Sounds of the seasons paint a big picture

China's beautiful conservation areas are being presented to the world through magical performances featuring live classical music and pictures.

The Nature Conservancy and the Committee of 100 are co-launching a series of projects in China and the United States aimed to raise awareness of China's natural beauties.

One of the events is a multi-media concert featuring Joseph Haydn's oratorios The Seasons and pictures taken in China's natural conservation zones.

Conducted by distinguished US conductor John Nelson, the Shanghai Opera House will perform two concerts featuring Chinese soprano Huang Ying, baritone Shen Yang and the Metropolitan tenor Marc Heller.

One show will be held at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on Thursday, and another at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center on Sunday.

The cycle of nature has long fascinated composers. Haydn's The Seasons (based on the poem by James Thomson), which is perhaps best described as a choral drama, expresses his ode to nature.

With characteristic flair, Haydn celebrated the timeless passing of the seasons in musical scenes and dances depicting country life. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, each serve as a metaphor for an aspect of our own existence.

In each of the sections, three soloists, the farmer Simon, his daughter Hanne, and a young countryman named Lucas, invite listeners to experience the wonders of nature and the charms of country life.

"The subject of pastoral is not nature itself, but man's relationship to nature and to what is natural. This is the reason for the extreme stylization of Haydn's descriptive writing in the oratorios," says Cao Jianshen, performance manger of Shanghai Opera House.

"While the charming musical depictions that abound in The Seasons bring nature to life, they simultaneously bring the larger philosophical question of the relationship of humankind to the natural world. So this piece is a perfect fit for the purpose of the concert."

While enjoying the recitatives, arias and choruses that portray a time of renewal, rich with verdant fields, gentle rains and fragrant flowers, the audience will also see hundreds of impressive pictures taken from China's conservation zones, projected on the screen.

These pictures have been entered into the photography contest Conservation Zones in My Eyes organized by the State Forestry Administration, Beijing Olympic Committee and the Nature Conservancy.

The awards will be announced in Beijing in May and the Committee of 100 will organize a forum and an exhibition to show the award-winning pictures in Washington in June.

"My friends in the US seldom know that China has so many beautiful places and so rich natural resources," says Shirley Young, co-founder and governor of the Committee of 100.

"I myself was impressed by these pictures and I would like to have a chance to share with more people and if possible, welcome them to visit the natural conservation areas themselves."

The non-partisan organization is composed of American citizens of Chinese descent to serve as a bridge between China and America.

China now has some 2,300 nature conservation zones.

"It's a great challenge for China and the world to reserve and protect these natural resources," says Zhu Li, representative from the China office of the Nature Conservancy.

"We hope the concerts and other events of Natural China will raise people's awareness of environment protection," he says.

Society Entrepreneur Ecology (SEE), an NGO established by some 80 Chinese entrepreneurs committed to ecological environmental protection in the country, will send representatives to the concerts to showcase their achievements on protecting and preserving the conservation zones. Part of the box-office revenue will be donated to the SEE projects.

(China Daily 04/01/2008 page19)