Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra performs in Beijing festival

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra staged Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No 1 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40 under the baton of conductor Lin Daye at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on April 25.

As part of the ongoing 8th China Orchestra Festival, the concert featured young pianist Rao Hao, who was the finalist at the 18th Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2021.

"When Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra participated in the NCPA's previous orchestra festival, we brought original Chinese music works. This time, we performed classic Western music pieces," says Nie Bing, president of Shenzhen orchestra.

According to Lin, Rachmaninoff wrote his Piano Concerto No1 when he was still a teenager and this year marks the composer's 150th birthday. He also notes that Strauss' eighth tone poem Ein Heldenleben, written in 1898, was a response to Beethoven's Symphony No 3 and is popular among the audience.

Lin adds that one of the highlights of the concert in Beijing is the 17-year-old Rao, who began piano studies at age of 4. Rao has performed with Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra three times already.