On July 20......, pianist Kong Xiangdong, 99-year-old famous conductor Cao Peng and conductor Zhang Liang appeared on the same stage at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center to present the piano concerto "Yellow River", the overture of Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Arabian Nights" with the Shanghai City Symphony Orchestra. In the melody of Chinese and foreign masterpieces, the Oriental Citizen Concert, the "golden signboard" of Shanghai's music benefiting the people, ushered in the 18th anniversary celebration.
As the largest public welfare and popular concert in China, the Oriental Citizen Concert has performed more than 770 times since its inception, ushering in more than one million audiences, and has been awarded the national "Public Cultural Service System Construction Demonstration Project". Today is the first time that pianist Kong Xiangdong appeared at the Oriental Citizen Concert, and with the help of Grandpa Cao, who is loved by music fans, the tickets for the performance have not only been sold out, but also many additional seats are also very popular. It is worth mentioning that on July 29, 2006, conductor Zhang Liang conducted the first performance of the Oriental Citizen Concert, and Zhang Liang's return to the stage also made this concert of great significance.
A strong lineup and blockbuster repertoire will help the celebration performance
"Nowadays, the ticket price of classical concerts is generally hundreds or even thousands of yuan, while in the Oriental Citizen Concert, the audience can enjoy high-quality concerts as long as they spend less than 100 yuan, which can not only attract everyone into the concert hall, but also help the popularization of urban music and the improvement of citizens' cultural literacy." Kong Xiangdong told reporters that whether it is a domestic conductor or a famous musician who is active in the forefront of the international stage, everyone is very willing to step on this stage of "noble and not expensive, and the culture is close to the people", "for many years, we have witnessed the two-way rush between famous artists and music fans."
One of the highlights of the concert is the Piano Concerto based on the Yellow River Cantata. The Piano Concerto "Yellow River" uses the expression techniques of Western classical piano concertos, and incorporates elements of traditional Chinese folk music such as the boatman's horn, and is famous at home and abroad for its epic structure, gorgeous technique, rich layers and magnificent artistic conception. The monstrous and sonorous sound of the piano is surging like the Yellow River, showing a magnificent picture of the Chinese people's indomitable and courageous progress.
For the piano concerto "Yellow River", Kong Xiangdong has long been familiar with this work after decades of playing experience. This time, under the baton of Cao Peng, this classic was played again, and Kong Xiangdong was at first a little worried about whether the old gentleman's reaction to the music and physical expression would be a little slow when conducting the conduct. But as soon as he came on stage, the pianist didn't feel that Mr. Cao Peng was 99 years old. "He was wearing a beautiful suit and a red handkerchief on his chest, like he looked like he was 60 years old. On stage, our emotions are blended together through music, and we don't feel each other's age at all, only the infinite power that bursts out and collides because of complete devotion. ”
The musicians on the stage collided with strong musical sparks, and the seriousness and enthusiasm of the music fans in the audience also made Kong Xiangdong deeply touched. "I remember more than 30 years ago, when I was returning from studying abroad and performing at the Shanghai Centre Theatre, the sound of the call machine in the audience came and went, and I would stop playing in the middle of the movement and ask the audience to stay silent. Today, the quality of the performances in our Shanghai Concert Hall and theater has reached the world-class level, and if I have the opportunity in the future, I hope to perform at the Oriental Citizen Concert. ”
Let music reach every ordinary person
As a pianist, Kong Xiangdong not only enjoys a reputation in the field of piano performance, but also actively participates in social activities after recovering from depression in recent years, and can be seen everywhere in hospitals, schools, and communities. Today, he has once again become an art popularizer, doing his best in the fields of humanistic spirit transmission, art to promote harmony, art public welfare integration, music and art healing.
For the concept of making music reach more people, Kong Xiangdong made up a dialogue between the piano boy and his mother, which is enough to express his concept. "One kid asked his mother: Do I want to play the piano so I can perform at Carnegie Hall in the future? Later, my mother told her child: You learn piano and music, so that you can hear Carnegie everywhere in the future—the music stage is everywhere, as long as you have a heart that truly loves music and loves the world, you will try to make the sound you love reach the corners of the world. ”
Kong Xiangdong bluntly said that contemporary people live at a fast pace and are prone to mental pressure. "Then when words are poor and powerless, music is even more wonderful and can awaken our souls." In recent years, Kong Xiangdong has composed a lot of original music for ordinary people, including medical workers, and has also seen listeners cry for his music. "Just because music can make you cry proves that it actually touches your heartstrings. But if you can be moved, it means that your vitality is still very strong. As a musician, we must not only be satisfied with dancing on the black and white keys, but also convey more healing spiritual power to the public. ”
As a senior in the industry, Kong Xiangdong is also keen to promote juniors. On August 15th, he will perform as a special guest in the Piano Recital with the young pianist Yinzhi to perform Debussy's four-hand piano work "Suite". In 2022, the two performed the piano concerto "Yellow River" together in the form of a cross-time and space "cloud ensemble" in the CCTV large-scale cultural program "Starting from Yan'an" to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Yan'an Literature and Art Symposium.