Music for global harmony

Under the baton of its music director, Russian-born conductor Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra launched a tour of China on Thursday with nine concerts in seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen, Fujian province.

The tour, which concludes on Sunday, marks the orchestra's first visit to China with Petrenko and its first tour of the country since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The orchestra and Petrenko are performing a repertoire comprising a rich blend of British, Chinese and Russian music, including works by Benjamin Britten, Tan Dun, Guan Xia, Dmitri Shostakovich and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

"All the programs are designed to show how music bridges and connects cultures and people, to show that classical music is one of the most unique forms of art, which allows people in any nation, background or religion to enjoy and experience the same emotions," the conductor said in Beijing on Wednesday, a day before the orchestra's two concerts at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Thursday and Friday. "Nowadays, when the world is in turbulence, it is important to show the world how it is possible to deliver harmony and peace."

One of the highlights on the program is a specially arranged orchestral suite from the Chinese opera Mulan by composer Guan. Having premiered 20 years ago, the Chinese opera was based on the legendary story about a young girl named Hua Mulan in ancient China who takes on a male identity to replace her ailing father to join the army and save her country from the intruder.

"The suite that we are playing combines all the themes from the opera, such as the wedding music, the war music, and the march music. It's very special for me and it's the first time for me to perform it," says Petrenko.

Asked about his approach to a new music piece, the conductor says that, "It's like reading a book, but there is difference.

"When you are reading a book, you read it line by line. When you read the music, you need to see the whole picture. It feels like there are 10 people in the books who are talking at the same time. That's what a conductor hears in an orchestra," he says. "By reading the score, you just hear it in your mind."

Violinist Ray Chen, who was born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, will join the orchestra and Petrenko on the tour, performing Austrian-American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35, which will coincide with the release on the Deutsche Grammophon label of his new recording of the concerto, also with the orchestra.

Other music works on the program will be excerpts from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Cello Concerto by Tan, Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 and Scheherazade, Op 35, an orchestral suite by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov that was inspired by the collection of largely Middle Eastern and Indian tales known as The Thousand and One Nights (or The Arabian Nights).

British composer Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes from the composer's first successful opera Peter Grimes will also be performed during the tour.

"I've been to China many times with different orchestras from around the world. I have seen new concert halls built in China over the last 20 years and I feel that people are coming to the concerts because they have a habit for it. They want to come to the concerts because classical music is part of their lives," says Petrenko. "China, in terms of audience, is picking up strongly in all aspects, like understanding and youth — the country has one of the youngest audiences in the world.

"I learned that the concert (Thursday's at the NCPA) is completely sold out. For other concerts, 80 or 90 percent of the tickets are sold," he adds.

According to Huw Davies, acting managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, since Petrenko became the music director of the orchestra in 2021, he has been expanding repertories and working with the musicians to show the orchestra's quality.

"He is a true collaborator, encouraging and inspiring our musicians," says Davies.

It's been about seven years since the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra made its last tour in China, Davies notes.

"It is a tremendous honor for the orchestra to return to China after a long absence. Throughout its history, the orchestra has toured China and the seeds of partnerships have been planted with many of China's most prestigious and influential cultural institutions. We are excited by the possibilities that these partnerships present and look forward to establishing new ones, strengthening our cultural connections and bringing the joy of orchestral music to audiences across China," he says.

Last year, a new memorandum of understanding forging a closer partnership was signed between the orchestra and the NCPA. This collaboration will see Royal Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and staff members working in partnership with musicians from the NCPA's resident orchestra — the China NCPA Orchestra.

In 2004, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed in Shanghai to mark the reopening of the Shanghai Concert Hall. During the latest tour, the orchestra returned to mark the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Concert Hall with two concerts on Saturday and Sunday.

"As audiences eagerly anticipate the resonant strains of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Petrenko's direction, this tour promises not just performances but an immersive journey of cultural fusion and artistic renewal, affirming music's timeless power to unite and inspire across borders," says Wray Armstrong, general manager of Poly Armstrong International Arts and Communication Co, also the founder and chairman of Armstrong Music and Arts, which Armstrong founded in 2009 in Beijing, bringing a number of the world's leading classical music artists to China and introducing top Chinese classical musicians to an international audience.

Following a partnership signing attended by the British Ambassador to China Caroline Wilson DCMG in Beijing in March last year, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's visit to Beijing will mark the start of a multiyear collaboration with Beijing Poly Theatre Management Co designed to widen access to great orchestral music across China.