Concerts end year on delightful note

Two upcoming New Year's concerts are joining the list of the season's musical performances, and they are expected to be outstanding. One will present Western classical music as well as Chinese folk songs, and the other will present Russian classics.

The New Year's Concert of Shanghai Conservatory of Music will be staged at Shanghai Grand Theater tomorrow, co-presented by the conservatory's Symphony Orchestra and its Choir, while the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will bring another New Year's concert to the same venue on Tuesday, which is New Year's Eve.

The concert of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music will feature 14 vocal pieces and two orchestral ones. Well-known young vocalists like Li Xiuying, Song Bo, Zhou Zheng, Yang Guang, Han Peng and Wang Kaiwei will each give solo performances at the concert.

All solo vocalists at the concert are teachers of the conservatory who have performed at overseas opera houses, according to Liao Changyong, vice president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

It has been rare to see them on stage in Shanghai in the past few years since they are so devoted to music education. Given their cross-cultural role, each will present one classic Western opera selection and a Chinese song at the concert so as to satisfy different audience tastes.

They will hear classics like "La Donna e Mobile" from Verdi's "Rigoletto," "Pres des reparts de Seville" from Bizet's "Carmen," and "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot," as well as Chinese folk songs like "Gada Meilin" and "Song of the Yangtze River."

"Of course, New Year's concerts should help create a happy atmosphere with joyous musical pieces, but we also want to bring something new to the audience," Liao said. "Though Strauss's 'An der Schonen Blauen Donau' can be heard at almost every New Year's concert, the chorus version of the classic piece may refresh audiences accustomed to an abundance of orchestral interpretations."

Rare programs

The concert will also present other relatively rare programs for stage like Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" intermezzo and "Coro" from Donizetti's "Don Pasquale."

The New Year's Concert by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to be staged on Tuesday will present Russian classics.

The orchestra will be conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Australian violinist Chen Rui, of Chinese ancestry, and German pianist Christopher Park, of Korean ancestry, will also join the concert.

Six selections from Russian composers will be played.

The New Year's Concert of Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Date: Tomorrow, 7:15pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Address: 300 People's Ave

Tickets: 80-1280 yuan

Tel: 6217-2426, 6217-3055

The New Year's Concert by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Date: December 31, 7:30pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Address: 300 People's Ave

Tickets: 80-500 yuan

Tel: 6217-2426, 6217-305