Zhang Xian is at the forefront of women conductors making their mark internationally. Chitralekha Basu met the first female director of an Italian orchestra in the lead-up to her show at HK's Cultural Centre Concert Hall tonight.

One of the questions Zhang Xian gets asked often is about the challenges of being a woman in a man's job. Zhang, who is in her fifth season as the music director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi -the first woman in that role and indeed in any Italian orchestra -will tell you that being female and an orchestra conductor may not be as outlandish a combination as it is often made out to be.

At least not in China. There is the celebratory example of Zheng Xiaoying who at 85 still performs as the principal conductor of Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra. There is also Wu Lingfeng who was mentored by Zheng. Zhang, who comes from Dandong in Liaoning province, learnt her craft from both Zheng and Wu which makes her a "third-generation" Chinese woman conductor. Besides, says Zhang, there's a whole new breed of female conductors from South Korea and Taiwan delivering masterly performances. The much-sought-after top spot at London Symphony Orchestra's competition for up and coming conductors last year was won by Hong Kong-born Elim Chan.

"The time has arrived for women conductors to claim the spotlight," says Zhang, who guest-conducts for the Hong Kong Philharmonic tonight and tomorrow at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. "Soon we will break a new chapter in conducting and in 10 years' time women conducting orchestras will be seen as normal."

It may not take that long, going by the pace at which Zhang's own career has progressed. She made her professional debut at 19, conducting a production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with the China National Symphony Orchestra. She had won the Maazel/Vilar Conductors' Competition and served as a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic before she was 30. By the time the top job in Milan came to her at the age of 36, Zhang had performed with some of the most noted orchestras in North America and Europe, including that of the Julliard School in New York and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

The Hong Kong appearance tonight is the last leg of a whistle-stop tour through seven cities in China, performing with five different orchestras. This evening the concert opens with Ottorino Respighi's Roman Festivals -a not-too-often-heard symphonic poem celebrating the grandeur of ancient Rome -featuring gladiators, Christians gored and eaten by wild beasts, papal traditions and harvest festivals. "It's an utterly crazy piece," says Zhang. "The movement shifts very quickly between variations in speed. Often the orchestra finds it a mind-taster."

Another composition on offer is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Opus 17, better-known as the "Little Russian". "Tchaikovsky picked up the folk songs in it from a servant cleaning his boots during a holiday in Ukraine," says Zhang of one of the Russian legend's most fun compositions -an ensemble of solo instrument pieces, "listening to which one can visualize the dance movements".

On a high note

Zhang's own performance on stage is quite spectacular. A diminutive woman of five-feet-nothing, she towers over the rest, wielding her sleeves like an albatross once the concert gets going. A few minutes into it, the fringe of hair on her forehead is almost always dripping wet. "I get too driven by the music," says Zhang, visibly overwhelmed by the music she interprets to care about her appearance. "I am not very aware of myself at that moment. People tell me afterwards, 'you must be exhausted', but it's not like that at all. It's the music that takes me to that stage. It's not by design."

"Conducting is a bit like running," she adds. "When the music speeds up, so does your breathing. You should never of course lose control because you're the one guiding the orchestra," which she points out is a relationship that works best when buoyed by a happy synchronicity.

The Chinese element at tonight's concert is the world premiere of the Shanghai-born, now-Paris-based composer Chen Qigang's new piece, Luan Tan ("random playing"). "It has the feel of a concerto for the orchestra, like Ravel's Bolero -each section is played by a different instrument," informs Zhang. "It's slightly violent," she adds, "expressing a shock and inner turmoil" which Zhang feels could be reflective of a deep anguish caused by personal loss.

A mother herself, Zhang can completely understand the pain Chen must have endured since he lost his only son -a young man in his 20s in a car accident. Her two boys aged 6 and 2 are sorely missed when she travels around the world, guest-conducting, flitting from Oslo to Tokyo, via Dubai. Having children, she says, had a sobering effect on her. "They helped me get in touch with the ground realities," she says. "I'm a little mellower and down-to-earth now, compared to my earlier edgy self."

Does she sometimes feel she has peaked a bit too soon? "I was placed in a spot I couldn't escape," Zhang says, recalling the day when she, at 19, was handed a baton and asked to go up on stage and, quite literally, face the music. "I did get the sense it was not going to be easy but I also knew if I didn't put in my best then I would lose the moment. Since I was chosen for the job I had a responsibility to do it well."

The great thing about coming back to play in China, where her journey began when she enrolled at the Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music, is getting to experience the youthful exuberance that marks its classical music scene at present. The musicians in Chinese orchestras are younger than those in their Western counterparts and so are the audience, she informs. "So they still have a lot of space and time to grow."

Watching the orchestras from Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guiyang, Lanzhou and Tianjin shape up well and fast is something Zhang finds utterly reassuring. "They are completely linked to the Western standards of management, sourcing guest artists and guest conductors, building concert halls," she informs. "At a time when the West is worried about the decline of the orchestra, I can imagine in the next 20 to 30 years, the Chinese orchestra will grow incredibly."

Contact the writer at basu@chinadailyhk.com

A robust, high-energy style is the hallmark of Zhang Xian on-stage persona. "I get too driven by the music," she says. Provided to China Daily

Hong Kong is the last stop in Zhang Xian's current tour through seven Chinese cities, including Beijing (picture), performing with five different orchestras. Provided to China Daily

(HK Edition 04/17/2015 page9)