It's somehow strange that an orchestra has no music director.
But yes, the National Symphony Orchestra of China (NSOC) will start
its 07/08 season without one.
Though Guan Xia, president of NSOC, acknowledges the achievement
that the NSOC made last season under the music direction of Shao
En, he does not think that the music director fits the national
orchestra.
Beijing Symphony Orchestra's music director
Tan Lihua.?
Guan gives three reasons: First, after starting seasons just a
few years ago, the NSOC has changed music directors almost every
year but not sorted out all its problems. Second, the NSOC is short
of funding, and the payment Shao got is half of what he can earn
from a Western orchestra as the Music Director. And third, Shao is
the Music Director of Radiotelevision Solvenia, Macao Symphony
Orchestra and Taipei Chinese Orchestra at the same time, so he
actually worked only three months with the NSOC.
Shao En says he himself is satisfied with his collaboration with
the NSOC, of which he was only contracted for one year. He said
when he took the position last September: "The business of NSOC is
like a relay race, and I am just one of the members and will pass
the relay baton to the next one when the contract is over. What I
can do is to do my best in my time." He has done his part.
In the coming season, Shao, as the principal guest conductor,
will join hands with the honored conductor Tang Muhai and chief
conductor Li Xincao to further develop the orchestra together.
Chinese music will dominate the concerts in the season. Under the
baton of Shao, at the opening concert tonight at Beijing Concert
Hall, the NSOC will play Guan's Symphony Overture No 1, Zhao
Jiping's Folk Suites The Qiao's Family, which features the erhu
player Deng Jiandong and soprano Tan Jing, and Wang Yi's symphony
and choir Ode to Shenzhou. The next evening, also under the baton
of Shao, the NSOC will play Lu Qiming's Ode to the Red Flag and the
piano concerto Yellow River played by Yin Chengzong.
The NSOC will devote two concerts respectively to two composers:
Shi Wanchun who has scored many films and Zhen Lucheng (1918-76)
who was born in South Korea but devoted his life to China's
revolution, composing The Song of the PLA and many other works for
Chairman Mao Zedong.
Also, Hu Yongyan will premiere works featuring ruan, a
four-stringed Chinese pluck instrument. Ruan player Xu Yang, who
will play the concert, commissioned the composers Zhou Long, Chen
Yi, Li Bingyang and Liang Wenxi to compose these new works.
Chief Conductor Li Xincao will conduct the opera Mulan,
featuring soprano Peng Liyuan in the title role and the
world-acclaimed tenor Dai Yuqiang.
Other highlights of the new season include a concert featuring
the award-winning works of the 13th National Symphony Composition
Competition, the first New Year Concert at the China National Grand
Theater (scheduled to open in November) and the concert at the
Kremlin on October 28 to close the Year of China in Russia.
In addition to the concerts at the Beijing Concert Hall, the
NSOC will tour Shanxi, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong and Henan
provinces and Shanghai in the season.
Compared to the unstable NSOC, the younger Beijing Symphony
Orchestra (BSO) will perform a more refined program in its tenth
season under its music director Tan Lihua. The BSO also commissions
Chinese composers and plays works of different genres.
Tan will take the baton of the opening concert on Saturday
evening at the Forbidden City Concert Hall to play Su Cong's In the
Rapids of Emotion. Su is known internationally for his track in the
1988 Oscar-winning film movie The Last Emperor.
"I commissioned Su, because I love his beautiful melody. His
music is delicate and pleasant to the ear. I hope to attract a
wider audience to the concert hall than just royal classical music
fans. So I prefer to play more melodic works than those very
modern, but strange-sounding, works," Tan says.
Ye Xiaogang is another composer famous for his beautiful
melodies. And yes, the BSO also commissions him. On November 4, the
orchestra will premiere his suites Chu.
Both Ye and Su were born in the 1950s. BSO will also play many
works by older composers who are now in their 70s.
Composer Jin Xiang, 72, has selected arias from his seven
operas; Du Mingxin, 79, will present piano concerto, violin
concerto and ballet music, including the famous the Red Detachment
of Women. The BSO will also introduce the composer Shi Fu, 78, who
is not widely known to today's audiences but has a variety of works
from concerto and symphony to opera and ballet.
And of course, Chinese music is not all BSO has in the new
season. They will also play Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart. At the
opening concert, in addition to Su's In the Rapids of Emotion, they
will also play Stravinsky's ballet suite Fire Bird and Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition.
(China Daily September 7, 2007)
