The tiger roared, and the drum horns sounded in unison. As soon as the Year of the Tiger began, the Shanghai Opera House welcomed Yu Lu, the youngest chief guest conductor and young Chinese conductor who has attracted the attention of the international music scene, in the six trumpets' enthusiastic "Guest March".
At the press conference, Xu Zhong, president of the Shanghai Opera House, a famous conductor and pianist, presented Yu Lu with a "golden key", hoping that this outstanding young conductor could use this "golden key" to open the door of opera art and collide with a new spark in the new musical journey with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra.
"It was my first time accepting a musical position. Dean Xu's artistic charm and personality charm attracted me, and the Shanghai Opera House with deep historical accumulation is also full of artistic magnetism and positive energy atmosphere, the artists here are quite excellent, I believe there will be a very pleasant cooperation between us, thank you Shanghai Opera House can give me this opportunity. Conductor Yu Lu said.
He is a young Chinese conductor recommended by many international conductors
Yu Lu's musical life can be described as "open and hanging" all the way. In his recent years, he has had a pleasant cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Saito Memorial Festival Orchestra and other world-class outstanding orchestras. In China, he has attracted wide attention from the industry and classical music fans with groundbreaking music events such as the nine Beethoven Symphonies broadcast live in five days and the leading of the China Junior Symphony Orchestra to perform Mahler's "First Symphony".
"Last year, I conducted the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra in my hometown and performed Beethoven's nine symphonies in five days. Every time I play Beethoven's Symphony, like climbing Mount Everest, and climbing nine times in five consecutive days to achieve success, I think it takes a certain amount of strength and courage. Through this incident, President Xu Zhong saw my achievements at home and abroad and sent me an invitation with great kindness. Thanks Beethoven! This time, he was invited to serve as the chief guest conductor of the Shanghai Opera House, Yu Lu said.
He studied violin and piano since childhood, and was admitted to the Affiliated High School of the Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 15 with the first place; at the age of 18, he was admitted to the Conducting Department of the Central Conservatory of Music again with the first place; at the age of 19, he won the audition organized by Ozawa Seier and began to study with the master and served as the master's assistant conductor; at the age of 22, under the strong recommendation of master Ozawa Seier and Bichkov and other masters, he was selected by the conductor Master Janssons and was invited to the Netherlands to conduct the world's top Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and with his excellent conducting skills At the age of 23, he performed "Madame Butterfly" in Japan and completed his first opera conducting; at the age of 24, he went to Austria to conduct the Mozart Orchestra at the invitation of the Salzburg Music Festival, and was nominated for the Young Conductor Award of the Salzburg Festival; in the same year, he received an invitation from IMG Artists, one of the world's largest classical music agencies, becoming the youngest Chinese conductor in the history of IMG; 30 years old. Recorded with the Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Netherlands Concertgebouw orchestra and distributed worldwide.
This year, Yu Lu was once again invited by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to conduct a concert for the orchestra's 2021/22 season in March. If he does, it will be his first appearance on the international classical music stage since he became the chief guest conductor of the Shanghai Opera House. The overture of "Figaro's Wedding" performed live at today's press conference made everyone look forward to Yu Lu's "Beethoven- Beethoven Special Concert" in May this year. This concert will bring Beethoven's Seventh Symphony to Shanghai music fans, and young pianist Zuo Zhang will also join in to perform Beethoven's "Fifth Piano Concerto" "Emperor".
"I haven't worked with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra before, the average age of the musicians here is more than 30 years old, I am also very young, I believe we can express each other's ideas more openly." Yu Lu said that after becoming chief guest conductor, he plans to cooperate with the Shanghai Opera House for five or six concerts a year, including opera. "The atmosphere of the Shanghai Opera House is very positive and gives young artists a lot of space. This year coincides with the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, my teacher is Japanese, I have also performed "Madame Butterfly" in Japan, and perhaps the first opera I cooperated with the Shanghai Opera House will be "Madame Butterfly". Yu Lu "spoilers" said.
The Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra welcomes its youngest principal guest conductor
As the president of the Shanghai Opera House, Xu Zhong is well aware of the importance of an excellent guest conductor for a professional symphony orchestra.
"Every good conductor not only has a unique understanding of the work, has different thinking about music, but also has his own learning experience, personal interests, age experience and other factors, has his own areas of expertise and expertise." At the same time, each conductor will have different working habits and different ways of communicating with the musicians. Therefore, different conductors inevitably bring different musical inspiration to symphony orchestras. This is also an important reason why we invite the master conductor to cooperate every year. ”
Xu Zhong said, "The Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra is a vibrant and vibrant orchestra, and the average age of our performers is only more than 30 years old. Young conductor Yu Lu is also in his 30th year, and believes that in future cooperation, the common frequency resonance between peers can collide with each other's inspiration to create a more wonderful musical spark. ”
For how to make classical music into more people, Yu Lu has a "golden key" in his heart. "In my opinion, music needs to serve people and serve society. Our product, which may have been more than 200 years ago, is not iterative or updated. It's unreasonable for you to take a work from more than 200 years ago to serve today's users. How to find reasonableness in the unreasonable? This requires through channels, through formal reform, through content innovation. ”
Photo: Ye Chenliang
Author: Jiang Fang
Editor: Tong Weijing
Editor-in-Charge: Liu Qing
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