May Day Chinese Orchestras

Letter from Shenzhen (22-8): State of the Chinese Orchestra
Streaming Classicals (22-7): May Day Offerings

The gestation of what North-Americans know as Labor Day had a long and interesting history (here). Americans and Canadians assume that it falls on the First Week of September, but in many countries it falls on May 1st, and is known also in the West as May Day or International Worker’s Day (see link cited).

In China, May Day is kind of a major holiday. Although the private sector and some government agencies may get only 1 day off, for students it’s a longer holiday, this year a 3-day one. Due to lockdowns in many major cities, CCTV 15 (Channel 15 of China’s mammoth Central TV) mounted a 5-day Orchestral Festival, with tele performances by many of China’s Orchestras (with the notable exception of Shanghai Philharmonic, the city being deep in lockdown). Each evening, between 9 and 10 pm, there was about an hour and half of music.

Some of these can still be watched on the CCTV website. This article shall be of interest to very few people, and so I have been tardy in writing this up. As a result of CCTV's keeping only 1 week on demand, Part I and II can no longer be watched. In 3 days, no link will work.

4/30 Part I (no link)
China Philharmonic, Huang Yi 黄屹
Yellow River Piano Concerto, 2nd movement (soloist Chen Sa 陈萨)
Dvorak New World Symphony, 2nd and 4th movements
(Conductor Huang I have praised in my last article; this Dvorak is better technically and in visual quality than the one with the Kunming Orchestra. Chen is laureate of Leeds, Chopin and Van Cliburn, but this concerto is not at all a personal fav).

China Symphony Orchestra, Li Xincao 李心草
Mahler Symphony No. 7, 5th movement
(I am thoroughly surprised by the unidiomatic performance. Li was recently scheduled to conduct this symphony with the Shenzhen Symphony before covid policies forced a cancellation. He’s a conductor whom I have watched conduct the HKPO many years ago, and I expected much more of him).

Central Opera Orchestra Yang Yang 杨洋
Verdi Triumphal March (from Aida) and La Forza del Destino Overture
Elgar Salut d’Amour
(I particularly enjoyed the Forza, a favorite of mine).

National Opera Orchestra, Lv Jia 吕嘉
Mozart Divertimento in G
Beethoven Pastoral Symphony, 1st movement
(Lv Jia is a conductor whom I have watched many times, reliable and always with a singing line.)

5/1 Part II (no link)
Central Ballet Orchestra, Zhang Yi 张艺
Tchaikovsky Polonaise
Khachaturian Love Pas de Deux (from Spartacus)

Central Conservatory Orchestra, Yv Feng 俞峰
Beethoven 9th Symphony, 1st movement

Orchestra Academia (of the Central Conservatory, Shao En 邵恩
Prokofiev Classical Symphony
Brahms 4th Symphony, 4th movement
(veteran En Shao, as he’s known overseas, is an excellent conductor, an IMG artist, who has recorded quite a bit, for Naxos and others, and I’ve heard him to great effect many years ago. The performances here are highlights of the present series - the Prokofiev is superior to most accounts by western orchestras, supremely alert and conjuring up the feeling of my favorite by Nicholai Malko on EMI).
(A word on the orchestra. Very Confusing. This is the orchestra of a branch of the Conservatory, dedicated to promotion of Chinese musical styles and values. Well, the “academic” stuff I know nothing about (nor do I care) but this orchestra is damn good, better than the regular orchestra, which should be composed of both faculty and students. The irony is, there are more expats in this orchestra and they played only western music here! Go figure)

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Lin Daye 林大叶
Mahler 1st Symphony, 1st and 2nd movements
(this is a repeat of the previously aired performance)

5/2 Part III (link)

Hangzhou Philharmonic, Yang Yang 杨洋
Beethoven 5th Symphony, 1st and 4th movements

Beijing Symphony, Tan Li Hua 谭利华
Lehar Gold and Silver Waltz
Tchaikovsky excerpts from The Seasons
(I a great fan of Lehar. His waltzes should be more often played. This one is a nice surprise. In contrast, the Tchaikovsky was just so-so, and it is a very hard piece to bring off.)

Guangzhou Symphony
Saint Saens Cello Concerto No. 2 (conductor Yv Long 余隆; Soloist Pan Chang 潘畅)
Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto (conductor Jing Huan 景焕; Soloist Xie Nan 谢楠)
(Yu Long, the most prominent conductor in China, head of many posts, and associated with both the HKPO and NYPO, is imho more successful as a diplomat or an ambassador than conductor. He is a bore on the podium. the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto is known to every Chinese. I wasn't expecting much, but, amazingly, an ultra dynamic performance under Lady Conductor Jing Huan, and the passionate soloist is great too; one of the highlights in this series)

Harbin Symphony Tang Muhai 汤沐海
Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony, 4th movement

5/3 Part IV (link)
Xi’an Symphony, Sun Ying 孙莹
Beethoven Coriolanus Overture
Dvorak 8th Symphony, 1st, 2nd and 3rd movements
(This conductor is interesting to me. Steadfast, unhurried and firmly anchored in the bass. He produces a darker sonority, which suits the Coriolanus. The Dvorak is fine but I'd have preferred a little more abandon. China's Christian Thielemann?)

Suzhou Symphony
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
(A refreshing change. Decidedly quirky harpsichordist.)

Tsingdao (Qingdao) Symphony, Tuo Peng 拓鹏
Stravinsky Firebird Suite followed by Chinese tone poem
(lackluster)

Guiyang Symphony, Zhang Guoyong 张国勇
Rachmaninov, 2nd Symphony, 3rd movement
(Zhang, star pupil of the great Rozhdestvensky, is a staple of Chinese musical life. I’ve heard him many times, and he always delivers).

5/4 Part V (link)

Lanzhou Symphony, Li Xincao 李心草
Yellow River Concerto, 1st and 4th movements
(I skipped)

Wuhan Philharmonic, Liu Peng 刘鹏
Haydn 96th Symphony (stately classical, but could be more smiling)

Sichuan Symphony, Hong Yichuan 洪毅全
Sibelius 2nd Symphony, 1st, 3rd, 4th movemnts
(OK, but lacking the last ounce of oophm.)

Hebei Symphony
Mascagni Caviliera Rusticana Intermezzo (conductor Tuo Peng)
Shostakovich, 10th Symphony, 2nd and 4th movements (conductor Zheng Guoyong)
(where is the lyricism in the beautiful Mascagni?)