On April 9th, under the leadership of the well-known British conductor Wayne Marshall, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra came to the Shanghai Oriental Art Center to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the masterpiece "Rhapsody in Blue" composed by the famous American composer Gershwin.
The Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Vienna Radio Symphony, a city with three top-notch orchestras, is worthy of the name of the world's music capital.
For Shanghai music fans, this is a concert with a lot to see.
Among the three major symphony orchestras in Vienna, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra has always been full of personality for its performances of modern music and symphonic works of film and television dramas, which is also related to the original intention of its establishment to be closely connected with broadcasting and mass media.
In the second half of the concert, the "March of the Strange Soldiers" from the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Flight" from the movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", the theme song "Memory" from the movie "Schindler's List", and the "Hedwig Theme" from the movie "Harry Potter" and other classic masterpieces in the history of Hollywood films were performed.
Conductor Wayne Marshall has made a name for himself on the international music scene in recent years and is a well-rounded musician. He is well-known in the music world for his authoritative interpretation of Gershwin's music, and has even been praised by foreign media as "better than Americans who understand American music".
Marshall was also an excellent pianist and organist, and he began to practice the organ at the age of 8, and he also served as a violin and double bass player in the school orchestra.
In the concert that night, Marshall showed off his piano skills while conducting and led the orchestra to play Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".
As early as 1995, Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Berlin Philharmoniker Forest Concert for the first time every summer, in which the theme of "American Night" was an outdoor concert of symphonic and jazz elements, during which the young pianist Wayne Marshall played the piano.
In recent years, Marshall has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Semper Opera House in Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Behind the scenes of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Shanghai performance:
On the afternoon of April 9th, the members of the orchestra came to the stage of the Oriental Art Center for rehearsals. The visit to Shanghai was one of six stops on their China tour, after they had already put on a spectacular performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Under Marshall's leadership, the musicians spent an hour efficiently rehearsing the key pieces of the evening.
After the rehearsal, with the help of a professional Chinese organ tuner, Marshall auditioned, tuned and practiced the piano used for the night's performance before walking off the stage alone.
While waiting on the sidestage, a musician played Bach's melody on the banjo, which is commonly used in American folk music, showing his profound knowledge of classical music.
Before the start of the show, the actors were dressed up and waited backstage. They were very excited to perform on stage in Shanghai.
After the performance, Marshall walked onto the stage to the curtain call amid the continuous applause of the audience.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhang Chunhai Text Editor: Jiang Diwen
Source: Author: Dong Tianye