Shanghai Symphony Orchestra invites past conductors to mark anniversary

Conductor Cao Peng, at 99 years old, appeared on stage in a wheelchair to conduct the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in the famously uplifting "Light Cavalry Overture" by Franz von Suppe.

"It's been a while since I came back to the symphony orchestra, and they are much better than we were back then," Cao said earlier at a rehearsal. "Hopefully, I will come back again after I turn 100."

It was a special concert of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's new season, ahead of the official opening concert. On September 6, four conductors who have witnessed the history and development of the orchestra joined with seven top musicians to celebrate the 145th anniversary of the orchestra and the 10th anniversary of the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall.

The orchestra didn't have its own concert hall when Cao first started working there, shortly after returning from Moscow in 1961. In 1975, the orchestra, under Cao's baton, performed abroad for the first time, in Australia and New Zealand, to intrigued and passionate audiences.

"They didn't know we had symphony in China," Cao recalled, adding he is most pleased hearing music everywhere in the city now.

Since the symphony hall was completed in 2014, it has hosted 2,696 performances with over 1.5 million audience members. Top musicians from around the world have performed on this stage.

The orchestra, at 145 years old, has also kept working with top composers around the world, toured overseas, and has released three albums with Deutsche Grammophon.

The current success makes it hard to imagine that the musicians used to practice in a wet market on Fuzhou Road, back when Hou Runyu, now 79, first joined in 1977. Some of the stages on which they performed were so small that one time, Hou stepped onto the concertmaster's score holder while conducting and broke his bone.

Those days were long gone when Zhang Jiemin joined as conductor-in-residence in 2010. It was shortly after she had worked overseas for years, including conducting opera in Italy. She was the first woman to conduct operas in both the La Fenice and San Carlo opera houses in 2007 and 2008.

San Carlo, established in 1737 in Naples, is the oldest continuously active venue for opera in the world, and La Fenice, in Venice, was opened only decades later.

In 2021, Zhang received the prestigious Ordine della Stella d'Italia award for promoting Italian opera in China and inspiring interest in Italian culture.

"Standing at this new start with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, I hope that together with all our musicians, we can better serve this city," said Yu Long, the orchestra's artistic director.

The orchestra's new season also features German baritone Matthias Georne as artist-in-residence, 11 concerts led by Yu, two world premieres, and a star-studded roster of international soloists and conductors.