On Oct 20, 23 and 25, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra led by Russian pianist-conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy will give three concerts at the Poly Theater, with a repertoire that includes two pieces by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Songs of Travel.
On Oct 21, Charles Dutoit will conduct the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo in a performance of La Damnation de Faust by Berlioz, 17 years after the Chinese debut of the work was performed under the baton of Yu in 2002.
Other highlights will see Slovak coloratura soprano Edita Gruberova make her debut during the Beijing Music Festival on Oct 9 at the National Center for the Performing Arts, along with the China Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Valentovic, and a special arrangement of the opera Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach performed entirely by children on Oct 19.
The festival will close with a concert given by American soprano Renee Fleming, alongside maestro Yu Long and the China Philharmonic Orchestra at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.
