Since 2012, The Philadelphia Orchestra has been coming to China every summer. This year, from May 30^th to 31^st, The Philadelphia Orchestra is back again, led by its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, getting together with fans in Beijing.


Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the 42-year-old famous conductor, will take over the music director designate in Metropolitan Opera in its 2017/2018 Season, becoming its third music director in the history following Rafael Kubelik and James Levin. During the five-year work in The Philadelphia Orchestra as the music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has led the Orchestra to a new musical height. The New York Times has called Nézet-Séguin "phenomenal", adding that under his baton, "the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better."


During the two-day performance at NCPA, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra will bring a series of essential pieces of Beethoven, Stravinsky and Brahms. The May 30^th concert will open with Beethoven's The Creatures of Prometheus, followed by Stravinsky's masterpiece Petrushka and Brahms's Symphony No. 4 in E minor. On May 31^st, the Orchestra will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor.


The Creatures of Prometheus is Beethoven's only dance music, with a strong sense of heroism. On May 30^th, the Orchestra will perform the Overture and Finale of this dance music. The ballet Petrushka is one of Stravinsky's three most famous works, telling the story of a puppet with a human heart. The music of this ballet is vivid and humorous, with a bold and subtle orchestration. Its melody is full of Russian charm, highly demanding an outstanding performance skills of brass, which is exactly the strength of the Orchestra. Symphony No. 4 in E minor is one of Brahms's four symphonies, characterized with sadness and quaintness. Completed in 1823, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor has epoch-making significance throughout the history of western music. In the fourth movement of the work, vocal, solo and chorus have been used for the first time in the symphony. The Ode to joy is also widely known around the world. The Philadelphia Orchestra will present these works on May 30^th and 31^st, in collaboration with vocalists SHEN Yang, SONG Yuanming, WANG Hongyao, XUE Haoyin, and China NCPA Chorus.