Original title: Famous artists and groups gather together to perform wonderful performances continuously (Quotation)
Beijing music stage enters the "New Year time" (theme)
Beijing Daily reporter Gao Qian
The Spring Festival is approaching, following the New Year's Day concert craze, Beijing's The music stage once again created a festive atmosphere: piano master Zimmerman made his debut at the National Center for the Performing Arts, playing the harbinger of the influx of famous artists and groups in the new year; a series of New Year-themed concerts were continuously staged, and the "Voice of China" The power is becoming more and more prominent; parallel to the palace-level events, there are also exquisite and easy-to-use small-scale performances. The wonderful and relaxed form is promoting the popularization of traditional culture and art to more audiences... Famous people gather together, diverse gatherings, Beijing, where dramas are gathering, has already kicked off 2024.
International masters "triggered" new changes in the performance
From Chopin in the first half to Debussy and Karol Szymanowski in the second half, the rich melodies composed by the composers were displayed on the black and white keyboards It flows up and down, precipitating a night of pure and moving music. On the evening of January 17, world-renowned "Chopin authority" Christian Zimmermann made his first appearance at the National Center for the Performing Arts, and the concert hall was packed with seats.
Since winning the first prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 19, Zimmerman has become famous and has dominated the music scene for nearly 50 years. Zimmerman's "personality" has never been inferior to his superb piano skills. Once, when performing abroad, Zimmerman saw that there were audience members in the box who were filming the concert with their mobile phones, so he immediately interrupted the performance and left. And go. In 2014, Zimmerman, who came to mainland China for the first time to cooperate with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, clearly stated in the contract that he "does not want anyone to take pictures, record or video without permission." To this end, the organizer Fang specially prepared 1,500 mobile phone bags to guide the audience to "store" their mobile phones. In 2018, Zimmerman visited Beijing for the first time and appeared at the Beijing International Music Festival. The Beijing International Music Festival posted a message on its WeChat official account in advance, asking everyone to "turn off their phones for two hours" for this hard-won concert.
This time, the National Center for the Performing Arts also took the initiative. On the afternoon of the performance, the audience received a detailed text message regarding performance etiquette such as taking photos, applauding, and exiting. Before the concert officially started, the staff showed up again to remind them. In Ms. Lu's impression, this was the first time she felt the theater's emphasis on viewing etiquette. “I personally very much support this approach,” Ms. Lu said. She has been taking root in the theater and watching performances all year round. She can clearly feel that after the epidemic, the performing arts market has been unprecedentedly hot. A group of new audiences are trying to enter the theater, and classical music performances with many "knowledges" especially need explanation and guidance. " Many times it's just a few words, just point it out to the audience and they will understand it immediately." Ms. Lu hopes that Zimmerman's performance will get off to a good start and encourage more theaters to implement the emphasis on performance etiquette. Beijing is the capital and the national cultural center. In Ms. Lu’s mind, “the stage here should leave a good impression on the artists.”
“Zimmerman’s ‘strict’ requirements for the auditorium made the whole experience a success. The love of artists of that generation stems not only from their performances, but also from their consistent love for art, which is detached, elegant, non-pandering, and non-pretentious," said music critic Zhang Guangying. The Beijing audience responded enthusiastically to the ingenuity of each master. Zimmerman's concert was sold out within ten minutes after tickets went on sale. Next, international famous groups such as Ivo Pogorelich, Golikov and the Leningrad State Symphony Orchestra will visit soon, and the "Performing City" in 2024 will once again launch a star-studded art show Long roll.
Wonderful series highlighting Chinese expressions
The craze for New Year’s concerts around New Year’s Day has just subsided. As the Spring Festival approaches, many concerts incorporating Chinese cultural genes are being staged one after another.
In the past week, conductors Zhang Yi and Tan Lihua respectively conducted the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra on stage at the National Center for the Performing Arts, presenting two concerts, "Walking in Paris" and "New Year Music", with the former focusing on the performance. The first and second suites of Bizet's "Les Demoiselles" and Saint-Saëns's "Carnival of the Animals" and other Western works that fit the occasion demonstrated the outstanding ability of Chinese musicians to master recognized classics. The latter performed Shi Along with the splendid compositions of foreign composers such as the Trauss family and Shostakovich, Chinese sounds full of common memories such as "Song of the Yangtze River", "Spring Festival Overture" and "Red Detachment of Women" were played with great color. The Beijing Chinese Orchestra’s New Year’s Concert even selected all Chinese works. The Chinese orchestral music interweaves with unique sounds and adds the finishing touch to each melody.
The "New Year's Concert" imported from the West took root in China, and was later incorporated by Chinese artists into more Chinese colors and Chinese expressions. On February 1, after an absence of four years, the 20th "Beijing New Year Concert" will return to the Great Hall of the People.
"After all, the New Year Concert is a foreign art form, but the Spring Festival is our own festival and our own culture." said Liu Guochao, founder and chief editor-director of the "Beijing New Year Concert". On the New Year's Eve of the twelfth lunar month in 2005, a group of old, middle-aged and young singers gathered in the Great Hall of the People to sing about family, friendship, nostalgia and happiness with Chinese folk songs. This started the process of the "Beijing New Year Concert". To this day, "Celebrating National Day, "Wearing national costumes and listening to national songs" has become a prominent feature of this cultural brand over time.
Compact size helps popularize art
While palace-level performances continue to be performed, compact music experience is popularizing art. Yesterday morning, the melodious pipa song "Flying Flowers and Green Flowers" separated the severe cold outside and led the audience into a world of music with dark willows and bright flowers - elegant and light curtains hung high, and on the stage, in the Xinghua ceiling of the China Coal Mine Art Troupe The orchestra played pipa, guqin, huqin, sheng and other national musical instruments with a long history, and reflected the endless traditional cultural context in the ancient music.
In 2024, the Beijing Concert Hall launched the "Original Heart of Chinese Music" performance brand, which combines 70-minute lectures every Sunday morning. This is the second concert, with Liu Xiang, the music director and conductor of the China Coal Mine Art Troupe Folk Orchestra, as the on-site guide. From the evolution and techniques of musical instruments to the origin and connotation of works such as "The Music of King Qin Breaking the Formation", "Youlan" and "The Music of King Lanling Entering the Formation", Liu Xiang spoke in great detail. "In more than two years, we have compiled nearly 70 ancient songs." Liu Xiang said. Over a long period of time, many pieces of music have been scattered and incomplete. Take the classic "Drunken Madness" as an example. Nowadays, people are familiar with its guqin version, but earlier, it should have been a piece played with Zhongruan. "We referred to Zhongruan, Guqin and various versions of music scores to find the missing fragments in the splicing process." In Liu Xiang's description, this process is like a delicate restoration of cultural relics, with cracks being carefully filled. To ensure the integrity of the work, it must also be close to the appreciation habits of modern audiences."
Next, the China Coal Mine Art Troupe and Chinese Orchestra will also participate in the "Original Heart of Chinese Music" series of performances, and continue to bring many performances including "Drunken Madness" This first work makes ancient books listenable and ancient music watchable. Looking at Beijing, there are new ones such as the "original heart of Chinese music", old ones such as the National Center for the Performing Arts, which has been creating "weekend concerts" for many years, and various performances that make flexible use of venue time and affordable ticket prices are all over the city, continuing to drip feed this hot land of literature and art. .
Source: Beijing Daily
