OLYMPICS/ Culture
Beijing Music Festival scores 10
By Bernice Chan and Marc Checkley (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-09-19 17:47
China's golden boy pianist Lang Lang is presenting a gift of 10 concertos for the 10th Beijing Music Festival (BMF) starting September 21.
Lang Lang (R) reacts to Daniel Barenboim's joke that the pianist's playing is "no good", at a press conference to promote the upcoming Beijing Music Festival, September 19 2007. [By Marc Checkley/chinadaily.com.cn] |
The annual BMF has become the highlight event in Beijing's culture and arts calendar since it started in 1998.
Joining Lang Lang on stage is world-renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin Orchestra.
"It's long been my dream to perform in China," said the maestro at a press conference at the Olympic Media Center on Wednesday. "I was born in Argentina and when I was 10 years old we moved to Israel in 1952. That was the first time I heard of China, as many musicians who played in the Israel Philharmonic escaped from Germany and went to Shanghai."
Barenboim has taught Lang Lang for the past six years. And he says the 25-year-old pianist is a breath of fresh air in the classical music world.
"A lot cannot be learned from music, and he already knows it. And what can be learned, he is doing it. He has a curiosity to learn," said Barenboim.
During the festival, Lang Lang is doing an unparalleled performance of 10 concertos in one month. These include works by Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Mozart, Haydn and Tchaikovsky.
"It's a great challenge for a pianist to play 10 concertos in one month," added Yu Long, artistic director of the BMF. "I admire Lang Lang for his confidence as this is very difficult thing to do. This is a gift to Beijing and only Beijing will get 10 concertos."
"It is a birthday gift for the BMF and a special treatment for my fans in Beijing," explained Lang Lang. "Actually, it's interesting to play so many great composers' concertos with different orchestras and conductors in a month. I will try my best and hope to live up to people's expectations."
The festival showcases musicians and orchestras from both Asia and the West. This year the lineup features the Chinese premiere of Guo Wenjing's operas The Night Banquet and A Madman's Diary. Works by composers Tan Dun, Ye Xiaogang and Chen Qigang will be performed, plus violinist Nigel Kennedy, conductor Charles Dutoit and cellist Mischa Maisky will take to the stage.
Tickets for Lang Lang's concerts were sold out two months ago, but music lovers have more than 25 other events to choose from. The festival runs until October 26.
|
