Photo of the 24th Beijing International Music Festival Courtesy photo of Beijing International Music Festival
Beijing, October 27 (China News Network) (Reporter Ying Ni) 6 days and 24 wonderful performances, the recently concluded 24th Beijing International Music Festival with the theme of "Masters and Commemoration", bringing together the top domestic symphony orchestras, musicians to present classics, while a group of outstanding young Chinese musicians on the broad stage of the music festival.
Creating a "Chinese Concept" in the Master's "Dialogue"
In 2021, coinciding with the anniversary of Many Western composers such as Stravinsky, Mahler, Vivaldi, Saint-Saën, etc., the Beijing International Music Festival commemorates the masters with the theme of "Masters and Remembrance" and commemorates the giants with symphonies, chamber music, opera and film symphony concerts. Yu Long, chairman of the Art Committee of the Beijing International Music Festival, said frankly that all musicians today are standing on the shoulders of giants to continue to move forward, and many masters in the history of music are our giants and the foundation of classical music culture, and commemorating them is constantly consolidating the road under the feet of each generation of our musicians.
During the festival, conductor Jing Huan, together with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, violinists Xu Weiling and Liu Ming, presented the musical dialogue between Chen Qigang and Saint-Saën, showing the different definitions of "romance" by Eastern and Western musicians.
Led by conductor Yang Yang, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, together with singers Yuan Chenye and Huang Ying, violinist Liu Ming and cellist Zhu Lin, brought the audience back to 1911 to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Mahler's death and the 110th anniversary of the birth of Ding Shande, a composer and educator of the older generation of Chinese and foreign masters, who "dialogued" in "the singing of life". The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, which participated in the Beijing International Music Festival for the tenth time, also won the honor of "Artist of the Year" at the Beijing International Music Festival on the night of the performance.
Tan Dun and Stravinsky's masterpieces were staged on the same stage, and the two composers spoke on the same stage 1 century apart, showing the audience the different definitions of "modernity" by the two composers.
"Dialogue" surveys the musical culture of the East and the West, and the Beijing International Music Festival continues to commemorate the master in various ways such as opera, chamber music, and ballet music. The ballet film Romeo and Juliet and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra's live music interpretation met at the concert, combining both auditory and visual enjoyment, while also paying tribute to the Russian composer Prokofiev. At the lunchtime concert, the guitar and clarinet melody in honor of Piazzolla are sprinkled freely. At the Sanlitun Red Pavilion, themed concerts commemorating Stravinsky and Vivaldi met with fashion trends. The Beijing International Music Festival allows the audience to feel that the respect and feelings of the master have a rich expression.
The most worth mentioning is that after the 70 years since the release of the opera "The Journey of the Prodigal Son", it has finally completed its wonderful Chinese premiere in the form of "Twin Cities Premiere" under the joint production of the Beijing International Music Festival and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
As The first professional classical music festival in China, the biggest impact of the Beijing International Music Festival on the Chinese classical music market is undoubtedly in the field of opera. Opera, which combines drama, literature, music and choreography, is known as the "jewel in the crown of stage art", and the huge cost of production and performance, as well as the objective restrictions of language and culture, also make it difficult for opera art to spread in any country where non-classical music originates. However, the Beijing International Music Festival has staged more than 50 operas in just two decades, including the Chinese premiere of nearly 30 operas. Many unmissable "core documents" in the history of world opera have been magnificently bloomed at a high level through the stage of the Beijing International Music Festival.
Telling the "China Story" with Music
At the closing concert, the Beijing International Music Festival commissioned composer Tan Dun to compose the Erhu Concerto "Fire Festival" for the first time.
One of the most special is that Lu Yiwen, who plays the solo part of the music, plays both the erhu and the Xiqin, which is the predecessor of the erhu, and the most obvious difference between the erhu and the erhu is that the Xiqin has three strings. This is a musical instrument that Tan Dun copied according to the Dunhuang mural design. Tan Dun first asked the old artists in Quanzhou to make the prototype of the musical instrument, and then carried out an industrialized and scientific attempt at the Shanghai National Musical Instrument Factory, so that Xi Qin could truly make an ancient and simple sound. One of the strings needs to be plucked with your thumb when playing. This kind of bullet method was obtained by Tan Dun from an old man.com. He revealed that one day he walked out of the Dengshikou subway station in Beijing and happened to meet a blind man pulling erhu. Tan Dun took a closer look, and the erhu in the old man's hand happened to be three strings, and then asked the old man for advice on how to play.
In Tan Dun's view, "Musical instruments are the history of mankind." When the instrument is broken, so is history. Xi Qin and Erhu bear witness to the development and inheritance of Chinese music, and Tan Dun hopes that through their juxtaposition with the symphony orchestra and dialogue with Stravinsky, "China will see the world, and the world will also see China." The creation of "Fire Sacrifice" uses the folk music of Guizhou, Yunnan and Hunan, ancient puppet opera and sacrifice music, and is full of excavation and inheritance of Chinese culture and aesthetics. When playing, Tan Dun arranged the entire orchestra on the second floor of the auditorium and on the stage, the former standing, the latter sitting, just like the standing and sitting parts in the Tang Dynasty music trick. As the song progresses, all sorts of wonderful sounds unexpectedly echo around various locations in the theater. Tan Dun and the musicians sometimes have to "vocalize" and sing, and the long chant adds to the long and empty situation of the work.
In fact, since its inception, the Beijing International Music Festival has spared no effort to support Chinese musicians and stage commissioned works by Chinese composers. Special concerts by Guo Wenjing, Chen Qigang, Ye Xiaogang, Tan Dun and others were staged one after another, and the works of Chinese composers such as Zhao Jiping, Zou Ye, Zhang Chao, and Liu Sola appeared on the stage one after another.
Yu Long believes that it is necessary to tell them the story of China and Chinese culture in a way that Westerners can accept. Symphony and opera are the best ways to spread Chinese culture. "The classical music industry is not something that a generation can accomplish, but a process of passing on the torch." Let the world understand the Chinese voice, let more outstanding Chinese works and Chinese musicians step onto the world stage, and the Beijing International Music Festival has been practicing this.
Cross-border and public welfare to the end
This year, the doors of the festival continue to be open to children. The "post-00s" conductor Jin Yukuang conducted the neo-classical chamber orchestra established by himself and his classmates to play St. Sang's "Animal Carnival" at the Zhongshan Park Music Hall, which is a work quite suitable for children to listen to and interpret.
In late September this year, after open recruitment and interviews, the Beijing International Music Festival selected four little piano children to participate in the performance of the two piano parts in the work. In the whole planning process of this special concert for children, the door to the music world is always open to all children: whether from professional colleges or ordinary schools, they can sign up for the interview; the tickets for the official performance are also free reservations. "Getting more children involved is our original intention in holding public welfare activities. Music never sets boundaries. Tu Song, program director of the Beijing International Music Festival, said.
The beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Music and Art Carnival, a public welfare sub-project, was also held for the first time in this year's music festival and ended perfectly. The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra presented a wonderful performance display concert with famous conductor Yang Yang, violinist Lu Siqing, principal of the Affiliated Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music and cellist Namula at the Concert Hall of the Affiliated Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music.
Sangzhi folk songs and Zhangjiajie Yang opera, which are listed as national intangible cultural heritage, also appeared on the stage of this year's music festival.
"We've never positioned ourselves as a 'classical' music festival in Beijing." Zou Shuang, artistic director of the Beijing International Music Festival, said. Since 2010, jazz and rock masters such as Kenny Garrett, Cui Jian, and Luo Dayou have left wonderful moments at the festival. This year, at the Red Pavilion in Sanlitun North District, a concert that integrates pop, blues, jazz and other styles has witnessed the warm return of the famous singer Cheng Fangyuan. Cross-border collisions are always happening, constantly expanding the extension of the music festival audience. (End)
Source: China News Network