Post by dsouthwood on May 7, 2006 18:08:35 GMT
I attended a disappointing concert by the China National Symphony Orchestra last night. They played competently; it was the program that disappointed me. The majority of the pieces scheduled were by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, and Rimsky-Korsakov. The exceptions were a pair of compositions by Guan Xia: "Fantasies Symphoniques" and "Farewell, My Concubine--Zheng, Xiao, Soprano and Orchestra."
Unfortunately, the exceptions were cut from the program without explanation, creating the spectacle of an orchestra from a country with thousands of years of music tradition playing a program exclusively of music by Russian composers.
This was billed as "Program C." Perhaps there is an "A" and "B" program that reflects the richness of Chinese music. For the sake of future concert-goers, I hope so.
Unfortunately, the exceptions were cut from the program without explanation, creating the spectacle of an orchestra from a country with thousands of years of music tradition playing a program exclusively of music by Russian composers.
This was billed as "Program C." Perhaps there is an "A" and "B" program that reflects the richness of Chinese music. For the sake of future concert-goers, I hope so.