'Baton relay' to highlight SZSO season opener

On Aug. 26, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) will stage the opening concert of its 2022/23 season, during which the beloved local orchestra’s first music director Zhang Guoyong and its current director Lin Daye will respectively conduct the works of Bach and Mahler.

Pianist Zhang Haochen will perform contemporary Chinese works with SZSO. Photos courtesy of SZSO

In the first half of the concert, Zhang, who served as SZSO’s music director for six years starting in 1998, will conduct the orchestra to perform Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major” arranged by Leopold Stokowski. The piece, better known as “Air on a G String,” got the latter name from violinist August Wilhelmj’s late 19th-century arrangement of its second movement for violin and piano.

By transposing the key of the piece from its original D major to C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string, hence the name. Bach originally wrote the suite for his patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt sometime between 1717 and 1723.

In the Stokowski version, the main theme is played by the cello section, which is quite different from Bach’s original but is very beautiful and widely performed at concerts. Stokowski’s love and understanding of Bach is not surprising, given his 10 years as a church organist. The British conductor made at least 37 orchestrations or transcriptions of the music of Bach.

Zhang, an expert in Russian works, particularly Shostakovich’s symphonies, has a wide repertory that encompasses symphony, opera, ballet and symphonic choruses. He has always impressed the audience and musicians with his sharp hearing, strong skills, efficient rehearsal methods and adept handling of the music’s structure.

In the second half of the concert, Lin will conduct the “Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor” by Mahler. Composed in 1901 and 1902, it is one of the composer’s best works, and slightly more conventional than his other symphonies. Among its most distinctive features are the trumpet solo that opens the work with the same rhythmic motive as used in the opening of Beethoven’s fifth symphony and the frequently performed Adagietto, the beautiful emotional fourth movement that is thought to be a love letter to his wife Alma.

The opening concert is also dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the orchestra, which was founded in 1982. In the new season SZSO will present a total of 36 concerts in three series: a 40-year special series, a classical masters series and a special production series.

Yu Long will conduct two concerts.

In the first series, audience members will hear renowned conductors present classic repertoire, such as Lyu Jia’s interpretation of Bruckner and Yu Long conducting “Carmina Burana,” the best-known piece from 20th-century German composer Carl Orff.

The series also features the works commissioned by the SZSO, such as Zhang Qianyi’s “My Motherland,” a Buddhist symphony from Tang Jianping, Wang Ning’s “Ode to Humanity” and Ye Xiaogang’s vocal symphonic suite “Ode to Heroes.”

In the classical masters series, audience members will not only hear familiar works from Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Wagner and Richard Strauss, they will also be pleased to discover that the programs are arranged in such ways to reflect contrasts or associations between works and composers.

For example, Tan Dun will conduct his piano concerto “The Banquet” in a concert that also presents the “Romeo and Juliet” suites of Prokofiev; Yu will conduct Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder” side by side with “Ein Heldenleben” from Strauss.

American conductor Christopher Russell will make his debut in SZSO’s 2022/23 season.

U.S. conductor Christopher Russell, praised by the Los Angeles Times as “a forcefully dramatic conductor with a strong technique,” will make his debut in town, directing works by Mendelssohn, Bruch and Charles Ives, the latter of whom was recognized as the first great American composer.

The season also presents a special production series, featuring artists such as Cantonese opera diva Zeng Xiaomin and talented students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and music produced for special occasions such as the Mozart Music Week and New Year.

As usual, the orchestra will present two concerts conducted by Lin on the night of Dec. 31 to usher in New Year, featuring soprano Wang Bingbing, tenor Warren Mok and baritone Hu Sihao.