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Music festival features rich folk art repertoire
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Beautiful melodies will fill Shanghai again as the 33rd Shanghai Spring International Music Festival starts tonight.
The festival, which goes back more than 50 years, will run from today to May 18. So far, the schedule includes more than 50 shows and events presented by both domestic and international artists.
About 5,000 discounted tickets are available at 30 yuan (US$4.62) each.
“The festival will keep on providing opportunities for emerging musicians and will encourage original works,” composer Xu Shuya, an official of the festival committee, said.
The festival this year will open at Shanghai Symphony Hall with a collection of the best original works that have been presented in previous years, including the symphonic poem “Ode to the Red Flag,” the violin concerto “Butterfly Lovers,” the symphonic suite “Sketch of Jinling” and “Erhu Rhapsody No.2”. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will help stage the classics, while young talents like violinist Chen Jiayi and Lu Yiwen will also participate.
On the same night, “The White-haired Girl,” a Chinese ballet theater, will be restaged at Shanghai Grand Theater by Shanghai Ballet, starring Fan Xiaofeng, Wu Husheng and Li Chenchen.
In addition to that, the festival will also present concerts with the works of Chinese composers Lu Qiming, Zhao Jiping and Yu Xunfa. A serial concert featuring original Chinese piano works from the past 100 years will give insights into the development of piano music in China.
More than 10 original works will be staged this year, including the recently composed works featuring the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.
The contemporary ballet “Echoes of Eternity” which tells the legend of a Tang Dynasty (AD618-907) emperor who falls in love with his concubine will also be shown.
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande from Switzerland, Orchestra 2001 from the US, Academy of Ancient Music from Britain, Jose Cura from Argentina and Chung Myung-whun from South Korea will also participate in the festival.
A series of performances by artists from countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road will be a new highlight of the festival program arrangements.
The Tehran Symphony Orchestra will stage the closing concert for the Festival on May 18, while artists of the Kazakh National Instrumental Orchestra, Hayrullo Dadoboyev Folk Group, Dance Ensemble Bazamoro from Tajikistan, and the folklore and ethnographical ensemble “Kambarkan” of the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic will present three Central-Asia concerts from May 11 to 15.
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music will be open to the public from May 8 to 14. With an online reservation, members of the public can attend rehearsals, lectures, lessons and even master and doctoral defenses.
Visit www.ssimf.org and www.shcmusic.edu.cn for more information.
Mini Festival
THE mini festival “When Baroque Meets England” will be held at Shanghai Concert Hall from May 6-8 as part of the Shanghai Spring Festival.
Britten Sinfonia, the resident orchestra of the festival, will present the concerts “The Two Ends of the Music History” and “Shakespeare.”
The program includes works of well-known British composers like Purcell, Britten, Tippett and Huw Watkins, which helps elaborate the development of British music. Corelli, Handel and Bach will also be featured.
The concerts will also star harpsichord player Mahan Esfahani, violinist Jacqueline Shave, horn player Martin Pwen as well as mezzo soprano Allison Cook.
“Britain may not be the most eye-catching country in the peak age of Classic music. But we cannot ignore the power of the ancient island kingdom if we expand our view a bit in the timeline,” Shen Yanshu of Shanghai Concert Hall said.
In addition to the concerts, the public can also participate in three lectures and a workshop.
Date: May 5-8, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Concert Hall
Address: 523 Ya’an Rd E.
Tickets: 80-480 yuan
Tel: 400-8918182
Visit www.shanghaiconcerthall.org for more information
‘Impression of Muqam’
The original musical idyll “Impression of Muqam” will help unveil traditional Uygur art and lifestyle with a show by Xinjiang Muqam Art Troupe on May 3 and 4.
The program was created based on the “12 Muqam,” a national intangible cultural heritage of China, while modern stage settings help revive the ancient art with the help of the Digital Media Art School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Muqam is a musical mode and set of melodic formulas used to guide improvisation and composition. The Muqam art was influenced by Persian music and culture, and passed down orally.
Muqam is like a cyclopedia of the Uygur as it covers history, society and life of common people. The “12 Muqam” is an organized and standardized collection of Muqam folk arts spread orally in the region. The concubine Amanni Shahan of the Yerqiang Kingdom (1526-1560) is credited with collecting them and thereby preserving the “12 Muqam.”
All the 12 Muqams will be staged in the program, while a love story will help link the songs for the four-act theater. A modern stage setting supported by digital media will help immerse the audience into the scenes, Dai Xiaorong of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music said.
“As the story develops, the audience will witness the beautiful scenes of the forest at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, the busy bazaar where the Uygur people exchange their goods, and the royal palace where the legendary concubine worked on the collection,” Dai said.
Date: May 3-4, 7:30pm
Venue: The Majestic Theater
Address: 66 Jiangning Rd
Tickets: 80-480 yuan
Tel: 400-880-2340, 5169-1234
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