On beethoven's back

The 114-year-old Vienna Symphony is one of Europe's big orchestras.

Good venues can not only attract visiting orchestras but also greatly support the local orchestras' development. Neubert says that he believes that China has big potential to become "an orchestral music center equally important as Europe in the 21st century".

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"China is the country in Asia that has a long history of authentic orchestral music," he says, both in Western and Chinese styles.

Italian conductor Mario Paci expanded the brass band Shanghai Public Band, founded in 1879, into an orchestra in 1919 and extensively introduced Western orchestral music to China. That orchestra was the predecessor of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, the country's first modern Chinese orchestra that was made up of traditional Chinese musical instruments and formed like a Western symphony orchestra, was established in 1952.

Neubert says that at least 50 Chinese orchestras visit Vienna every year, and he is impressed by the works of Chinese contemporary composers, such as Chen Gang, the co-writer of the violin concerto Butterfly Lovers.

"They combine Western orchestral presentation and traditional Chinese music. These pieces will be a very nice addition to the world's orchestral music scene," he says.

Neubert says the orchestra plans to revisit China in 2017, if the imminent tour proves successful.

Yu from Xinghai Concert Hall is optimistic. The concert in Guangzhou has had a good box office, with only a few high-priced tickets left available now.

"Many classical music fans in China have a 'Beethoven complex'," Yu says. "The composer is deemed a strong man with his famous words about seizing fate by the throat. His works are well-received by the general public."

Concert halls in four out of the six cities on the China tour chose Beethoven's No 3 and No 7 symphonies for the repertoire. National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing is the only one that chose a repertoire without Beethoven: The centerpiece there will be Brahms' Symphony No 2.