Nine musical extravaganzas will feature artists from many countries

With the rise and fall of the baton in Tan Dun's hand, the deep and distant melody of the brass instrument echoed, and the pipa rose and turned gracefully...... Last night, the 27th Beijing Music Festival opened at the Concert Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

In the evening, composer and conductor Tan Dun, pipa player Zhao Cong, suona player Liu Wenwen, violinist Lu Wei and cellist Wang Jian joined the China Symphony Orchestra on stage to bring the audience the "Special Concert of China Symphony Orchestra under the baton of a hundred birds and phoenixes, Chinese and Western Qi Singing, Tan Dun".

From October 5th to 13th, the Beijing Music Festival will bring together performance groups and famous artists from China, the United States, Britain, Germany, South Africa, Austria, France, Italy and other countries with the theme of "Music Gathering in Beijing and Listening to the World".

At the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Poly Theater, Zhongshan Park Concert Hall, Temple of Heaven Park Divine Music Department and other venues, 9 concerts were held for the audience, and a number of public welfare activities were launched, such as Fun Axis, Meet the Master, Blue Bird Flapping Wings, Art Exploration, Walking in Beijing, and Enjoying the Cloud.

Oriental ancient rhymes are intertwined to pay tribute to traditional Chinese culture

As the lights of the concert hall dimmed, Tan Dun's "Bell of the Dragon Vein of Beijing's Central Axis" slowly sounded, kicking off the whole concert. It takes the ancient Chinese sound symbol "bell" as a clue to show the historical heritage of Beijing's central axis and the cultural self-confidence of contemporary China. Unlike in the past, when soloists and symphony orchestras performed on the same stage, Zhao Cong, the head of the Central Chinese Orchestra and principal pipa player, sat in a red dress in the audience above the stage, echoing the Chinese Symphony Orchestra. Zhao Cong's solo performance is like "Falling Jade Plate", which perfectly blends with the rich sound of the symphony orchestra, bringing the audience into an ancient and mysterious time and space tunnel.

"It's normal to use the pipa to play a traditional piece, but it's not easy to integrate it with Western instruments for international expression." Zhao Cong said. In the melody of "The Bell of the Dragon Vein in the Central Axis of Beijing", people seem to be able to hear the historical echo of Beijing, and in the melody full of historical weight and the atmosphere of the times, the audience also feels the breadth and profundity of Chinese culture.

Immediately afterwards, "A Hundred Birds and a Phoenix" showed the surging energy of traditional music. This traditional blowing and percussion ensemble piece of the Central Plains, originally titled "Ten Scenes", imitates the calls of cuckoos, partridges, swallows, mountain chirpers, blue, thrushes, larks, blue wax beaks and other birds through music, creating a festive atmosphere, and often appears in traditional wedding occasions. Adapted by composer Guan Xia, "A Hundred Birds and a Phoenix" is a suona concerto that integrates high-pitched suona with a symphony orchestra, retaining the strong emotions and colors of traditional music. "This version of "A Hundred Birds and a Phoenix" is a new expression of the contemporaneity and internationalization of traditional Chinese music, as well as the fusion of Eastern and Western music cultures. In this work, both in the performance technique of the suona instruments themselves and the musical connotation, they are all very golden. Liu Wenwen, a post-90s suona player, said. As the 13th generation of Liu's suona, Liu Wenwen's performance is full of tension, and the music of suona seems to have the potential to swallow mountains and rivers, bringing the audience into a music world full of vitality and vitality. In particular, its live performance lasted for nearly a minute without ventilation, and its amazing lung capacity and flexible interpretation were amazing, which aroused warm applause from the audience.

Western music classics present exchanges that transcend national borders

In addition to the performances of Chinese works, the concert also presented classic masterpieces by Stravinsky, Mozart and Ravel. Stravinsky's famous work "The Firebird" has both the whimsy of modern music and the delicate lines of romanticism. The ballet created on this basis was once called the dividing line of the dance world. In the concert on the 5th, Tan Dun showed his unique interpretation of this masterpiece of the 20th century.

In the second half of the concert, the "Symphony Concerto in E flat major" was played first. Composed in 1779, Mozart creatively combined the forms of a symphony and a concerto. Violinist Lu Wei and cellist Wang Jian co-performed the delicate interpretation of the work, and the elegance of Mozart's music was fully demonstrated by the friction of the bowstrings, leading the audience to realize the retrospective journey from 20th century music to classicism in an instant. "Bolero" with its popular classic melody continues to reverberate in the concert hall, especially the snare drum repeats as many as 168 times throughout the work, connecting the whole work like a clue, allowing the audience to feel the charm and power of music in the melody.

Yesterday's opening concert condensed the original intention of the festival's artistic planning, bringing together Chinese and foreign works in one concert, bringing together soloists from Eastern and Western instruments on the stage to unveil the 27th Beijing Music Festival in the most grand way. As both a conductor and a composer, Tan Dun put a lot of thought into the repertoire planning of this concert, "In the first half, Zhao Cong's pipa and Liu Wenwen's suona are intertwined like ancient oriental rhymes, and the lingering sound is a tribute to traditional Chinese culture; In the second half, Lu Wei's violin and Wang Jian's cello are like Western rhymes, tactful and melodious, showing the classic works of Western music, which is a musical exchange that crosses national borders. ”

Old and new friends gather to pass on the torch of Chinese classical music

The opening concert also brought together new and old friends at the Beijing Music Festival through the cooperation of a number of internationally renowned musicians and the China Symphony Orchestra, demonstrating the power of Chinese classical music to be passed on from generation to generation.

As the performing orchestra of this opening concert, the China Symphony Orchestra has a deep relationship with the Beijing Music Festival. Since the first festival in 1998, the China Symphony Orchestra has participated in many performances of the festival, making important contributions to promoting music exchanges between China and foreign countries. Zhou Yu, Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Symphony Orchestra, said, "The China Symphony Orchestra was renamed in 1996 and the Beijing Music Festival came into being in 1998. Cellist Wang Jian's first collaboration with the Beijing Music Festival dates back to 1999, and the friendship with the festival has continued on the stage ever since.

Returning to this stage again, Wang Jian was extremely emotional, "I still clearly remember the first impression of the Beijing Music Festival, which is exactly the same as any important music festival in the world, and there is no difference in its careful design, care and care for the artists, etc., so I especially cherish the fate of the Beijing Music Festival." Not only that, but several artists such as Tan Dun, Lu Wei, and Zhao Cong are also old friends of the Beijing Music Festival.

"It's a great pleasure to be able to get together with old and new friends who are here today." Yu Long, Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival, said, "Most of the artists on stage this time are old friends of mine, and young performer Liu Wenwen is taking the stage for the first time at the festival to welcome this new friend. Chinese classical music has been passed down from generation to generation, and we are all working hard to bring Chinese music to the world, and this concert has witnessed the efforts of generations of musicians. ”

Zou Shuang, Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival, also said about the planning concept, "This opening concert not only shows the artistic essence of combining East and West, but also integrates the concept of new and old musicians performing on the same stage, which not only carries the profound heritage of tradition, but also shows the determination to forge ahead with innovation, and the two complement each other and complement each other." ”

At the same time, Zou Shuang also emphasized that the Beijing Music Festival has been adhering to the concept of bringing Chinese concepts to the world through music for the past 27 years. The young performers not only represent the strength of the new generation of Chinese musicians, but also show their confidence and vitality on the international stage. "Now, after a long period of time, in the context of the old and the new, generations of young musicians have emerged. We are very pleased to see that the field of folk music has also welcomed young performers like Liu Wenwen, which is exactly the grand occasion that everyone has witnessed in the history of the festival. ”

Text/Reporter Tian Wanting

Source: Beijing Youth Daily