SZSO presents ‘Spanish carnivals’

Spain, a land renowned for its vibrant artistic aura and cherished for its distinctive exotic flavor, has long captivated the hearts of composers.

This Friday, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) will perform three works by different composers with “Spanish” in the title, conducted by Liu Sha and featuring violinist Gao Can.

Liu Sha

First comes Édouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” (“Spanish Symphony”), a glamorous five-movement piece written for and premiered in 1875 by the great Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. The work is part symphony, mostly concerto and part German Romanze, especially in its lyrical sense. Spanish-type idioms permeate the melodic writing as one would expect, given the title, while the piece also has French musical traits including a balanced structure and a lavish exquisite beauty.

Next will be Maurice Ravel’s “Rapsodie Espagnole” (“Spanish Rapsody”), which capitalizes on his remarkable sensitivity to Spanish music. This four-movement piece is his first published work for an orchestra. The first three movements, small miracles of sensuous, exquisite color and understated elegance, stand as provocative arches through which one passes on the way to the dazzling finale — a short Impressionistic tone poem.

Gao Can

Finally presented to the audience will be Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol” (“Spanish Caprice”), a piece as capriciously Russian as Spanish, the unifying thread being exotic scales and rhythmic design.

The composer originally intended it to be for violin and orchestra but as it developed, it came to be a virtuoso work not only for violin but other instruments too, focusing on solo instrumental virtuosity as well as on the brilliant orchestral effulgence typical of Rimsky-Korsakov.

Liu, resident conductor of the China National Traditional Orchestra and the Central Conservatory Chinese Orchestra, was trained at the Central Conservatory of Music and the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg Conservatory. He has easy command over both Chinese orchestral music and Western symphonic music, particularly for works from Russia and East Europe.

Gao, a gold medal winner at the National Violin Competition in 2006, became the youngest associate professor at the Central Conservatory of Music a year later. He has collaborated with international orchestras, including the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed at major international events, such as the Verbier Festival in Switzerland and the Beethoven Festival in Germany. He plays on a 1617 Amatis violin once owned by the noble Lobkowicz family, on loan from the Stradivari Society.

Time: 8 p.m., Sept. 22

Tickets: 50-880 yuan

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (深圳音乐厅)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D