| Beijing Symphony Orchestra's Seventh European Tour Hit a New Record |
From September 6th -16th, 2013, Beijing Symphony Orchestra (BSO) gained a great success on their seventh tour in Europe.
From September 6th -16th, 2013, Beijing Symphony Orchestra (BSO) gained a great success on their seventh tour in Europe. They gave four thrilling performances at the Wiener Konzerthaus (Austria), Brucknerhaus (Austria), Kulturcasino Bern (Switzerland) and Rudolfinum (the Czech Republic). What's worth to mention is, after finishing the program at the Wiener Konzerthaus, the audience was so excited that they gave standing ovation, inviting the orchestra to give encores over and over again. The performance drew a conclusion after their sixth encores, which was one of the new records for the BSO. In addition, the orchestra made their debut at the prestigious Dvorak Festival and Bruckner Festival. The European enthusiasts impressed by their excellent performance. Under the baton of BSO’s Music Director and Principal Conductor Tan Lihua, the orchestra performed their first concert of the tour at the Wiener Konzerthaus on the 8th of September. Besides the Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestration by Ravel) by Mussorgsky, Chinese compositions Overture Reba Dance by Fang Kejie and Chou Kong Shan - Concerto for bamboo flutes and orchestra, Op.18b by Guo Wenjing were refreshing for the audience. As the first Chinese orchestra performing for the occasion of the 100th year opening anniversary of the Wiener Konzerthaus, the BSO’s appearance became a highlight. The audience enthusiastically showed their excitement and gave a standing ovation as a salutation to musicians. The second concert in Kulturcasino Bern (Switzerland) was not merely a excellent concert but also an international cultural event. Ambassadors from eight countries such as Germany, Russia, Japan, South Africa all attended. The Chinese ambassador to the Switzerland Embassy Ms. Xu Jinghu mentioned: "Music can transcend beyond language and boarder, and enhance people's mutual understanding." Hyde, one of the classic music fans was a frequent guest of Kulturcasino Bern. The Chinese composition had attracted him to attend the concert of the BSO. After the performance, he commented: "I never imagined that the interpretation of their Chinese composition could be so unique and novel. Also, for the western works, they were so organic. I think the BSO is an excellent orchestra."
BSO’s first appearance at Dvorak Festival and Bruckner Festival were another highlight of this tour. Many prestigious orchestras like St. Petersburger Philharmoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden as well as many leading orchestras gathered together at the Bruckner Festival. Invited by the Bruckner Festival, the BSO gave a brilliant opening concert for this special event and gained a highly reputation. Soon after, on September 14th, they also attended the Dvorak Festival at the Rudolfinum of the Czech Republic, performing both Symphony No.3 and Symphony No.4 by Dvorak. In order to honor Maestro Tan Lihua’s contribution to promoting Dvorak’s work both in China and to the world, he was awarded an artists’ achievement honor by the Dvorak Festival and Dvorak Family. The Chinese cultural counselor to the Austrian embassy Li Kexin said: "The orchestra can be regarded as the leading orchestra in the world only when they attending the famous festivals like Bruckner Festival and Salzburg Festival." The general manager of Wu Promotion Mr. Wu Jiatong said to the journalist of Music Weekly: "Maestro Tan Lihua has brought the BSO to tour in Europe many times in order to establish the orchestra’s international reputation. However, this cannot be done with just one or two tours; the orchestra needs to perform more often among the classic music enthusiasts to intensify their brand awareness."
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