Text: | Print|

3 soloists join Liverpool 'Phil' on tour of China

2014-09-23 09:34 Xinhua Web Editor: Mo Hong'e
1

Three Chinese concert soloists are to accompany the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on a seven-concert tour of China which starts this weekend.

Details of the tour schedule from September 25 to October 7 were announced Monday in Liverpool.

The orchestra, led by its celebrated Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko, takes in concert halls in Beijing and major cities Shenzen, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing and Tianjin.

Ning Feng, a violinist, will perform Glazunov's Concerto in A minor for Violin and Orchestra in Beijing, Shenzen, Nanjing and Guangzhou; Ji Liu, a pianist, will perform Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in Suzhou; and Yijie Shi, a tenor, will perform music from Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Verdi's Rigoletto in a second concert in Beijing.

The repertoire will include the Chinese premiere in Beijing of Poltroons in Paradise, commissioned by Liverpool Philharmonic from Stewart Copeland, composer, and founder member and former drummer of seminal 1980s rock band, The Police.

The orchestra and Petrenko will also perform some of their signature interpretations of music by the Russian composers Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, as well as music by Wagner, Glazunov and Sibelius.

Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko said: "It's a great honour to be invited back to China. We are proud to represent Liverpool on tour, taking our music-making to new, international audiences and flying the flag for the great cultural life of the city."

Sandra Parr, Liverpool Philharmonic's Artistic Planning Director said: "We are delighted to be returning to China. Touring plays an important part in cementing the international stature of the orchestra, and it's a great demonstration of how the orchestra is the most mobile of the Liverpool's cultural assets and an important part of its national and international identity. We are able to reach new audiences through our concerts, and working with our partners in the city, we see our touring program as a way to enhance Liverpool's reputation on a world stage as a great place to live, study, work and invest in."

This will be the second visit to China by an orchestra known affectionately in Liverpool as 'The Phil'.

In 2010 the RLPO paid its first ever concert visit to China with a smaller concert tour, including the Shanghai World Expo.

Sources at the RLPO said the new tour stems from the close relationship forged between the orchestra and major concert halls in China during the 2010 tour.

The RLPO will perform a concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday as part of the annual Proms season. Immediately after the London concert, the instruments will be shipped to China to await the musicians.

On Thursday Vasily Petrenko and the 87 members of the orchestra, along with six support staff, will fly to China to prepare for their opening concert on Sunday in Shenzen.

Next January the orchestra returns to the Far East for its first ever visit to Japan.

Born in Chengdu, Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and plays a rare Stradivari violin, built in 1721.

Ji Liu, born in Shanghai in 1990, is already a celebrated concert pianist, performing at the age of just 13 at New York's famed Carnegie Hall. Yijie Shi, a tenor, also born in Shanghai started his vocal studies in his home city and has already enjoyed world wide acclaim.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.