Without today's creation, there would be no tomorrow's classic.
On the evening of March 22, the opening ceremony and opening performance of the 39th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival "Spring Tide on the Pujiang River·Starting a New Journey" - a theme concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was held at the Shanghai Symphony Hall. Open the curtain.
This music festival is the first large-scale cultural festival in Shanghai this year, and it has a special opening and leading significance. The opening performance has many highlights. The repertoire setting echoes classics and new works, including "Ode to the Red Flag" for piano and band, "Sunshine Shines on Taxkorgan" for violin and band, "Bright Red Sun" for orchestra, and "Sixty-Second" for erhu and band. "Hu's Rhapsody" and the symphony "New Era" were created by composers Lu Qiming, Chen Gang, Zhou Xianglin, Wang Jianmin, and Gong Tianpeng respectively. While promoting the theme of the times and displaying Shanghai's originality, it also reflects the inheritance and innovation of art.
As a hymn to the motherland, "Ode to the Red Flag" vividly shows the grand occasion of the first five-star red flag being raised on Tiananmen Square during the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. In the second half of the opening concert of the 6th "Shanghai Spring" in 1965, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Film Orchestra jointly played Mr. Lu Qiming's "Ode to the Red Flag", which became a generation classic.
That year, Lu Qiming was only 35 years old.
Time flies, now Lu Qiming is 94 years old, and the "Shanghai Spring" has also reached 39 years old. The new version of "Ode to the Red Flag" was unveiled as the first program of the entire concert. "Ode to the Red Flag has eight extended versions so far, and has been revised and finalized several times in the past 60 years. The piano and orchestra version of "Ode to the Red Flag" is another form of orchestral performance of "Ode to the Red Flag", with the piano playing the lead in important passages , to broaden and enrich the expressive power of "Ode to the Red Flag"." Lu Qiming said with emotion, "This year is the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is very meaningful to be able to perform "Ode to the Red Flag" again during this 'Shanghai Spring'."
The famous pianist Kong Xiangdong played the piano part, "The piano is not the protagonist tonight, it is just an integral part of the entire orchestra. So when playing, from rhythm to melody and harmony, it must be in harmony with the orchestra and conductor It was completed with tacit cooperation."
Kong Xiangdong still remembers the shock he felt when he first heard "Ode to the Red Flag" on the radio in the 1970s, "so that now when the melody sounds, it will be very familiar. This work is still passed down to this day. It does make sense to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and time is the standard that can test all good things."
Echoing the "Shanghai Spring" in 1965, the second half of this year's "Shanghai Spring" concert was also given to I met a young man—Gong Tianpeng, a composer born in the 1990s. All in all, he was several years younger than Lu Qiming back then. Kong Xiangdong got to know this talented boy very early, and even revealed the secret to reporters during an interview: "Actually, I kissed him when he was 7 years old."
At that time, Gong Tianpeng had just won an award in a children's piano competition, and met him after he returned from studying abroad. Senior Kong Xiangdong showed some of his learning results. Kong Xiangdong liked it very much after hearing it and kissed little Gong Tianpeng's left cheek to show encouragement. Later, the little boy grew up. When the two met again many years later, Gong Tianpeng jokingly said: "Teacher Kong, you still owe me a kiss on your right cheek."
This time, Gong Tianpeng brought his own large-scale four-movement symphony "New Era" , reflects China’s progress and the people’s call in historical changes, and demonstrates the Chinese people’s struggle, creative power, and development results in the new era. "This work was played at the National Center for the Performing Arts in the capital during the National Day last year with a large orchestra conducted by Mr. Yu Feng. Now I can hear the 'Shanghai version' of the same scale again at my doorstep, and I myself have joined the orchestra to perform. Piano, I'm very honored."
As a senior who "watched Gong Tianpeng grow up," Kong Xiangdong also expressed emotion: "Shanghai is a very open city, and 'Shanghai Spring' is also a benchmark for many domestic music festivals. This stage once Many generations of great musicians have been born, such as Lu Qiming and He Luting, and we also hope that more talented young people will be born in the future.Because without their creations today, there would be no classics tomorrow. Tonight, Tianpeng can perform his work on such an important opening stage, which just shows that Shanghai, a city, only asks about the hero, not the source. "
In addition to such special and touching stories passed down from old to new, there are also many musical works with rich themes and forms on the stage tonight.
"The Sun Shines on Taxkorgan" uses the folk music melody material of the Tajik people in Xinjiang , and absorbs the playing techniques of national folk instruments, with strong national characteristics. The music was born in 1976 and has become one of the most played Chinese violin solos.
Erhu and the orchestra's "Sixth Erhu Rhapsody" was released last year A commissioned work and a must-select for the finals of the Erhu Competition of the China Music Golden Bell Award, the music draws on Tibetan folk music materials and incorporates modern techniques, which can be enjoyed by both refined and popular people.
Orchestral "Bright Red Sun" was selected as a national original outstanding symphony in "Praise for the New Era" After the work was exhibited and premiered, it became a popular piece for many domestic symphony orchestras to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Composer Zhou Xianglin shared the behind-the-scenes story of the creation in an interview. "At first I couldn't think of a name, but then I saw some pictures. From the endless sea, a sun rises slowly. At that moment, I decided on the current title, which represents vitality and energy. "
The singer of the soprano solo "Qinghai Love" is Wang Shan, a newcomer in the music scene. She is a third-year doctoral student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. This time she participated in the opening performance as a Golden Bell Award winner. She said that "Shanghai Spring" runs through This has marked her artistic growth. The song "Qinghai Love" she sang this time is a song that reflects the construction of ecological civilization in Qinghai, the pioneering spirit of Qinghai people and their longing for a better tomorrow on the plateau. It tells the story of the deep love of the people on the plateau for Qinghai.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the opening performance of this music festival also set a new record for the "Shanghai Spring" in terms of scale: more than 350 band and choir members performed a symphony of the new era in the form of a symphonic chorus performance. It is also the largest symphony concert ever held in Shanghai Symphony Hall.
The stage brings together for the first time the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Opera House Chorus, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Department of Music Education Mixed Chorus, China Welfare Association The Little Friends Art Troupe of the Children's Palace participated in the opening performance and invited the famous conductor Yu Feng to serve as the conductor. They played the movement "Praise for the New Era" with great momentum and celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with an exciting and exciting melody, showing the spirit of Shanghai. Li Fenfa’s high-spirited attitude and spirit of keeping pace with the times.
Yu Feng said frankly in the interview, “There is no such a big brand in China that can last for such a long time. As the saying goes, long time is the result, so its national influence is very huge. "It is precisely because of this continuous efforts and the concept of promoting new works by new people that many excellent works and talents have emerged in the "Shanghai Spring", including a number of outstanding works such as "Ode to the Red Flag" and "Butterfly Lovers". From the "Shanghai Spring" to the whole country and even the world, it has become a classic of new Chinese music.
And will many of the tracks on this night gradually shine with the light of art in the days to come? I think, this Very worth looking forward to.
