Listings

Chinese Folk Music Maestros Concert

Date: Nov 16－7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-400 yuan

Praised as "The Orchestral Pearl of the Capital of China," the Beijing Symphony Orchestra (BSO) was established in October 1977, and is a focal point of musical art, performance and culture in China today. The BSO has known worldwide for its impeccable standards, as well as for the depth of its western and Chinese repertoire. The BSO is the Resident Orchestra of the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing. As observers, participants and creators of the musical culture of Beijing, the BSO has evolved in parallel with the pace of China's reform and opening-up. Thus, the BSO has grown and matured hand-in-hand with modern Beijing. With its high professional standards combined with a deep passion for the art of music, the BSO has become a pacemaker for the rise and development of serious music in China.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

China Film Symphony Orchestra

Date: Nov 18－7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-500 yuan

China Film Symphony Orchestra is one of the national outstanding orchestras founded earliest in the People's Public of China. Over 60 years, along with the development of China's film and television music arts, the Orchestra has performed music for nearly two thousand of films, TV dramas, documentaries and films. The Orchestra also performed music in more than 40 countries and regions, and played symphonic concerts, opera and ballets with international conductors, composers, musicians and dancers for many times to promote Chinese music development and international cultural exchange.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe The Palace of Eternal Youth

Date: Nov 16-19－7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 100-500 yuan

Hong Sheng (1645-1704), a famous litterateur and dramatist in the Qing Dynasty, is the writer of the drama The Palace of Eternal Youth, which took over ten years to create based on the Tang Dynasty poem Everlasting Regret and Zaju of Yuan Dynasty Raindrops on the Phoenix Tree. The draft was revised three times before its completion. Hong Sheng depicted pure love between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty Li Longji and the consort Yang Yuhuan in a context of the historical event "An-Shi Rebellion" and the Tang Dynasty's downfall from the pinnacle of its power. With a wild imagination, he made the characters travel throughout the world, hell and heaven at will, and talk with one another sincerely, be they humans, ghosts or immortals.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Alan Gilbert, Yundi & The Staatskapelle Dresden

Date: Nov 19－7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 380-1,680 yuan

New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert began his tenure in September 2009. In seven years at the New York Philharmonic, Gilbert has succeeded in transforming the 175-year-old institution into a leader on the cultural landscape. Gilbert is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies and holds the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at the Juilliard School. Li Yundi was propelled onto the international stage when he won first prize at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the renowned competition. Since then, he has been regarded as a leading exponent of Chopin's music.

Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition. Over its long history many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this onetime court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schutz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber ankand Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his "miraculous harp".