Orchestra tunes in to live performances again

"It's been a long time since we played music for you with a live performance, my friends," conductor Li Biao said to the audience. The words carried a great deal of significance. They were spoken on Friday after the Beijing Symphony Orchestra played the stirring piece, Ode to the Red Flag, composed by the noted musician Lyu Qiming in 1965, which opened the concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.

"Symphony orchestras didn't give live concerts for 188 days. This is our first live concert since the novel coronavirus outbreak, which is very special and meaningful to us," says Li, who has had a successful career as a conductor and percussion soloist and was appointed chief conductor of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra last December. "We hope to send a resounding message with this concert that live classical music has returned to the stage."

During the performance, the orchestra played a varied selection, including the second movement of Dvorak's Symphony No 9, popularly known as From the New World, and the second movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major.

A new piece, Running Warrior, composed by professor Liu Sijun from the Central Conservatory of Music, also premiered during the concert. It was dedicated to the medical teams who fought against the coronavirus pandemic.

"We chose repertories that the audience are familiar with, hoping to bring them joy and strength," says Li, adding that the live concert was also streamed online.

A full summer festival program is planned for August with about 30 live concerts to be staged in Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Hebei province. During the live shows, the orchestra plans to premiere a new piece, Wuhan 2020, written by Li's longtime friend, German composer Enjott Schneider. The 10-minute piece portrays emotions triggered by the virus, such as fear, depression, confidence and courage. It took Schneider just two days to complete.

According to Xu Jian, general manager of the Forbidden City Concert Hall, the concert on Friday was also the first live performance for the venue since January.

For safety reasons, tickets were booked online in advance with real identities, and attendance of the show did not exceed 30 percent.

"We hope that the show is a sign of recovery for the country's performing arts market. All the tickets for the show on Friday sold out within 30 minutes, which proved that audiences are eager to enjoy performances at the concert hall," says Xu, adding that a total of 425 seats are offered to the audiences now, one third of the venue's full capacity.

More live shows will be held at the venue during August, including a concert on Aug 16 by harpists Ma Jiajie and Sun Shimeng, and flutist Zuo Meihui.

According to Li, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1977, was one of the first Chinese orchestras to perform classical music on the internet during the viral outbreak.

"However, for musicians, it's not a complete performance without applause from the audience," Li says, adding that when the musicians of the orchestra restart rehearsals, they feel excited and cherish the moment of playing music together again after such a long time.