On the evening of July 21, the closing concert of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2023-2024 music season concluded at the Shangyin Opera House. Artistic Director Zhang Yi conducted the orchestra and presented Bruckner’s “Symphony No. 7 in E Major”. However, the orchestra has not just entered the "intermission". The Shanghai Philharmonic Concert Hall, converted from a rehearsal hall, will soon open its doors as a new municipal performing arts space, and will accompany the audience through the Philharmonic Summer with many wonderful chamber music performances.
In 2018, Zhang Yi just took office as the artistic director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. He once told reporters: "The Shanghai Philharmonic should be a window to the city, externally, to show the elegance of Shanghai as an international metropolis, and internally, to allow citizens to understand the world through symphony." Over the past few years, the Shanghai Philharmonic has found a unique path.
On the one hand, when looking through the annual music season program, there are always many "premieres" and "first performances". The orchestra brings many "non-famous works by famous composers, as well as famous works by non-famous composers" for the first time. Going to China, it continues to broaden the audience's horizons; on the other hand, it has become "the most down-to-earth symphony orchestra". This orchestra can always be seen in urban public spaces such as shopping malls, airports, subways, museums, communities, and schools. Integrate symphony into citizens’ daily lives.
The Shanghai Philharmonic Rehearsal Hall is transformed into a new performing arts space
Unpopular masterpiece, how to win both box office and word-of-mouth harvest
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Bruckner's birth. Since 2018, "music-loving conductor" Zhang Yi has led the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra to complete rehearsals, performances and recordings of Anton Bruckner's complete symphonies across four seasons, becoming the first in China to complete a complete set of Bruckner symphonies. Symphony Orchestra.
While continuing to delve deeply into the masterpieces of the same composer, it also extensively expands into different works. Almost half of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra's repertoire every season is brand new, and many of these works are conducted by Zhang Yi for the first time. Due to box office pressure, many orchestras do not dare to risk performing "unpopular masterpieces", but the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra has the confidence to pioneer.
"Shanghai is an open and inclusive international metropolis, with the best performance market in the country, and citizens have high demand for cultural consumption. This is a city of hope, and different art forms can find their own prospects in this city , I can find close friends in different symphony works. I am lucky to grow up with this orchestra." Zhang Yi said.
The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2023-2024 music season closing concert lineup appeared on the big screen in the Bund
Reviewing the season that just ended, from Ligeti’s “Atmosphere” to John Cage’s “Four Minutes and Thirty-Seconds”, from Toru Takemitsu's "Dream Time" to Messiaen's "Turangalila Symphony", from pianist Kong Xiangdong's comeback debut to "Symphonic Rock Bach Universe" in collaboration with Tan Dun, all have triggered heated discussions.
html On July 5, permanent conductor Zhang Liang led the orchestra to complete the mainland China premiere of the only symphony work "Turangalila Symphony" by French composer Messiaen. Invented in 1920, the Materno, which uses an oscillator to generate pitch, rarely appears on the Chinese stage, giving this work a unique sound color. Many professionals came to take a look at the Maternoqin, and many music fans were waiting in the actor's aisle to get autographs from guest artist Cynthia Miller, who played the Maternoqin.Zhang Yi is not surprised that these unpopular masterpieces have won both box office and word-of-mouth success. "Don't be afraid that the audience's ears will get used to Mozart and Bach. Contemporary works have their own tenacious vitality. They are closer to our times and our lives. It is the responsibility of our generation of musicians to promote contemporary works and let them be passed down. It also opens up a broader and vast world of symphony for music fans.”
On the evening of July 21, artistic director Zhang Yi and pianist Gerhard Opitz performed the Shanghai Philharmonic’s 2023-2024 music season closing concert
online and offline. , bringing the symphony closer to the public
In the past concert season, even if you did not enter the concert hall to listen to the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra's concerts, you may have encountered this orchestra in many places.
Nearly 30 popular concerts such as "Symphony with You Flying" and "Symphony with You" have opened up new channels for the dissemination of elegant art in places such as the Shanghai Pudong International Airport terminal, Juneyao Airlines cabins, and People's Square subway station. Social aesthetic education brings new ideas.
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra performed at a subway station
Gao Shanfeng, director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, said that before, symphony orchestras had performed in shopping malls, airports and other places, but few fully-prepared large-scale symphony concerts were staged in such public spaces. Citizens at the scene picked up their mobile phones to shoot short videos and uploaded them, which made these performances break through the Internet repeatedly and made the name of "Shanghai Philharmonic" more popular among the people.
In addition to offline concerts, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra also held 38 live interactive events in the past season. The content covers concert performances, rehearsal tours, artist lectures, etc. The cumulative live broadcast time exceeds 51.1 hours and the number of views exceeds 677,000. Among them, the live broadcast of the first stage visit in the Year of the Dragon exceeded 50,000, and the number of likes for the theme concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Shanghai exceeded 100,000.
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra performs at the airport
In addition, public welfare activities such as "Master Faces Face to Face" and "Concert Guide" allow music fans to get up close to the musicians, listen to the stories behind the songs, and enter the concert venue prepared , increasing the participation and activity of music fans.
This year, the Shanghai Philharmonic Concert Hall was officially listed as a municipal “new performing arts space”. At the end of July, the Shanghai Philharmonic Concert Hall will officially kick off performances and launch a number of chamber music performances in succession. The "Dazzling Music" Quartet, Viola Chamber Orchestra, and "Jupiter" Quintet composed of performers from the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra will take the stage one by one.
The Shanghai Philharmonic rehearsal hall has been transformed into a new performing arts space
Gao Shanfeng said: "We have always hoped to 'open the door to the Philharmonic', allowing music fans to see the heritage of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra's century-old building, feel the orchestra's rehearsals, and listen to A chamber music concert. In this small and beautiful concert hall, the distance between the audience and the performers will be very close. I hope this can become a base for citizens and tourists to listen to chamber music, and I also hope that more Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra will be born here. Excellent chamber orchestra.”
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