NCPA Opera Festival 2016
Venue
Dates
Duration
Approximate 180 mins (Intermission Included)About
Synopsis
Conductor
Artist
Presenter
La Traviata is the last part of 'Popular Trilogy' by Verdi, the Italian romanticist composing master. It's also one of the best-selling classical works in the world opera history. The original version of the story is from Dumas Fils' famous novel Lady of the Camellias. The whole opera consists of three acts. It was initially performed in Teatro La Fenice on Mar. 6, 1853. After further adaptation, it became one of the most popular works in different opera houses universally and was performed again and again. Many arias with elegant melody enjoy great popularity and are engraved on the mind of the audience. Among Verdi's pieces, it has the greatest number of famous selections, which can be compete with Bizet's Carmen. Dumas Fils once hailed: '50 years later, people may not remember my novel, but Verdi makes it immortal.'
In 2010, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) has organized an international crew. The world top conducting maestro, Lorin Maazel, is invited to be its conductor and Artistic Director. The renowned Italian stage designer, Benito Leonori, will create a magic stage set in NCPA with flowing light and shadow as well as presenting a classical and fantastic banquet for vision and hearing.
Credit
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Yu Long
Director / Lighting Design: Henning Brockhaus
Revival Director:
Stage Design: Benito Leonori
Costume / Make-up Design: Giancarlo Colis
Choreography: Susanna Giarola
Chorus Master: Valentin VassilevCast
Cast
Violetta by Zhang Liping/Song Yuanming
Alfredo by Warren Mok/Wang Chuanyue/Jin Zhengjian
Germont by Liao Changyong/Zhang Feng
Flora by Yang Yanting
Gastone by Kou Jing
Barone Douphol
Marchese d'Obigny
Dottore Grenvil
Annina by Li Xintong
Conductor Long Yu is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Maestro Yu is the Founding Artistic Director at the Beijing Music Festival which, now in its 18th season, is the internationally recognized hub of musical life in China's capital. Long Yu shares the position of Artistic Co-Director of the MISA Festival with Charles Dutoit, bringing classical music to the young people of Shanghai.
Long Yu is a Chevalier dans L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the recipient of the 2002 Arts Patronage Award of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation. Maestro Long Yu was honoured with the title of L'onorificenza di commendatore in 2005. In December 2014, he was awarded France's highest honour of merit by joining la Légion d'Honneur. In October 2015, Long Yu received the Global Citizen Award in New York.
In 2014, Maestro Yu and the China Philharmonic became the first Chinese conductor and the first Chinese orchestra to play at the BBC Proms series with a televised performance at the Royal Albert Hall. For the first time in history, a Chinese orchestra performed at the Vatican under Maestro Long Yu's baton. The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI attended the performance in the Paul VI Auditorium in 2008 and praised it as a big step in promoting co-operation between East and West.
Leading the development of orchestral landscape in China, Long Yu has created the nation’s first orchestral academy as a partnership between Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Conservatory and the New York Philharmonic. In 2014 the New York Philharmonic named Long Yu an honorary member of their International Advisory Board.
A renowned German director and playwright, he once held positions in the Milan Mini Theatre and Teatro alla Scala, and directed numerous opera works including La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Macbeth, Otello, The Runaway Slave, The Abduction from the Seraglio and many drama works including Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea and Max Frisch's Biedermann and the Arsonist, for Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Real in Madrid, Hamburg State Opera House, Tokyo New National Theatre, Parma Verdi Opera Festival, Teatro alla Scala and other famous theatres and opera festivals. For his marvelous rendition of La Traviata and The Runaway Slave, the Italian Association of Music Critics respectively awarded him the Abbiati Prize for Opera in 1993 and 2003, which is the most prestigious award for opera in Italy.
Fabio Sparvoli began his career as a director in an experimental theatre in Rome, working with Mario Scaccia and Gianfranco Varetto. In 1980, he began a long association with Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, becoming assistant director in 1982, a position he held until 1989. As assistant director, he mounted many shows, among them—Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters, The Good Woman of Setzuan, The Tempest, and The Illusionist. In 1984 he began a collaboration with Roberto de Simone directing all his opera productions until 1995, including All'idea di quel metallo for the Rossini Opera Festival (1996) in Pesaro, La Cenerentola in Genova and a reprisal of Nabucco at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
From 1999, directing took him to the Opera Festival in Wexford, the Teatro de la Maestranzi in Seville, the Opera di Roma, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Teatro Mikhailovsky in Saint Petersburg, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Lille Opera and at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile. In 2009 he directed Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at the Spalato Opera, followed by Madama Butterfly at the San Carlo in Naples and Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Solis in Montevideo. Other highlights include L'Elisir d’Amore in Nice, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the International Opera Festival Alejandro Granada in Perù, and Don Pasquale at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago.
In 2013 he directed Napoli Milionaria by Nino Rota/Eduardo De Filippo, at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, and the Teatro Verdi in Pisa and won the Abbiati Prize for his project L.T.L opera studio. Elisir d’amore followed in Turin, as did the reprisal of IL Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, and Les Pecheurs de Perles in Parma and Modena. In 2015 he returned to Santiago for Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. Among his most recent projects are The Merry Widow at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca and the Teatro Verdi in Pisa and Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Florence Opera.
A stage designer, Benito graduated from the Macerata Academy of Fine Arts. In 1992, he started to cooperate with director Henning Brockhaus and stage design master Joseph Svoboda, and the three jointly produced various opera works. Their stage design for La Traviata won the Abbiati Prize, a grand prize in Italy in 1993, and the opera was again staged at Pergolesi Opera House, October 23-25, 2009. Since 2005, Benito has served as Technical Director for the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini.
Main works include: Il Matrinonio Segreto (Staatsoper Berlin, 1993), Richard Strauss' Elektra (Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, 2004), Medea (Spoleto and Gran Teatro di Roma), Rigoletto (Verdi Opera Festival, Teatro Regio di Parma), and so on.
Giancarlo graduated from Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in 1974, majoring in stage design. Since 1977, he has been working on opera costume designs. His main works include La Forza del Destino, Carmen, La Traviata, A Noble Prizoner and so on. Since 1985, he has also designed film costumes for The Scarlet Letter, Melissa Earl, The Job, A Father's Diary and other films. What is worth mentioning is that when he first started film costume design, Giancarlo took part as a leading designer in the costume design work for The Last Emperor, and designed and produced over 1,000 royal costumes for the film. Since his cooperation with director B. Bertolucci in the film, he embarked on a coursed of integrating Chinese elements into his design works.
Susanna Giarola graduated as Foreign Languages Correspondent, she received her diploma as classical dancer at the "Classical Ballet Company". Later she studied modern and contemporary dance with different teachers, including Fabrizio Monteverde, Roberth Norht, Roberth Cohan and Mauro Bigonzetti. Her experiences include opera The Siege of Corinth, opera Jerusalem, opera Rigoletto, and opera Samson and Delilah. Besides, she has taken part in many modern and contemporary ballets.
She has won many awards including "Best Performer" - "Dancing Stars" Competition - Amalfi 1998; "Best Soloist" - "Dance of Art" Competition - Finale Emilia 1999. Now she cooperates with several schools as infants, motor skills and creative movement educator. She also works as MM Company's choreographer assistant. Besides, she is president and teacher at the Cultural Association CREA, in Reggio Emilia.
Valentin Vassilev was born in Bulgaria, a country with large choir tradition. He started his music education with piano and solfege lessons at the age of five. At 19 years old, he received a bachelor diploma in singing at the State Music School in Pleven, Bulgaria, with honor. There he became interested in and started to learn choir conducting. After two years of studies in music pedagogy (1981-1983), Mr. Vassilev was admitted at the National Music Academy in Sofia with 'Choir conducting' as first main subject and Orchestral conducting and Singing as second subject. He has received his Diploma in 1988.
During this time he was a soloist and second chorus-master in one of the famous Bulgaian Choirs 'Madrigal', or 'Kammerchor Sofia'. With this choir he participated 10 years in the 'Bregenzer Festspielen' in Austria; Festival of Sydney in Australia; Avignon in France (Der fliegende Hollander with Jose van Dam as Hollander); many concerts and opera performances in Europe - France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and many CD & TV recordings.
For three years (1990-1993), Mr. Vassilev has been teaching young conductors and leads the Student Choir at the National Music Academy in Sofia. Since 1993 he lives in Switzerland and is a Chorus master and Soloist in Theater Biel Solothurn. Besides, he is a Chorus master at the 'Oper Schenkenberg' (Carmen 2010, Il Trovatore 2013) and at 'Sommeroper Selzach' (Tales of Hoffmann 2012). He also participated at many Festivals - in the botanical garden Basel (Les Brigands, La Cenerentola, Die verkaufte Braut), Oper auf der St. Petersinsel (Mozart and Rousseau), Open air Solothurn. Mr. Vassilev teaches singing, piano and music theory and sings at concerts as a soloist.
Mr. Vassilev has worked with several conductors like Fabio Luisi, Pinchas Steinberg, Marc Soustrot, Sylvain Cambreling, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marc Tardue and many others; and Regisseurs: Jerome Savary, Harry Kupfer, David Pountney, Dieter Kaegi, Bruno Berger-Gorski, Anette Leistenschneider etc. In September 2010, the Choir of the Theater Biel Solothurn with his leader Mr. Valentin Vassilev has received an honor for special cultural achievements to the city of Biel, Switzerland.
Zhang Liping currently is Chair and Professor of the Vocal Music and Opera Department of China Central Conservatory of Music. In March 2004, she became the first Chinese in history to perform as the diva in the opera Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Meanwhile, she is also the first Chinese opera singer to perform the leading cast in the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden, where she has starred in a number of opera works, including the extremely difficult Lucia di Lammermo, which is regarded by the House as a box office draw.
Zhang Liping has also cast leading roles on the stages of Teatro Regio di Parma, Munich State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Barcelona Opera House, Teatro La Fenice, in almost 20 operas including Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Lucia di Lammermo, Turandot, La Traviata, Carmen, Faust, The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. At the invitation of Mr. Webber, Father of music opera, Zhang appeared in the premiere of his new play True Love Never Dies in London, and recorded the theme song in Chinese.
EMI Classics released Zhang Liping's debut disc Arias in 2008, which has won worldwide acclaims. In 2009, Zhang saw some of her works collected into EMI's best annual opera selections CD, along with those of such giant singers as Callas, Domingo and Carreras. She performed Violetta in NCPA's production of La Traviata under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel. She played Xi Shi in the first NCPA-commission Opera Xi Shi, and Desdemona in NCPA's production of Otello.
Song Yuanming has performed in NCPA's productions including Die Fledermaus, Turandot, La Bohème, L'italian in Algeri, Rickshaw Boy and Willam Tell.
Song Yuanming graduates from Specialty of Opera & Light Opera and Art Song & Oratorio n University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She was instructed by Professor Franz Lukasovsky and obtains the highest degree of Excellent Artist Performing Major in Specialty of Sound and Opera. Meanwhile, she completed courses of Flute and graduates from Prayner Konservatorium Vienna. She served as Vocal Music Professor in School of Music in Shandong College of Arts. She won six international awards, including the First Prize in Toulouse International Vocal Music Contest in France, First Prize and Best Singer Prize in Dvorak International Vocal Music Contest in Czech. She played in Salzburg International Art Festival, Schoenbrunn Schlosstheater, Glaeserner SaalMagna Auditorium, Graz Opera in Austria, Seoul and Busan Art Center, and Karlovy Vary Opera House in Czech. She cooperated with famous conductors like Wiener Phiharmoniker, Moody, Barenboim, and Valery Gergiev. She played in Don Juan, Le Nozze di Figaro, etc. She will star Hu Ling’er in the original opera Yongle, and Leonora in opera Il Trovatore staged in Hong Kong this year.
Warren Mok once performed in NCPA's productions of Carmen, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, The Chinese Orphan,Turandot, Der Fliegende Hollander and Lohengrin.
In 2008, Mok was awardedCavaliere dell' Ordine della Stella della Solitarita' Italiana from the Government of Italy, Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government, in 2011 he just received the Medal of Honor from the Hong Kong Government. All awards honor his contribution to bring the cultural exchanges between Hong Kong, Italy & France, mainland China.
since his European début in 1987 at the Deutsche Opera Berlin Mok has been making frequent guest appearances throughout the world, including Deutsche Opera Berlin, Paris Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opera Australia in Sydney Opera House, Teatro di Bologna Comunale, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opera de Nice, Opera de Lyon, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, The Netherlands Opera, Leipzig Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro di San Carlos Lisbon, Seattle Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Warsaw Opera, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in Italy, ABAO Bilbao, Opera Ireland, Teatro di Palma di Mallorca, Nancy Opera France, Bergen Opera Norway, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Orlando Opera Florida, Hawaii Opera Theater, concert halls in New York's Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musik Verein, Tokyo Suntori Hall, Seoul, Prague and Zurich.
His operatic repertoire exceeds 60 roles including Calaf (Turandot), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Don Jose (Carmen), Riccardo (Masked Ball), Radames (Aida), Duke (Rigoletto), Alfredo (La Traviata), Don Carlos, Romeo , Faust, Werther, and many others.
In 2009, he sang Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro Carlo Felice, Manon Lescaut at Opera de Nice, Turandot at Savonlinna Festival. Opera, La Boheme at National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing. In Summer, he performed Tosca & Carmen at Caracalla with Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma.He also sang in famous Director Zhang Yi Mo's Turandot at Olympic Stadium in Beijing.
In 2010, he started the year to perform Adriana Lecouvreur in Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tosca in Opera di Roma & Teatro Carlo Felice, Carmen in National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing. He produced Manon & La Boheme with Opera Hong Kong, Il Trovatore in Macau International Music Festival, numerous concerts/TV appearances in China.
In 2011, He sang a world premier opera Sun Yat Sen, Tosca in West Palm Beach Opera, in Guangzhou Opera House, Francesca da Rimini in Teatro Verdi Triete, Die Fledermaus at National Centre for Performing Arts Beijing, Turandot in Seoul Arts Centre.
In 2012, He sang Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander and Lohengrin at NCPA, producing Carmen & La Travaita with Opera Hong Kong & Shanghai Opera House. He is the current Artistic Director of Opera Hong Kong & Macau International Music Festival.
Wang Chuanyue is a young tenor from Opera Troupe of the General Political Department. He graduated from Vocal Department of China Central Conservatory of Music where he scored the highest in five consecutive years.
He has been the lead role in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Verdi's La Traviata. In 2005 he was auditioned to be a student of Bergonzi's International Master Class. In 2008 he enrolled in the Opera Centre of Juilliard School studying after professor Edith Bers, Dean of Vocal Department.
Wang had wonderful performances in both the 11th and the 13th China CCTV Young Singers Competition, and he is also a winner of many national and international competitions, such as Excellent Awards among Chinese competitors in the 12th Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition(2005), the second prize in the audition of Chinese competitors in the 3rd International Vocal Competition(2007) hosted by Chinese Musicians Association, Excellent Awards in the 26th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition(2007), the fourth prize in the 4th China International Vocal Competition(2008) hosted by China's Ministry of Culture, the first prize in the International Artists' Vocal Competition(2009), and the first prize in the 5th China International Vocal Competition(2011).
He has sung the role of Lenski in NCPA's production of Eugene Onegin, Gastone in the NCPA production of La Traviata, Tu Angu in NCPA opera The Chinese Orphan, Steuermann in NCPA's production of Der Fliegende Hollaender, Roderigo in NCPA's production of Otello. He is a national A-class performer in China as well as NCPA's resident artist.
Since 2005, Jin Zhengjian has sung Jiao Daxing in China's original opera Wild Prairie for more than 30 times in various versions of the opera, including the 20th anniversary version, NCPA concert version, and mini-theater version.
In 2007, Jin participated in the premiere of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde in China, as the only Chinese performer in the opera and working with China Philharmonic and numerous world-class artists. In 2008, he performed in the premiere of the original Chinese opera Farewell to My Concubine (as Han Xin) in Beijing, and the six-city tour in the U.S., which was called the 'Ice-breaking Trip of Chinese Opera in America'. In April, 2008, he sang in the French opera Le roi d'Ys (as Mylio) in NCPA. His performance was highly praised by the French, and, as a consequence, he was sponsored by the French government to study in France. In June, 2008, he sang the leading role in the original Chinese operaGoodbye Again, Cambridge (as Xu Zhimo). In November, 2009, Goodbye Again, Cambridge, with Jin as the leading role, was staged in the Multi-functional Theatre in NCPA. In May and September, 2009, he sang in the premiere and second public performance of the Chinese original opera The Song of Youth, successfully portraying two distinctively different characters, Lu Jiachuan and Yu Yongze, in the opera. In 2010 and 2011, he sang Gastone in La Traviata in NCPA.
He has performed in many important events including Handel's oratorio Messiah as soloist or leading singer. As a Chinese artist, he has visited countries and regions including Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
The Fifth Sister, with Jin as the leading role, won the New Production Award and Grand Award of the Splendor Award in the 7th China Art Festival in 2004 and was named one of the 30 Works of Excellence on the Nation's Stage in 2005. In 1999, he was a finalist in the Japan Shizuoka International Singing Competition. As a Singer of Excellence, he took part in the Concert of Singers of Excellence in China zone of the Shen Xiang International Singing Competition.
In 2000, he won a silver prize in the BBK Young Singer Competition held by CCTV. In the same year, he won a Lark Cup silver prize for professional singers.
Liao Changyong has played in NCPA's La Traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Un Ballo in Maschera.
Liao Changyong is an outstanding Asian vocalist taking an active part in the global stage. He ever studied with the famous vocal music educator Zhou Xiaoyan and tenor Luo Wei. In 1995, Liao Changyong obtained his master's degree at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Over the years, Liao has won many international vocal music awards. From 1996-1997, he was respectively the highest-class winner of the 41st Toulouse International Voice Competition (France), Placido Domingo World Opera Competition and Norwegian Queen Sonja's International Vocal Music Competition within one year, thereby shocking the world music circles.
Liao Changyong's footprints spread all over the world. He has cooperated with more than a dozen of world-renowned orchestras and opera masters such as Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Ruth Ann Swansm to perform successful operas and dozens of concerts. In 2002, New York Opera House Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Hall awarded Liao Changyong with 'Distinguished Artist Award', and specifically held his solo concert in Carnegie Hall. Afterwards, he cooperated with New York Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera, Washington National Opera, Royal Opera House (the Netherlands) and other organs to stage such operas as Attila, Il Pirata, Trovatore, Un Ballo In Maschera, La Traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Carlo and Carmen. Liao Changyong is praised by local media as 'the most outstanding artist'. The New York Times and Opera Magazine speak highly of Liao Changyong's performance and singing.
Liao Changyong is Vice President of Chinese Musicians Association, Vice President of Shanghai Musicians Association and Dean of Vocal Music Department in Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Zhang Feng has appeared in NCPA's Otello and Carmen.
Zhang Feng studied with Zhou Xiaoyan and Xu Yi, the famous sopranos and vocal educators, and Mirella Freni, the world's top sopranos. He won the first award twice in 1998 and 2000 at the Hungary Budapest International Music Competition; he played Montague in Romeo and Juliet. His first own opera in 1996, and won praises from artists at home and abroad, and since then, he has started performing on the global opera stage. He has played more than 20 roles, including Figaro from The Barber of Seville, Gianni Schicchi from Gianni Schicchi, Escamillo from Carmen, the Baron Scarpia from Tosca, Armand Duval from The Lady of The Camellias, Don Juan from Don Juan, and Qiu Hu from The Wilderness by Cao Yu. His major performances also include: the premiere of Chinese opera The Wilderness in 1997; the Italian Melody hosted by the famous Italian soprano Katia Ricciarelli in 1998; the opening ceremony performance for the China Pavilion Day at Hannover World Expo in Germany in 2000; the solo concert successfully held at the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Asian Outstanding Young Singer Concert in 2001; a leading baritone singer of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with German Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Justus Franz in 2004; the performance in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Italian National Day, the concert tour of the Puccini Opera Collections, and the open-air solo concert at the Bosa International Art Festival in Italy in 2006; the singing of the Toreador Song at the Golden Hall of Vienna in 2007, which won standing ovation for three minutes, and then the Beautiful Song of Napoli concert invited by the vocal king Renzo Arbore in Italy's Viareggio; the three solo concerts successfully held in Italy's Rome and Sardinia in 2008. In 2011, the President of the Italy specially issued a certificate, conferring Zhang Feng the Knight of Italian Republic Medal, and commended him as "one of the best opera singers" in the awarding speech.
Zhang Feng currently is a member of the Shanghai Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman of Shanghai Youth Literature and Art Federation; he has won the Shanghai Artist award and the 15th Top Ten Shanghai Outstanding Youth award.
NCPA Chorus was established on December 8, 2009, whose members were carefully selected from famous music schools in and out of China. Now the Chorus invites Wu Lingfen as the conductor, with many artists well-known in China and abroad giving instructions. Affiliated to NCPA, the highest palace of performing arts in China, the Chorus adheres to NCPA's guiding principles of 'for the people, for the arts, and for the world'. The Chorus mainly stages operas and concerts, and also takes part in kinds of cultural communication and arts outreach events.
Ever since its establishment, the Chorus has actively performed in more than 20 operas of NCPA production, such as NCPA's commission operas Xi Shi, The Chinese Orphan, and The Ballad of Canal, as well as other classical operas in and out of China: The White-Haired Girl, The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, L'italiana in Algeri, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Otello, Der Fliegende Hollander, Lohengrin, Carmen, Turandot and Tosca, etc. Its artistic quality receives rave acclaims from both the critics and the audience.
Besides operas, the Chorus has participated in many grand vocal works and themed concerts, such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mahler's Symphony No.2 and No.8, and the grand music and dance epic Road to Revive, etc. As NCPA's resident chorus, it has been to Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan to participate in performances and arts exchange, both to wide acclaims.
The Chorus has cooperated with many well-known artists ever since its establishment, receiving high praises from them all. Plácido Domingo once said it was his honor to cooperate with these talented young artists; Lorin Maazel ever praised it 'a chorus full of passion', so and so forth. On the stage of NCPA, the Chorus has cooperated with such directors as Francesca Zambello, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Chen Xinyi, Cao Qijing, Liao Xianghong, such conductors as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Oren, Lu Jia, Li Xincao, Zhang Guoyong, such vocalists as Plácido Domingo, Leo Nucci, Inva Mula, Brandon Jovanovich, Dai Yuqiang, Wei Song, Warren Mok, He Hui, Dilbèr, Zhang Liping, to name just a few. With more than a hundred performances each year, the Chorus is surely to play an active role in the further development of NCPA.
With the patronage of leaders of CCP and Chinese Government, China Philharmonic Orchestra was founded on the basis of China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra on May 25, 2000, administered by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Currently, Li Nan serves as the president while Long Yu is the artistic director and chief conductor of the orchestra. On December 16th 2000, Long Yu conducted the CPO in the inaugural concert at Poly Theatre in Beijing to huge acclaim.
In the past fifteen years the CPO has presented numerous premieres that are virtually nowhere to be found elsewhere in China. It has established its tradition of presenting concerts dedicated to Chinese music during each of its seasons and commissioning domestic and overseas composers for new works. This includes Du Mingxin's Women General of the Yang Family (concert version), Guo Wenjing's Oriental Sun and This Land So Rich in Beauty, Chen Qigang's Les Cinq Elements, Iris dévoilée, Reflet d'un temps disparu and trumpet concerto Joie Eternelle, Krzysztof Penderecki's piano concerto 'Resurrection' and Symphony No. 8 'Lieder der Verganglichkeit', Ye Xiaogang's Song of the Earth and the Lofty Kunlun Mountains. Zhao Jiping's Women General of the Yang Family (stage version) and Qiao's Grand Courtyard Suite, Tan Dun's Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo, Youth, Symphonic Poem of 3 Notes, Concerto for Orchestra and Long-li-ge-Long, Peter Ruzicka's Holderlin Symphony, Zhao Lin's concerto for Cello and Sheng 'Duo', Zou Ye's original soundtrack for digitally remastered version of China's early silent film classic Goddess, and John Williams' Scherzo.
During the years between 2000 and 2006, China Philharmonic collaborated with Deutsche Grammophone and released 3 CDs, making itself the first Chinese orchestra to work with a major label and release recordings internationally. In the spring of 2009, the CPO was named Most Inspiring Orchestras by Gramophone online. In 2012, China Philharmonic Orchestra released a 100-CD box-set of live recordings of its previous seasons. 213 compositions from 105 performances were featured in this box-set, an incomparable product in the history of recording.
An ambassador of China's symphonic music, the China Philharmonic Orchestra is widely praised worldwide for its triumphant tours. In December 2004 as invited by the government of Italy, the CPO shared the stage at the Congress Hall in Rome with Leo Nucci and Barbara Frittoli in the Christmas concert. February to April 2005 came the historic moment of the CPO when the orchestra launched an unprecedented world tour under the baton of Long Yu covering 22 cities in North America and Europe. In May 2008, the CPO was invited to play at the Paul VI Audience Hall in Vatican to over 8,000 audience including Holiness Pope Benedict XVI with a programme of Mozart Requiem and Chinese folk tune Jasmine Flower, and his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI greeted to Chinese people and blessed Beijing Olympic Games after the concert. In July 2014, the CPO was invited by the BBC Proms to perform as the first orchestra from China to play in a world class music festival. The August of 2015 saw China Philharmonic Orchestra's historical 7-concert 'Tour of the Silk Road' which covered 6 major cities in 5 countries that sit along the ancient Silk Road: Tajikisitan, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Iran and Greece. The Tour was praised by international media including The Washington Post. China Philharmonic Orchestra shall further launch a 'Tour of the Maritime Silk Road' this May which includes cities in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India.
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Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.
Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.