The Philadelphia promises perfect pitch
- Source: Global Times
- [09:45 May 07 2010]
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The Philadelphia Orchestra performing at Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Photo: Courtesy of Jessica Griffin
The groundswell of Expo cultural activities is further bolstered this weekend with the arrival of The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the "Big Five" orchestras of the US. It will play two concerts in Shanghai: the first at the World Expo Culture Center today and the second at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center tomorrow.
The concerts are part of the orchestra's three-week tour of Asia which has already taken them to Korea, Japan and Beijing. The tour also represents its first international excursion with Chief Conductor, Charles Dutoit.
Guest pianist Stewart Goodyear joins the Philadelphia in a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for tonight's World Expo gala concert. Goodyear is noted for his imaginative and graceful style and exquisite technique, and has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The program for this concert includes a number of classic numbers from musicals and the national anthems of both China and the US. Works to be performed include Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and the symphonic picture Porgy and Bess, and Bernstein's Mambo, from West Side Story.
The focus on tried and tested pieces continues to an extent tomorrow with renditions of Bernstein's dazzling Overture to Candide and Stravinsky's The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.
Stravinsky was one of music's great innovators, extending a pervasive influence over art during his seven-decade musical career. The Firebird was Stravinsky's first major success, and began a fruitful collaboration with Sergei Diaghilev's famous Ballets Russes. This cooperation would also eventually produce The Rite of Spring, which, despite early criticism from critics who preferred the more easygoing romanticism of composers like Saint-Saëns or Rachmaninov, became one of the seminal works of the 20th Century. The work is revered for its uncompromising modernist qualities, powerful melodic lines and influential harmonic dissonance.
It is probable that The Philadelphia Orchestra was specifically chosen for the Expo because of its historic ties with China. It was the first US orchestra to perform in the People's Republic of China after the then US President Nixon's historic diplomatic visit to China in 1972. Since then, the orchestra has returned to China several times as a cultural ambassador.
The history of the Philadelphia Orchestra includes an extraordinary number of media firsts. In 1925 it became the first symphony orchestra to make an electrical recording, while in 1937 it performed the first commercially sponsored radio broadcast. Other notable moments include being the first orchestra to appear on a national television broadcast and the first to perform live over the Internet.
Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit has a long-standing relationship with the orchestra, first taking the podium with it in 1980. He regularly conducts leading orchestras around the world and is the incumbent Principle Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as being the musical director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra.
In his illustrious career, Dutoit has received honorary doctorates from McGill University, the University of Montréal and Université Laval. In 1982 he was named Musician of the Year by the Canadian Music Council. The city of Philadelphia recognized Dutoit's musical contributions in 1991, making him an Honorary Citizen of the City. He has also been invested as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest award of merit.
Date: May 8, 7:30 pm
Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Road
上海东方艺术中心 丁香路425号
Tickets: 300 to 2,200 yuan
