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Saito music fest extends to China
By Zhang Qian |
August 20, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SAITO Kinen Festival Matsumoto, a popular annual classical music festival held in Japan to honor the late musician Saito Kinen, will for the first time land in China. Shanghai Grand Theater will feature seven performances from September 6 to 11 as part of the 20th Saito Kinen Festival.
The performances to be staged in Shanghai provide a wide range of music styles, including string ensemble, opera, symphony, chamber music, piano solo and movie soundtracks.
Famous conductor Seiji Ozawa will conduct the Saito Kinen Orchestra String Ensemble in "Bluebeard's Castle" on September 7 and the Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Concert on September 11. It will be his first large overseas performance since he had esophagus cancer surgery in January last year.
Other highlights include Peter Serkin's solo concert, "L'Histoire du soldat" by Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert and "Toru Takemitsu and His Music for the Movies."
Pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for String Orchestra" and "Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture" and Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations" will be presented.
Saito Kinen Festival was originated from the Saito monument concert launched by Ozawa in 1987 - the 10th anniversary of Kinen's death. A number of Kinen's students - including Ozawa - voluntarily formed a temporary orchestra and gave performances to show their respects to their teacher.
The concerts were unexpectedly well received, and the musicians decided to make them regular. Since 1992, the annual Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto has provided a monthlong carnival for classical music fans.
As the festival has developed, music suitable for the Saito Kinen Orchestra is more often considered when choosing programs for the festival, according to Maki Takemitsu, publicity director of the festival. Symphony concerts and opera usually play important role in it.
Music education
"The festival brings out a newly produced opera each year," says Takemitsu. "Rather than remakes of the most popular operas like 'Madame Butterfly,' the festival is more interested in promoting some not-that-famous ones like 'Bluebeard's Castle,' so as to provide the audiences something good that they may not have often seen. In addition, Ozawa quite likes the opera himself."
The festival is also dedicated to music education as well as providing stages for young musicians. Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Chorus that will perform together with Ozawa on September 11 are all composed of selected talented students who are either still in music academy or recently graduated. There are also Chinese students enrolled.
Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro Overture," Ravel's "Ma Mere L'ove" and Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy" will be heard at the concert.
? "L'Histoire du soldat" - Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert
Date: September 6, 7:30pm
Tickets: 80-260 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra String Ensemble and "Bluebeard's Castle"
Date: September 7, 7:30pm
Tickets: 180-1,180 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra Concert
Date: September 8, 7:15pm
Tickets: 180-880 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert
Date: September 9, 7:15pm
Tickets: 80-380 yuan
? Peter Serkin Piano Recital
Date: September 10, 7:15pm
Tickets: 80-580 yuan
? Toru Takemitsu & His Music for the Movies
Date: September 11, 2pm
Tickets: 80-260 yuan
? Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Concert
Date: September 11, 7:30pm
Tickets: 120-580 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater, 300 People's Ave
Tel: 962-388
The performances to be staged in Shanghai provide a wide range of music styles, including string ensemble, opera, symphony, chamber music, piano solo and movie soundtracks.
Famous conductor Seiji Ozawa will conduct the Saito Kinen Orchestra String Ensemble in "Bluebeard's Castle" on September 7 and the Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Concert on September 11. It will be his first large overseas performance since he had esophagus cancer surgery in January last year.
Other highlights include Peter Serkin's solo concert, "L'Histoire du soldat" by Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert and "Toru Takemitsu and His Music for the Movies."
Pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for String Orchestra" and "Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture" and Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations" will be presented.
Saito Kinen Festival was originated from the Saito monument concert launched by Ozawa in 1987 - the 10th anniversary of Kinen's death. A number of Kinen's students - including Ozawa - voluntarily formed a temporary orchestra and gave performances to show their respects to their teacher.
The concerts were unexpectedly well received, and the musicians decided to make them regular. Since 1992, the annual Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto has provided a monthlong carnival for classical music fans.
As the festival has developed, music suitable for the Saito Kinen Orchestra is more often considered when choosing programs for the festival, according to Maki Takemitsu, publicity director of the festival. Symphony concerts and opera usually play important role in it.
Music education
"The festival brings out a newly produced opera each year," says Takemitsu. "Rather than remakes of the most popular operas like 'Madame Butterfly,' the festival is more interested in promoting some not-that-famous ones like 'Bluebeard's Castle,' so as to provide the audiences something good that they may not have often seen. In addition, Ozawa quite likes the opera himself."
The festival is also dedicated to music education as well as providing stages for young musicians. Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Chorus that will perform together with Ozawa on September 11 are all composed of selected talented students who are either still in music academy or recently graduated. There are also Chinese students enrolled.
Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro Overture," Ravel's "Ma Mere L'ove" and Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy" will be heard at the concert.
? "L'Histoire du soldat" - Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert
Date: September 6, 7:30pm
Tickets: 80-260 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra String Ensemble and "Bluebeard's Castle"
Date: September 7, 7:30pm
Tickets: 180-1,180 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra Concert
Date: September 8, 7:15pm
Tickets: 180-880 yuan
? Saito Kinen Orchestra Chamber Concert
Date: September 9, 7:15pm
Tickets: 80-380 yuan
? Peter Serkin Piano Recital
Date: September 10, 7:15pm
Tickets: 80-580 yuan
? Toru Takemitsu & His Music for the Movies
Date: September 11, 2pm
Tickets: 80-260 yuan
? Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Concert
Date: September 11, 7:30pm
Tickets: 120-580 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater, 300 People's Ave
Tel: 962-388
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