festivals there have been outstanding performances of Verdi's classic "Nabucco," Charles-Francois Gounod's "Romeo & Juliet," Alban Berg's contemporary controversial "Lu Lu" and Chinese composer Guo Wenjing's chamber opera "A Madman's Diary" and "The Banquet." Last year, Wagner's epic four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" was premiered in China by Staatstheater Nurnberg and the orchestra of Die Nurnberger Philharmoniker, which made the milestone in China's history of music and culture.
This year the offerings are even richer. There will be Shostakovich's "The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk Distric" performed by Mariinsky Orchestra, Shostakovich's "Nose" by Shanghai Opera House, Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" by Piccolo Teatro di Milano and Verdi's "La Traviata" by Teatro la Fenice.
"Opera is not that popular in China now and we are trying to nurture the audience. Every year we bring productions of different time or genres in order to broaden their vision. It's far from enough to give them 'Turandot,' or 'La Traviata' again and again," Yu told China Daily.
The Russian composer Shostakovich composed only two operas in his life and to commemorate his 100th birthday, the Beijing Music Festival has invited Mariinsky Orchestra to perform one and commissioned the Shanghai Opera House to produce the other. Both works have never been performed in China before.
Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" has been performed in a concert version in China, however this will be the first stage production held in Beijing.
Verdi's "La Traviata" is no stranger to Chinese audiences, but the production to be staged at the Beijing Music Festival has more significance and deserves greater audience's expectation. This production is the same "La Traviata" that reopened the famous Vienna theatre Teatro la Fenice in 2004 after it was burnt to the ground in 1996. "La Traviata" made its debut in 1853 at Teatro La Fenice and many say evolved into the world's most famous opera. The famous Venice theatre was completely destroyed by the fire in 1996, but like the Phoenix for which the theatre is named, it rose from the ashes two years ago.
Local element
Chinese music continues to be an important part of the Beijing Music Festival. In previous years, China Philharmonic Orchestra performed the works of the world-famous Chinese composers such as Tan Dun, Guo Wenjing, Ye Xiaogang and Chen Qigang. This year, audience will hear the concerts of Chinese music played by foreign artists and orchestras.
The French violinist Augustin Dumay and Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia will play the popular concerto "Butterfly Lovers." The Ensemble Modern from Germany will give a concert featuring contemporary chamber music composed by Chinese composers including Chen Yi, Guo Wenjing, Qu Xiaosong, Tan Dun, Ye Xiaogang, Zhang Lida and Zhou Long.
"We all know that it is impossible for the Chinese national soccer team composed of the best Chinese players to beat Brazil's national team. But if we formed a national composers' team, China could compete with any country," said Yu.
"These Chinese composers have marked their names in the world's contemporary history of music and these works well display their achievements on the contemporary music.
"This year, we specially invite the foreign artists to play their works in order to promote Chinese music in a new way and hope they could give Chinese audience a somehow different interpretation of Chinese music."
In addition to the contemporary works, there is a concert featuring modern Peking Opera arias by famous artists such as Li Shiji and Deng Min and a Kunqu Opera production "The Peach Blossom Fan" by Jiangsu Provincial Kunqu Opera Company.
(China Daily September 27, 2006)
