On the evening of December 26, on the banks of the Mother River, citizens from all over the world gathered at the Lanzhou Concert Hall to listen to a musical masterpiece "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy". Hosted by the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and undertaken by the Lanzhou Grand Theatre, the year-end finale program became the final drama of 2020.
3 days ago, "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" has been hard to find, the internationally famous composer and conductor Tan Dun has created an epic work for 5 years since its premiere has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but people living in the northwest can see Dunhuang, but they do not know how to turn the murals into sounds, use sound to convey wisdom to sentient beings, and transmit compassion. How to receive?
The night's performance lineup was luxurious: the famous composer and conductor Tan Dun served as the conductor, the well-known baritone Wang Yunpeng and Zhang Xiaomeng, the mezzo-soprano Dong Fang and Wu Hongni, the tenor Wang Chuanyue, the sopranos Huang Ying and Xu Lei, the original ecological soprano Ze Renyangjin, the original ecological bass Hasbargen and the Dunhuang dance rebound pipa Chen Yining performed on the same stage in conjunction with the Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Lanzhou Concert Hall Choir.
At 8:00 p.m., the Lanzhou Concert Hall was full, Tan Dun felt the enthusiasm of the Jincheng audience as soon as he appeared, and the tidal wave of applause was higher than the wave, and with the instruments chirping in unison, the grand opening of "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" was grand.
The whole performance of the evening is divided into 6 acts: "Under the Bodhi Tree", "Nine Colored Deer", "Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes", "Zen Garden", "Heart Sutra" and "Nirvana", each of which contains profound philosophy, aiming to use music and culture, history and spiritual dialogue to guide people to do good.
It is worth mentioning that with the advancement of the theme of "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy", the Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Lanzhou Concert Hall Choir have freely transformed in delicacy, vividness and grandeur, making the perfect combination of Dunhuang murals and songs shine with dazzling brilliance.
In addition, the performance site is interspersed with ancient musical instruments such as rebound pipa and Xiqin restored in dunhuang murals, as well as traditional Chinese instruments such as bowls, wooden fish, and induction, highlighting the infinite charm of Dunhuang ancient musical instruments.
In the two-hour performance, solo singing and chorus take turns, and the majestic national and classical music "matrix" is sometimes soft and melodious, sometimes imposing, and the combination of symphony orchestra and chorus runs through the whole process, and the musical heritage hidden in the cave frescoes is flexibly "resurrected", which is surging and exciting. At the end of the performance, the enthusiastic Jincheng audience gave the warmest applause to Tan Dun and all the cast members!
Source: Gao Hongmei, all-media reporter of Lanzhou Daily
Source: Lanzhou Evening News