In the past week, the arrival of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, a classical music group, attracted countless music fans from all directions to Shanghai, igniting the music atmosphere in this Philharmonic City.
At the beginning of July, the aftertaste of the "Berlin Philharmonic" is still in my ears, and a new symphonic feast is about to begin. Tonight (July 1), the concert "Music and Friends", which brings together five generations of musicians from the "post-60s" to the "post-00s", will be staged in the main hall of the Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, kicking off the two-week 2024 shanghai summer music festival (misa).
From July 1st to 15th, 24 live performances and more than 20 "online misa" performances will take turns to meet the audience at the Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall and Shanghai City Lawn Music Square. In addition, there are 13 city-wide symphonies, 5 "misa talks", 3 "misa walks", Tai Chi experiences, Shaolin Kung Fu demonstrations, world coffee tours and other rich performances and activities distributed in every corner of the city.
Tonight's misa opening concert is themed "Music and Friends". Five generations of conductors from the "post-60s" to the "post-00s" appeared on the same stage, including Yu Long, Yang Yang, Huang Yi, Sun Yifan, and Jin Yukuang. Violinist Ning Feng, cellists Wang Jian and Qin Liwei, and pianists Zhang Haochen and Wang Yalun presented classic works by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Kreisler, Chopin and other masters, which can be described as a "star-studded" performance.
In the lineup of "Friends", Wang Jian is an old friend who is very familiar to the audience. In his many years of experience in misa, Wang Jian's deepest impression was the opening performance ten years ago.
At that time, the opening concert originally scheduled to be performed in the open-air Pudong Shuanghui Square was temporarily transferred to the Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, which was still in the trial operation stage, due to a heavy rain and thunder and lightning yellow warning, making the new hall two days earlier than originally planned. Opening for premieres this month. The artist, band, all staff and more than a thousand spectators went through all the "panning", and the opening concert of the day finally started as scheduled after being postponed for an hour.
Cellist Wang Jian performed Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" after the transition, thus becoming the first soloist to perform at the Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall: "This is simply a miracle. When I was about five o'clock When I was informed of the transition, I was surprised and said, "Are you kidding me?" But I did it. From a global perspective, this is also a wonderful experience. "
A full decade has passed, and Wang Jian is on stage again. misa's opening concert brought Dvořák's masterpiece - the short but lyrical "Silent Forest" and Brahms' "Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major" (Andante) in collaboration with Zhang Haochen.
The latter was originally a piano work, but incorporated a large cello solo passage into it, which is considered by many cellists to be Brahms' most beautiful cello solo melody. This is also related to the relationship between Brahms and his wife, Clara Schumann - Clara Schumann even once believed that performing this work did not require a huge orchestra, and only required the two people to perform on the piano and cello. Conversation alone. "This work can be said to be a treasure of cello works. We rarely have the opportunity to play it. On the misa stage, this is the first time."
In addition to the work that Wang Jian is looking forward to, the day of the opening concert also happened to be On the occasion of conductor Yu Long's 60th birthday. Wang Jian was also very emotional when old friends who had known each other since childhood and had collaborated countless times over the decades were on the same stage again. "In the past, I was always the youngest in performances, but now, we have become the largest generation."
As a senior, Wang Jian also gave his affirmation when he saw that the post-00s generation has now begun to take the stage. : "The younger generation continues to emerge, which is a very healthy development path. We also started from newcomers and grew up with the help of generations of masters. The train of time always moves forward, and on the stage of misa, we can continue to carry out music It is also a good thing to pass on."
"I know that you are the youngest conductor."
Wang Jian and Jin Yukuang met briefly in the background of the reporter's interview.As the youngest member of the "Five Conductors", post-00s conductor Jin Yukui will also appear in tonight's opening concert. In his words, this is considered a guest appearance, but it is also a rare opportunity. "For young conductors, standing on stage for even ten minutes is a great exercise."
Although he has a young face, this is the fourth year that Jinyu Kuang has appeared on the MISA stage. In the past few times, together with his neoclassical chamber orchestra, he has presented Gurecki's Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra, Alfred Schnittke's (Arranged by Golden Yume) at Misa version) of the ancient style suite. Last year, Jinyu Kuang was the first to conduct the entire misa opening concert alone.
This year, Jinyu Kuang appeared at the opening concert, performing Chopin's "Let Us Walk Hand in Hand" theme variations with post-00 pianist Wang Yalun. "This is a work from Chopin's very young period. A young pianist and a young conductor completed a young work and walked hand in hand in music. This theme is also particularly in line with our current situation." Jinyu Mine said said in the interview. In addition, he will also join hands with the Neoclassical Chamber Orchestra and piano soloist Wang Yalun to give a "Swinging Neoclassical" themed concert at the Shanghai City Lawn Music Square.
's misa stage for several consecutive years has also witnessed the growth of Jinyu Mine to some extent. As a fledgling, he is passionate and eager to accomplish great things and achieve more outstanding results to prove himself. As he continued to cooperate with masters and orchestras in the past few years, he gradually understood in practice that music is not something that can be achieved overnight, but should be persisted for a long time.
Why are you so anxious at such a young age? Facing reporters' questions, Jinyu Kuang answered quickly: "Young talents should be anxious and work hard to achieve something. The biggest fear is that young people always want to lie flat. It just needs to be down-to-earth and step by step. You can't take the steps one step at a time." It’s too big.”
Jin Yukui was still very modest during the interview. In fact, in the past year and a half, he has had a very clear plan for himself - traveling to several European countries to study, attend music master classes, exchange experiences with seniors and peers in the music industry, and constantly explore his own development path.
In June before the opening of MISA, he had just won the "Selected Winner" of the 2025 Rotterdam International Conducting Competition, one of the top international conducting competitions, and became the only Chinese contestant among the six finalists.
The format of this competition is very special. The top six players will come to Rotterdam in June next year for the final competition. At that time, they will face five performances with different themes and collaborate with many top international orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in different styles. and period music works, demonstrating his professional qualities in an all-round way. The six finalists will also receive an exclusive one-year customized career development plan, including how to connect with brokerage companies, how to operate their own social media accounts, how to gain market attention and other career development issues.
"These problems seem similar to the development plans of entertainers in the entertainment industry. Indeed, in other industries, this system has been verified. Then, the classical music world cannot avoid such market-oriented development. A conductor or classical music Musical artists also need to find their own position in the rapidly changing era. We cannot escape, but must know how to face it. "
On this night, on misa's stage, the audience will see the transformation of music from different generations of musicians. Some of the marks left represent unforgettable times, and some represent hope for the future.
In the next two weeks, music fans will also enjoy wonderful performances by nearly 50 conductors and solo artists.
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, who is about to step down as music director of the New York Philharmonic, once again landed on the stage of the Shanghai Summer Music Festival with the orchestra, and became one of the biggest highlights of the festival with two symphony concerts;
Long Yu will also conduct the orchestra in the closing concert, teaming up with violinist Wang Jing and bamboo flute player Feng Tianshi to commemorate the occasion with two works full of heroic sentiments - Tan Dun's "Hero" Violin Concerto and Liang Haoyi's new work "Martial Arts" "Composed on the centenary of the birth of Jin Yong", it interprets the heroic spirit rooted in the bones of the Chinese people and commemorates a generation of "hero-maker" Jin Yong;
from Venice at night, American impressions, gypsy songs, South American customs and other diverse stages, to harmonica, accordion, Music fans of different styles of instruments such as the saxophone can wander through music expos with different styles and enjoy the charm of musical notes this summer.
