On the evening of April 5th, a musical feast full of "French style" - the concert of the Royal Opera Orchestra of the Palace of Versailles, France, was staged at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, winning warm applause and cheers from the Shenzhen audience.
2024 is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the Sino-French Year of Culture and Tourism, and this performance is part of the 18th Sino-French Cultural Spring in South China, and it is also the orchestra's first visit to China. Nicolas PILLEREL, Minister Counsellor for Culture, Education and Science of the French Embassy in China and Director of the Institut Française in Beijing, and Christophe BAGONNEAU, Cultural Consul of the Consulate General of France in Guangzhou, attended the performance and gave high praise.
In the evening, under the baton of conductor Stefan Planiac, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House of Versailles in France, together with falsetto tenor Paul-Antoine Benos-Gian, falsetto tenor Theo Imat and violinist Zhang Zhang, brought excerpts from Molière's opera "The Noble Man", Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and "Tito Manrio", as well as excerpts from Handel's "Dear Bride" from "The Father of Oratorio", and "Lyrical Tragedy" in France Classical works by composers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, the pioneer of formal opera, and Rameau, the "number one French composer of the 18th century".
At the concert, the audience was full. "It was a high-quality concert and the tickets sold out. Ms. Huang, a Shenzhen music fan, sighed. In the concert, not only Baroque operas, arias and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" were performed, but also two falsetto tenors "stunningly brightened their voices". As soon as these two falsetto tenors who came to China for the first time spoke, their incomparably gorgeous timbre conquered the audience. Born in 1998, the falsetto tenor Theo Imat is known as the most powerful "post-90s" falsetto tenor singer in France and even Europe. The encore song once again pushed the atmosphere to a climax. The first encore song was the French classic "La Vie en Rose". The second song was "One Night in SHENZHEN", based on the Chinese pop song "One Night in Beijing", which was performed by the audience with the musicians on stage, and the atmosphere was warm and warm.
The Orchestra Royal Opéra de Versailles, the official orchestra of the Palace of Versailles and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles (Opéra de Versailles) performs 100 musical performances a year at the Palace of Versailles, and this time they are on a 22-member tour of China, performing the Baroque period music that the orchestra excels in. After the performance, Mr. Liu, a citizen who loves French culture, said, "Before I came, I knew that this orchestra was particularly good at playing Baroque music and Romantic period music, and this time I heard many excerpts from classic operas, which really presented the original French style, which was very enjoyable!"
It is understood that in the past month, a number of "French theme" performances have been held in Shenzhen, in addition to the "global organ ambassador" Olivier Ratteli and the French Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra, next, French jazz pianist Laurent Coolund, French young violinist Ashie Matashias will perform in Shenzhen one after another.
Civilizations are colorful because of exchanges, and cultures are enriched by mutual learning. While more and more French art groups are coming to China and Shenzhen, Shenzhen's original dance drama "Wing Chun" will also be performed in Paris, France in 2024. It is reported that Shenzhen's original dance drama "Wing Chun" will be held from October 3rd to 6th at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, France, to show the essence of China's excellent traditional culture with Shenzhen's literary and artistic masterpieces, and add Shenzhen elements to the "Sino-French Cultural Tourism Year".
(Photo courtesy of Shenzhen Concert Hall)
(Author: Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reporter Zhang Rui Liu Shasha)