You are on page 1of 3

February 23, 2008

China and the Philharmonic, in Harmony


By DANIEL J. WAKIN
SHANGHAI — In a chilly classroom at Shanghai Datong High School, the New York
Philharmonic musician counted out, “One, two, one, two” in Taiwanese-accented
Mandarin. A dozen student violinists sawed out a theme from Bizet’s “Carmen,”
laughing nervously when asked if they would like to go a bit slower.

The musician, the violinist Mei-Ching Huang, was one of five Philharmonic players
coaching groups of pupils from the Datong orchestra on Wednesday before a student
concert conducted by the Philharmonic’s music director, Lorin Maazel.

The Philharmonic was making its debut appearance in Shanghai, and it was far more
than a simple in-and-out pair of concerts. A local television personality
conducted an on-camera interview with Mr. Maazel. The orchestra took part in an
education program with a number of schools. The visit made the papers. Audiences
rewarded the orchestra with robust ovations.

It was the kind of reception not always given the Philharmonic at home, where it
has to compete with the loud hum of major international orchestras regularly
passing through New York.

“It astounds me that we’ve never been to this cultural capital before,” Zarin
Mehta, the orchestra’s president, told a news conference of mostly Chinese
journalists. “We’re thrilled to be here.”

The Shanghai sojourn, coming after visits to Taiwan and Hong Kong, was a final bit
of calm on the orchestra’s Asian tour. The players were to travel on Saturday to
Beijing, the staging ground for the ballyhooed journey to the hermetic, rigidly
controlled nation of North Korea for a concert on Tuesday, a trip that was
producing some anxiety among them.

The focus in Shanghai was on the concerts, on Wednesday and Thursday. The
Philharmonic was one of only a few major international orchestras not to have
played here, and the appearances were two years in the making, said Qian Shi Jin,
the artistic director of the Shanghai Grand Theater. The orchestra came to China
in 2002, but because of time constraints had to choose between Shanghai and
Beijing, and the capital won out, Philharmonic officials said.

The English-language Shanghai Daily said the debut was “warmly anticipated,” even
though the Philharmonic “has recently been hailed by New York magazine as ‘the
most boring major orchestra in America.’ ” But the article went on to say that The
New Yorker had found “signs of life” in it.

The first program, on Wednesday, was pure meat and potatoes: Beethoven’s
“Coriolan” Overture, Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s
“Pathétique” Symphony.

The audience members were considerably younger than most of those at Avery Fisher
Hall, the orchestra’s home. A man in his 20s wore a T-shirt, a young woman in a
fur-collared coat holding his arm. Several people wore stylish leather jackets.
Sober suits were the uniforms for a clutch of city and local Communist Party
officials.

The modern Shanghai Grand Theater rises steeply in the back and has a deep stage,
with an acoustic shell above. A buzzing, possibly from the air circulation system
or from lights, lay over soft moments. Applause was modest for the pieces on the
program, although ovations grew during three rousing encores, including the
prelude from Act III of Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” a preview of the Pyongyang program
in Korea.

Illuminated signs on screens attached to the sides of the hall flashed during the
final notes of movements, asking the audience not to clap between them. The
instructions were followed. But with no message at the end of the “Pathétique,”
applause started well before the somber last chord had died away.

Earlier in the day Philharmonic musicians fanned out to five schools to coach
students. Among them were Datong, a century-old high school considered one of the
best in the city; a school serving the children of expatriates; and a vocational
school. Shanghai conservatory students lent a hand.

In a separate project Philharmonic musicians guided students in composing their


own works using traditional Chinese instruments and the Western ones played by the
orchestra. One boy demonstrated a shen, an ancient mouth organ, to a fascinated
Peter Kenote, a violist in the orchestra.

Such educational activities are increasingly becoming part of the agenda of


orchestra tours. Last November the Berlin Philharmonic took up residence in New
York for several weeks and worked extensively with public-school children.

At Datong the Philharmonic deployed three Chinese-speaking members.

Ms. Huang announced at the outset that she was Taiwanese, in case the students had
trouble understanding her accent. She later said she felt no political overtones
in coaching children from the mainland, given the sensitive relationship between
the mainland and her country.

“For me, it’s a government issue,” Ms. Huang said. For the student violinists, it
was an ensemble issue: trying to keep the notes together. In another room Qiang
Tu, a Philharmonic cellist and native of China, coached the lower strings. “Put
the bow in the right place,” he said. “Keep the tempo.”

Mark Nuccio, a clarinetist worked with the woodwinds, struggling to make himself
understood and to get the players in tune. “Very secco, very short,” he said of
one passage. Liang Wang, the orchestra’s principal oboist, who is one of the
higher-profile Chinese musicians in American orchestras, came into the room and
lent a hand, speaking softly in Chinese. He worked at length with a young oboist
on a solo from the overture to Johann Strauss’s “Fledermaus.”

Later the boy, Wu Zhiheng, 16, said of Mr. Wang: “He’s almost like a hero to me. I
learned a lot from him. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

Mr. Wang, who left for the United States from Beijing at about the same age a
dozen years ago, said he saw himself in the high school students. “I was one of
them,” he said.

On Thursday students from the five schools gathered at the Shanghai Grand Theater
for an open performance, conducted by Lorin Maazel, the Philharmonic music
director. Afterward many surrounded orchestra members, asking for autographs.

One Philharmonic coach, Anna Rabinova, who was concertmistress at the student
performance, said she was struck by the dedication of the students, compared with
that of pupils in other countries where she has coached.

“The kids were so eager to learn,” she said. “They were so excited. It’s not like
you come and have to make them do stuff.” She also said their enthusiasm for the
orchestra was gratifying. “For them it’s a big, huge name, and they have a great
respect for classical music.”

Music officials placed great store in the educational event. “We can have
commercial concerts, but most important is cultural development,” said Feng
Shizhong, the president of the Shanghai theater. Educating young people is vital,
he said, sounding like many an American orchestra administrator. “They are the
future audience of our theater,” he added.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

You might also like