Famous Estonian American conductor to perform at Shanghai Grand Theatre

Neeme Jarvi will be conducting the New Year Concert at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on Dec 30 and 31.

Estonian American conductor Jarvi, who is a recipient of Gramophone's 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award, will be working with the orchestra and chorus of Shanghai Opera House to present Beethoven's Symphony No 9 and an opera gala concert featuring Estonian soprano Elina Nechayeva.

This is the second time the 81-year-old maestro conductor is performing in Shanghai. His last visit was in 1999.

"She is a coloratura soprano and composer at the same time," said maestro conductor Xu Zhong of Nechayeva, who gained international recognition representing Estonia in the Eurovision song contest in 2018.

"This is a rare combination, especially for a young artist born in the 1990s. I believe she has quite a unique understanding of music."

The Shanghai Grand Theatre will for the first time offer live streaming of the New Year concerts via the art channel of Tencent Video on Dec 31.

"All the tickets, including the additional seats, were sold out weeks before," said Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the theater. "Fortunately we made the agreement with Tencent Video to allow more audiences in Shanghai and other cities to experience the charm of Beethoven's Symphony No 9 with Gustav Mahler's re-orchestration."

This is the fifth year Shanghai Grand Theatre is hosting New Year concerts.