Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, January 7 (Reporter Sun Liping) 10 yuan, 30 yuan... In the international metropolis of Shanghai, it is only the price of a cup of tea or coffee. However, in the center of Shanghai, where land is scarce, people can enter the century-old Shanghai Concert Hall with such a ticket price and enjoy a "musical afternoon tea" full of artistic energy.
The so-called "Music Afternoon Tea" is a public welfare music performance founded by shanghai concert hall on January 7, 2012: it is staged at noon on weekdays for 1 hour. For ten years, this cup of "Music Afternoon Tea" belonging to the whole of Shanghai has met with the citizens, rain or shine, and the temperature has always been the same.
At noon on January 7, 2022, the Shanghai Concert Hall floated out of the unique Piazzola tango music "taste"... This is a special moment: as a well-known public welfare cultural event in Shanghai, "Music Afternoon Tea" has celebrated its 10th birthday. The festival orchestra composed of 9 musicians played the moving "Havana Fantasia" and "One Step Away", and returned with a cheerful and gorgeous "Happy Birthday Song".
"I didn't expect that, in the blink of an eye, 'Musical Afternoon Tea' has gone through 10 years! Fang Liang, general manager of shanghai concert hall, sighed. In 2012, the original intention of the Shanghai Concert Hall to launch the "Music Afternoon Tea" was to allow citizens near the Shanghai Concert Hall to use the noon break to enter the music hall and enjoy a salon-style small concert. From 2012 to 2019, the ticket price for this concert was set at 10 yuan. In addition to the concert, every listener can enjoy a cup of hot tea. In 2019, the Shanghai Concert Hall reopened after undergoing overhaul, and the price of "Music Afternoon Tea" was adjusted to 30 yuan, still adhering to "low threshold and high quality".
On February 29, 2012, the audience enjoyed the performance of the Shanghai Jazz Orchestra players at the Shanghai Concert Hall "Musical Afternoon Tea".
In the past 10 years, in the South Hall of Shanghai Concert Hall, countless young performers and music newcomers have taken the stage to continue the "aroma" for this cup of loving music lunch. Whether it is a busy office worker or a tourist in Shanghai, you can feel a poetic dialogue between the heart and music here.
An hour at noon, the aroma of the city... A small cup of "musical afternoon tea" is brewed by time into the most beautiful taste. Statistics show that in the past ten years, "Music Afternoon Tea" has performed nearly 2,000 times. More than 6,300 young artists have staged on this stage, performing about 12,000 songs and receiving 200,000 audiences.
"Don't look at the performance for just one hour, it condenses the all-encompassing musical flavor, from symphony to opera, from folk opera to Hawaiian song and dance... Over the past decade, various musical art forms have been presented. Li Yanhuan, a music critic who has accompanied "Musical Afternoon Tea" for 10 years, said.
Li Yanhuan said that "musical afternoon tea" nourishes the audience and also nourishes young musicians. Many newcomers to music first appear on this stage when they were in junior high school, high school, and college. On this list, there are Liu Ming, principal of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Chen Jiayi, winner of the Golden Bell Award, Guo Zizhao, tenor of Luyi, and Zhang Rose, the soprano of the traveling beauty... Abound.
The main hall of the Shanghai Concert Hall, photographed on September 6, 2020. On the same day, the Shanghai Concert Hall, which had been closed for a year and a half, reopened to the public. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xiang
After the precipitation of time, why is the taste of this cup of Shanghai's "musical afternoon tea" getting stronger and stronger? Fang Liang said that because Shanghai has a rich reserve of musical talents and an increasingly rich musical atmosphere, and more importantly, because the city insists on "leaving the best resources to the people" and wants more people to enjoy a better life.
It is reported that as a well-known cultural brand in Shanghai, the next decade of "Music Afternoon Tea" will be more exciting, on the one hand, it will accept the "order" of the whole Shanghai and send it to suburban counties, schools and communities; on the other hand, "Music Afternoon Tea" has launched a network essence version, and will also hold live audio broadcasts from time to time to let the sound of music spread farther.