Post pandemic, the spring concert festival returns
The Shanghai Spring International Music Festival that starts next week will present 26 concerts and two dance performances, resuming after it was canceled last year because of coronavirus.
The 37th annual festival, which will be held from next Wednesday to May 10, is filling a void in international performers by featuring musical troupes from Shanghai, Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta region, and Hunan and Hubei provinces.
Performances by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra will join the opening concert at Shanghai Grand Theater by video recording, according to organizers.
The concert will also feature the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra and chorus, the Shanghai Ballet, famous baritone Liao Changyong and violinist Huang Mengla.
Other noteworthy performances of the festival include the Shanghai Ballet’s new creation entitled “The Burning Youth,” which will be staged at Shanghai Grand Theater on May 7 and 8.
The Changsha Symphony Orchestra from Hunan Province is making Shanghai its first stop on the national tour with the concert “Sunrise Oriental Red,” featuring classic patriotic works. The concert has been scheduled next Wednesday at Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
Two days later, bass-baritone Shen Yang will present a vocal recital entitled “Homage to Mahler” at the Oriental Art Center, commemorating the 110th anniversary of the death of the Austrian composer.
The closing performance of the festival will be a concert celebrating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
Scheduled on May 10 at Shanghai Symphony Hall, the concert will be presented by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and Shanghai Opera House chorus, under the baton of conductor Zhang Guoyong.
This year’s Shanghai Spring International Music Festival also includes three days of outdoor lawn concerts and two mini festivals dedicated to the bamboo flute and the accordion.
