Time
Tickets
50to480yuan
Venue
Shenzhen Poly Theater, Nanshan District (深圳保利剧院)
Metro
Line 2 or 11 to Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E
A classical night with Haydn and Beethoven
The classical works of Haydn and Beethoven have been fan favorites since they were composed over two centuries ago.
On the evening of May 19, a long-awaited Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) concert conducted by Christian Ehwald will present the “Oboe Concerto in C Major” once accredited to Haydn and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55.” Cui Xiaozheng, who graduated with a performing artist’s diploma from the Basel Academy of Music, is the oboe soloist. Though modern musicologists have doubt about its true author, this concerto’s melodic distinction and high degree of craftsmanship alone make it a beloved piece of the audience and oboists alike.
Christian Ehwalda
Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3,” known as the “Eroica Symphony” for its heroic nature, premiered in Vienna in 1805, and was grander and more dramatic than the typical symphonies of the time. It was Beethoven’s largest solely instrumental work.
Nevertheless, audience members to the premiere that had become accustomed to music being purely for entertainment didn’t like it. They were suddenly faced with a radical new idea, that like a literary masterpiece, a symphony could present its creator’s image of the world. That concept lay at the heart of the Romantic revolution, of which Beethoven was one of the early adherents.
Ehwald, one of the world’s most dynamic conductors, is a former music director of the SZSO. Before his SZSO assignment, he was chairperson of the conducting department of the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. He also served as music director of the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra (1981-1988), and German Magdeburg National Opera House (1998-2003).
The conductor graduated from Berlin Conservatory, and studied with Maestro Jansons in the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1979, he won the third prize in Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition.
Ehwald, 70, has successfully cooperated with many prestigious orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresdner Staatskapelle, Den Sinfonieorchestern des Bayrischen Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchesters Leipzig and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.
Cui Xiaozheng
Time: 8 p.m., May 19
Tickets: 50-480 yuan
Booking: WeChat account “SZpolytheatre”
Venue: Shenzhen Poly Theater, Nanshan District (深圳保利剧院)
Metro: Line 2 or 11 to Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E