TimeOut Beijing: The best of Beijing Music Festival 2017

TimeOut Beijing

Beijing's premier music festival turns 20 this year.

The very definition of a Beijing institution, this year the Beijing Music Festival (BMF) celebrates two decades and counting. Beijingers have grown accustomed to top music talent trolling through the city, but it was the BMF that first catapulted China onto the world stage. This year, the creative programming continues apace with an evening of Welsh music, a celebration of Chinese contemporary composers, Beijing’s first Beethoven symphonic cycle, a 12-hour musical marathon and opera events ranging from a single cast member to full-stage Wagner. With opening and closing concerts featuring Frank Peter and Serge Zimmerman (pictured top right), and Maxim Vengerov respectively, Beijing is where you want to be this month.

Orchestral marathon

Wear comfy clothes, bring energy bars and settle in for a long but exhilarating day – even buying one half-day ticket gets you into five concerts. The marathon’s part one (10am-3pm) is a collection of lighter global favourites, such as the always popular Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No 5, Elgar’s Liebesgruss, Bizet’s Carmen Prelude, Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, Lu and Mao’s Dance of the Yao People, Hua and Wu’s The Moon Over a Fountain, Wang Xilin’s (known as China’s Shostakovich) triumphant Torch Festival, and the like. Part two (5pm-10pm) takes on some weight in the form of composer, conductor and China favourite Krzysztof Penderecki’s Chinese Songs, featuring baritone Yuan Chenye (the 'B' cast for Placido Domingo’s 'A' when in China). We’ll also see China’s cello luminary Wang Jian playing Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, and He Ziyu perform the rarely-heard Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in A minor. Other pieces include Stravinsky’s The Firebird (1919 Version) and Smetana’s Die Moldau. Something for everyone – especially those with stamina.

BMF opera

For a while, the BMF was Beijing’s only opera game in town, and even today its programming stands out. This year offers three vastly different performances, from the minimalist to the complex, from the mundane to the fantastic. Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (Thu 19-Sat 21) (the human voice) is a heart-wrenching and deeply personal look at a solitary woman whose former boyfriend is getting married the following day. In the days before drunk texting, an ill-advised phone call was a spurned lover’s only option, and this lonely soprano makes that final call. (Although most versions are sung in monologue, this one incorporates a dancer for mood – a risky call, since this story stands on its own). Continuing its experiments with digital opera, the BMF also presents the Immersive Opera Vixen (Mon 9-Wed 11). This is a 360-degree take on Leos Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen, his unusual work drawn from a serialised novel that traces the lifecycles of a wily fox, her animal counterparts, and some hapless humans. In this case, the vixen (Rosie Lomas) is a street urchin, and the live singers mix with pre-recorded music audiences hear on headphones as they immerse themselves by promenading through various rooms. As for Wagner, we’re immersed whether we like it or not. This year, BMF delivers part two of the famous (or infamous, in terms of length) Ring Cycle. Die Walkure (Tue 24, Fri 27) continues where Das Rheingold left off, and sees the warrior Siegmund falling in love with his estranged sister Sieglinde – the result is Siegfried, which takes us to part three. Another time. This is a co-production with Salzburg Easter Festival and makes its Asian premiere at the BMF. If you see one Ring Cycle work, see the one with the Ride of Valkyries, and channel your inner helicopter.

Beethoven cycle

Speaking of massive works, the BMF hosts Paavo Jarvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in the city’s first Beethoven symphonic cycle. Beethoven’s symphonies literally changed music forever; they were so intimidating to his contemporaries – not to mention his musical descendants –that the number nine became a curse. Now you can see why, in four easy concerts. Eroica (Sun 22) takes on the first, second and third symphonies; Destiny (Mon 23) covers the fourth and the fifth, Pastoral (Wed 25) is for numbers six and seven, and Choral (Thu 26) concludes brilliantly with symphonies eight and nine.

Traditional meets contemporary

These back-to-back concerts combine BMF’s love of folk music with its championing of modern composers. Thriving Artistry of Contemporary China (Mon 16) features Zhang Qianyi’s Yunnan Capriccio Orchestral Suite, Guo Wenjing’s Lotus (Lianhua) Overture for Symphony Orchestra and Zhou Long’s Beijing Rhyme: Symphonic Suite For Orchestra. Zhou and Guo were part of the now legendary 'first class' of Central Conservatory of Music composition students after the schools were reopened in 1977, a group that also included Tan Dun, Ye Xiaogang and Chen Yi. But if the contemporary proves to be too much, relax with some trad music in Walking Around The World (Tue 17). Breathing fire into earthy tradition is the Welsh group Calan, which includes the multi-talented Bethan Williams-Jones, a singer-dancer-pianist- accordion player, as well as harpist Alice French, guitarist Sam Humphreys and fiddlers Patrick Rimes and Angharad Jenkins. Expect to tap your toes.

Strings: Cellist Julian Schwarz on the Whimsical Passion of Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor

Strings
By Julian Schwarz

The Lalo Concerto in D minor for Cello and Orchestra is both a passionate rhapsody and a whimsical character piece. Though popular among students, its history tells a story of prominence on the concert stage, which I am attempting to restore as I open the Charleston Symphony’s season with it in September, as well as make my Buffalo Philharmonic debut with it in November. Édouard Lalo has been marginalized as a composer wed to Spanish influence (he was of Spanish descent), yet his idolization of Beethoven and Schumann lends a peek into his more Germanic compositional style.

At the time of the work’s composition (1876), there was, other than Schumann, Saint-Saens, and the D major Haydn, very little serious music for solo cellists to perform with orchestra. (The Rococo Variations of Tchaikovsky were premiered the same year as the Lalo, 1877.) The Lalo became a staple for cellists early on—the great maestro Pablo Casals made his debut with it in Paris in 1899. It is a serious work, meant to be performed with great pathos, depth, and richness of tone. The opening recitatives in the cello are of Beethovenian influence, and the first theme is reminiscent of the Schumann A minor Concerto. There is much opportunity for wit and playfulness in the second and third movements, with Spanish rhythms and swing, but these moments are only contrasting to the more poignant sections. The audience should be left feeling emotionally touched more than entertained.

The work is brilliantly written from a cellistic perspective, as it showcases the deepest register as well as the brightest. It is idiomatic, and fits well in the hand—most likely due to the fact that Lalo was himself both a cellist and violinist. One might notice that there is a dearth of double-stops (zero in total) throughout the piece. Lalo must have known that by adding another string of vibration, he would cut the instrument’s resonance in half. Given this deliberate absence, cellists might think twice about adding the blocked fifth at the beginning of the first theme. 

With respect to editions, edits were frequent in the early performances of the work. Therefore there is much opportunity to choose between varied virtuosic passages (or create your own!). There is a relatively new critical edition by Bärenreiter, which is quite useful to consult, along with Kalmus, and the International Edition edited by Leonard Rose. That said, the orchestral parts I use are from Kalmus, as the new Bärenreiter edition’s parts omit a few powerful orchestral contributions that are vital to the work’s intensity.

San Francisco Classical Voice: Yekwon Sunwoo Woos Audience With a Champion’s Technique and Expression

San Francisco Classical Voice
By Ken Iisaka

The Steinway Society has been presenting piano recitals for over 20 years in the South Bay. Over the years, it has engaged major piano competition winners particularly those from the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The 2017–2018 season is no exception, with all three medalists from the most recent competition in Fort Worth. On Sunday, this year’s gold medalist, Yekwon Sunwoo of South Korea filled the McAfee Center in Saratoga.

With so many highly capable pianists churned out by conservatories around the world, winning a major competition is no guarantee of a successful career, and winners must still win the hearts of audiences after a victory. The years following a competition victory present the real competition, and the audience is the real jury.

Yekwon Sunwoo (center) with bronze medalist Daniel Hsu (left) and silver medalist Kenny Broberg (right); Photo credit: Ralph Lauer

Sunwoo made a strong case for himself with a stunning, introspective reading of the solemn Schubert Sonata in C Minor, D.958, composed months before the composer’s death. Along with two other sonatas written at the same time, the work is heavily infused with Schubert’s desperate search for peace and reconciliation. Beginning with a dramatic, rhythmically taut opening, the first movement evolved with hopeful lyricism, though darkness always beckoned. Sunwoo was particularly evocative in the prayer-like second movement, perhaps alluding to the composer transcending into the other world. The final tarantella movement unfolded cinematically, with volatile and sudden changes of colors adding life.

Sunwoo’s special quality became self-evident quickly: He possesses the uncanny ability to maintain soaring lyricism, holding counterpoint and accompaniment in an exquisite balance, laying them out clearly using well-differentiated tones and colors. Such a natural inclination turned the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in the second half of the program into something out of the ordinary. Rather than attacking the work with fistfuls of notes that could easily meld into a wall of sound, he laid out the layers buried in the score into clear compartments. While losing none of the rich, voluptuous Russian romanticism, his delivery was carefully calculated and measured with discipline. It was a refreshing perspective on an overly played, and often overly-indulgent warhorse.

Sunwoo ended the concert program with a macabre reading of Ravel’s La Valse. Rather than evoking romantic nostalgia for 19th-century Vienna, the emerging picture was grim and perhaps even grotesque at times — perhaps reminiscent of World War I — with a terrifying, rumbling roar in the opening. With his characteristic clarity and sparse, judicious use of the sustain pedal, Sunwoo again preserved the intricate details in the score, adding oft-neglected dimensions. Long crescendos came in waves, making subsequent torrents more frightening and the narrative vivid and life-like, but the performance never ran out of breath or strength.

Percy Grainger’s arrangement of “Ramble on the last Love-duet” from Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier was a kaleidoscopic interlude after the intermission, with a wide gamut of colors, brought out with a deft use of the seldom-used sostenuto pedal, as demanded by Grainger. A brazen reading of Liszt’s La Campanella was a nice ribbon for a well-packaged gift to the audience.

Strings: The Majestic Sights & Musical Moments at the Grand Teton Music Festival

Strings
By James Ehnes

Writing about my experiences over the years at the Grand Teton Music Festival is a daunting prospect. How to describe the magic of a place where the physical beauty is beyond description, and where the quality of the music making defies rational explanation?

I first met maestro Donald Runnicles, music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, about a decade ago in Miami, where we performed the Walton Violin Concerto together with the New World Symphony. He invited me to perform at the Grand Teton Music Festival shortly thereafter—my first performance at the festival was of the Barber Concerto, with Steven Sloane conducting. In the years since, I’ve performed the Sibelius, Mozart’s Fourth, Brahms concerti, and the Beethoven Violin Sonata in D major, Op. 61, with Donald, as well as various chamber-music works—some with Donald at the piano.

I’ve also joined Donald and the orchestra for performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, sitting in the second-violin section—one of the highlights of my musical life. The atmosphere within the orchestra is unique; I can think of few situations that blend relaxed fun with extremely focused and committed work in such a successful combination. The well-known expression of the orchestra as a whole being greater than the sum of its parts is very apt here, and when one considers the incredible assortment of distinguished musicians that make up this orchestra, that becomes high praise indeed! A huge amount of the credit must be given to Donald. We have become very close friends over the years, so perhaps I am biased, but I think he is a musical genius, and his commitment to musical excellence is absolute. He maintains a totally friendly, relaxed, and fun attitude, while at the same time the intensity of his music making is infectious. The performances I have heard or taken part in at the Grand Teton Music Festival have been, without exception, electrifying.

Teton Village, where the festival takes place, is located right on the edge of Grand Teton National Park. I am not a skier, but from what I’m told, this is one of the greatest ski destinations in the world. In the summer, the scenery is staggering. The mountains seem to come out of nowhere; one can admire what looks like endless prairie in one direction and craggy, spectacular peaks in the other. Wildlife is everywhere; I have seen herds of bison and elk, bears, moose, and birds of all sorts. There is a relaxed, “old west” atmosphere in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the surrounding villages. People are friendly and laid-back. Many are of course part-time residents, and one gets the sense that everyone is aware of how special the area is both in terms of natural beauty and relaxed atmosphere, and everyone tries to do their part to keep it that way.

If I were to make an itinerary of “must-sees” for visitors to the festival, Jenny Lake would be a good place to start. Located only a 40-minute drive from Teton Village, the lake offers canoeing, hiking, and some of the most spectacular views in America. One of my favorite nonmusical Grand Teton Music Festival memories is an hour-long adventure on a rowboat with my wife in 2012. Before a performance a few years later, I went for a jog around the lake and was a bit alarmed to find a moose blocking my path about a half-mile from the trail exit, having a leisurely snack and seemingly (and luckily!) unaware of my presence. I was very relieved when she decided to move along!

The orchestra itself is an ensemble unlike any other. Made up of a rather unorthodox combination of instrumentalists from major orchestras both foreign and domestic, chamber musicians, and distinguished pedagogues, the players are united by their commitment to musical excellence and their love of the Grand Teton Music Festival experience. For many of my friends in the orchestra, Grand Teton Music Festival is the highlight of their season, both musically and socially. Many players come back year after year, bringing their families and sometimes even purchasing homes. Lifelong friendships are formed, and generations of “festival kids” grow up in the magical fairytale land of Teton Village. I have friends who tell me that although they spend only a few weeks at Grand Teton Music Festival each summer, Teton Village is their family’s true “home.”

This summer was a special one for me, as my parents were joining me at the festival for the first time. Runnicles’ wife, pianist Adelle Eslinger, is from my hometown of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, and though my parents have known her since she was a little girl, this was their first time seeing her in years. It was an honor to introduce them to the Jackson Hole area, Grand Teton National Park, my dear friend Donald, and the incredible and inimitable atmosphere of the Grand Teton Music Festival, one of my favorite places on earth. 

Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra Hosts Two-Day China Orchestra Administration & Management Forum

The two-day China Orchestra Administration & Management Forum was held in Guangzhou on September 25th and 26th September 2017. From Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei and Hong Kong and Macao Taiwan's nearly 30 orchestras and art institutions attended the 3rd annual forum organized by the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and YL Consulting. The China Orchestra Administration & Management Forum was launched by Maestro Yu Long in 2015 to create a platform for Chinese orchestras to explore and to discuss future development and best-practices for Chinese orchestras. Previously held in 2015 and 2016 in Shanghai, the Forum is jointly produced by the "China Art Development Program (AEP-China)" and Volkswagen Group (China).

For the first time, the Forum arranged the keynote speeches on four main topics: orchestra management, copyright issues, cooperation and positioning of concert halls / theaters and orchestras, and educational programs.

The Council of the Forum decided that the 4th China Orchestra Administration & Management Forum will be hosted by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in 2018.

Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra Celebrates 60th Anniversary with World Premiere of Penderecki’s Symphony No. 6

In celebration of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra’s 60 th anniversary, the GSO launched its opening program of the 2017/18 season on September 24 with the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 6 (“Chinese Poems”) featuring celebrated baritone Chen-Ye Yuan. The Polish master Penderecki, praised for decades as the Beethoven of our time, remains an eminence in contemporary music. His Symphony No. 6, co-commissioned by the GSO and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, is inspired by Chinese literary culture, with German translations of Tang Dynasty poetry.

The sold-out season-opening celebratory program at the Xinghai Concert Hall was led by GSO Music Director Maestro Long Yu and featured such frequent internationally-renowned collaborators as cellist Jian Wang, baritone Chen-Ye Yuan, pianist Haochen Zhang and violinist Gao Can. The evening also included the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra (GSYO) appearing on stage.

The September 24th concert opened with a work by one of the 20th century’s most iconic composers, Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, followed by well-loved works “Song to the Moon” (from Dvorak’s Rusalka) and Sarasate’s Ziguenerweisen, Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante (featuring GSYO), and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

GSO60—Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra: The Archive Recordings was released on
September 15 at the 2017 Guangzhou AV Fair. On the occasion of its 60th anniversary,
the GSO has selected 60 works from its recording archive of the past two decades,
covering such genres and styles as operas, symphonies, Chinese compositions
(including GSO commissions and premieres), concertos, song cycles, suites, overtures
and symphonic poems, spanning such diverse styles as European baroque and Chinese
contemporary. GSO60 has already been considered for the GRAMMYs in the “Best
Boxed or Special Limited-Edition Package” and “Best Orchestral Performance” categories.

About the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO)
Since its founding in 1957, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO) has
developed into one of China’s most prestigious orchestras in its breadth of
organization and standard in performance. It is the first and only Chinese symphony
orchestra to have toured and performed on five continents. The GSO is also one of the
very first orchestras in China to institute a professional concert season. 2017/18
season marks the GSO’s 21st season.

For more information, please visit: http://www.gso.org.cn

WCNY: Anne Akiko Meyers

WNYC with host Diane Jones

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers stopped by the WCNY studios to chat with mid-day host Diane Jones about her upcoming performance with Symphoria.  She talked about “Archeopteryx,” the violin concerto she commissioned from composer Mason Bates, as well as finding the emotion in new works.

More information about Symphoria can be found here.

Violinist.com: Applications Open for Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition 2018, with $100,000 top prize

Violinist.com
By Laurie Niles

The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition is accepting applications for its second-ever competition, which will take place in late summer 2018 in Shanghai, offering considerable prizes including top prize of $100,000.

This year the competition lowered its eligibility age from 18 to 16, with a top age of 32. Applications are due Jan. 31, 2018. Click here for the application. The competition will take place Aug. 8– Sept. 1, 2018.

Mayu Kishima, first prize winner in the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition 2016

Repertoire requirements will focus on the musical over the virtuosic, including string quartet music; sonatas and Kreisler’s works; and a Mozart concerto with originally improvised cadenza. Participants also will be required to learn a newly-written violin concerto, La Joie de la Souffrance by Chinese composer Qigang Chen. The concerto will be premiered Oct. 29 by violinist Maxim Vengerov at the closing gala concert of the 20th Beijing Music Festival, with the China Philharmonic conducted by Long Yu. Based on a Chinese melody dating from the Tang Dynasty, the concerto was co-commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

The jury for the SISIVC 2018 will be co-chaired by conductor David Stern, son of Isaac Stern, and Vera Tsu Weiling, who is professor of violin at both Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. Other members of the jury will include Lina Yu; Siqing Lu; Maxim Vengerov; Augustin Dumay; Zakhar Bron; Dora Schwarzberg; Daniel Heifetz; Weigang Li; Philip Setzer; Glenn Dicterow and Sreten Krstic; Martin Campbell-White and Emmanuel Hondré. Contestants will be required to clarify if there is any immediate family or pupil relationship with any jury member upon arrival.

Winners in the 2016 competition included first prize winner Mayu Kishima of Japan, with Sergei Dogadin of Russia coming in second and Serena Huang of the United States third.

Gramophone: Record of a Lifetime

Gramophone
By Andrew Farach-Colton

Gerard Schwarz is celebrating his 70th birthday with a 30-disc retrospective, and yet the conductor's desire to reach new audiences remains undimmed...

His autobiography, Behind the Baton, published earlier this year by Amadeus Press, traces the trajectory of his career from the eureka moment in the cinema through his appointment as co-principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic aged 24, his 26-year tenure as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, and the founding of the Emmy-winning All-Star Orchestra TV series.

To read the full article, get the September 2017 issue here.

BBC Music Magazine: Sunwoo Shines at the Cliburn Competition

BBC Music Magazine

Following his victory in the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, pianist Yekwon Sunwoo says that he is 'extremely delighted and a little bit overwhelmed' by a success that will no doubt change the course of his career...

Read the full article in the August issue.