Berliner Philharmoniker begins 10-day residency performance in Shanghai

The Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic) will perform four symphony concerts and seven chamber performances in Shanghai during a 10-day residency, starting from June 25th.

"This is a very rare format of performance tour," Berliner Philharmoniker general manager Andrea Zietzschmann told Shanghai Daily in an exclusive interview.

"Usually, we do two or three weeks of a world tour in November to Asian countries and the US, and stay for only one or two days in each city," she said.

"This residency performance in Shanghai is very special, as audiences can experience the range of the different musicians, from symphony to brass and string chamber music."

The 120-member orchestra, led by chief conductor and creative director Kirill Petrenko, will perform four symphonic concerts at Shanghai Grand Theater. Yuja Wang, the Grammy Award-winning pianist, will perform in two of them.

The first concert on Wednesday will have the same repertoire as the well-known open-air Berlin Forest Concert, featuring works by Russian composers Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, and Ravel's classics such as "Boléro."

The orchestra will then return to its strong suit, performing pieces by German and Austrian composers such as Brahms, Wagner, Strauss, and Beethoven in the next three symphony concerts.

Mei Diyang, a native of Hunan Province and the Philharmoniker's first Chinese member in 140 years will perform in front of home fans as the orchestra's principal viola.

Zietzschmann said that when the orchestra travels to different countries and cities, the repertoire planning is like putting together a puzzle.

"We have to make sure they are attractive for the audiences, but we also have to consider the limited rehearsal time to see what we can bring on a tour," she explained.

"Of course, a lot of audiences on tour would like the German repertoire, and we have been trying to meet their interests.

"We will strive to provide a thorough introduction to the orchestra for the Shanghai residency by performing some popular and accessible tunes, as well as some classical compositions. So it will be a fantastic mix of everything in Shanghai."

Tickets for all four concerts were sold out within minutes. More than 40 percent of buyers were from outside of Shanghai.

"This shows that the interest here is huge! We could have doubled the number of concerts," said Zietzschmann.

The Berliner Philharmoniker's tickets were always hot sellers when they performed in Shanghai in 2005, 2011, and 2017 during the Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Their Shanghai debut concert in 2005 was staged at Pudong's Oriental Art Center, just four months after its opening. The highest price of the tickets was 4,000 yuan (US$551).

In 2011, the Berliner Philharmoniker performed at the Shanghai Grand Theater. Due to the overwhelming demand from local fans, the organizers of the Shanghai International Arts Festival made an unprecedented decision to broadcast the concert live on a screen on Nanjing Road E.

Then, after the concert, conductor Simon Rattle took some musicians to meet fans on Nanjing Road.

During the orchestra's 2017 visit, some fans began queuing at the Oriental Art Center a day in advance to secure early ticket sales. The venue opened a spare hall for the fans to rest while queuing all night.

"I don't believe at all what many people say – that classical music has no future and nobody is interested," Zietzschmann said.

The Berliner Philharmoniker, one of the world's most popular and acclaimed orchestras, has maintained its vitality by recruiting more and more young musicians.

"The youngest who entered the orchestra was 19 years old, and we have a lot of musicians in their 20s," said Zietzschmann. "We have a whole range of age groups, as do our target audiences."

Zietzschmann revealed that the orchestra's audiences were mostly 65-year-olds in Germany and Europe.

"But after the pandemic, a lot of old people didn't come back, and we received more young people at the concerts," she said. "We've set up special schemes for young people and apps from which they can buy tickets. Now, approximately 20 percent of our audiences are below the age of 30, which is a fantastic move for us."

Zietzschmann herself has visited Shanghai about 12 times, with the first visit dating back to 2002.

"I was thrilled at the modernization of the city and the cultural life here," she said. "And of course, new things have come up over the years."

Zietzschmann has also witnessed the growth of local classical music fans.

"When we were performing in China in 2003, the audiences were not as disciplined yet as today," she said. "I remember that we were asked to play a very short piece at the beginning because they told us people come late. And it's true, because at the beginning, 50 percent of the seats were empty, but after the first piece, they were full.

"But things have changed completely. The audiences have a great deal of knowledge and interest in classical music, and communication has become very natural."

Despite the tight schedule, Zietzschmann said night walks along the Bund are what she always does on each visit to Shanghai.

"I also enjoy the historical French neighborhoods here, as well as the vibrant atmosphere on the streets. And this time I plan to visit some museums that I haven't been to yet," she said.

With the support of their long-term partner Deutsche Bank, Berliner Philharmoniker will carry on with their education project in Shanghai and visit some local schools to give master classes and communicate with students.

"Under this creative partnership, we did concerts in museums and launched digital concerts on our screening platform as we wanted to reach out to more audiences," said Zietzschmann. "We screen our concerts from Berlin every week to invite global fans to become members of our international family."

The Shanghai International Arts Festival Center plans to turn the Berliner Philharmoniker's Shanghai residency into a regular practice and invite the top-tier orchestra to Shanghai every two years, according to the festival.