Soprano Angela Georgiou, known as the “Queen of Opera”, and world-famous tenor Plácido Domingo successively visited Weifang and presented a musical feast. (Photo courtesy of the organizer) Drawing: Zhang Ji
On the evening of the 10th, the Weifang branch of the 22nd China Shanghai International Arts Festival will welcome the world-famous tenor Plácido Domingo to reunite with the Chinese audience after a long absence. This octogenarian legendary artist has excellent control over all kinds of songs, and it is the dream of many music fans to hear him sing live. Through the matchmaking of the Art Festival, Domingo will bring excerpts from classic operas by composers such as Verdi, Giordano, and Moreno Toroba to the Weifang Concert Hall this time, delighting the local audience.
Prior to this, the Wuxi, Ningbo, Hefei and other branch venues of this China Shanghai International Art Festival have been launched one after another. World-renowned artists such as conductor Gergiev and “Opera Queen” Georgiou departed from Shanghai and traveled to various places. Through the large platform of the arts festival, local audiences can watch top performances from all over the world at home at affordable prices. High-density, high-quality cultural performances have also become a new entrance to the city’s “traffic”, demonstrating the radiating and driving role of the “Shanghai sample” with deep integration of culture and tourism.
“Circle of Friends” expands and synchronizes global high-quality performing arts resources
As one of today’s most influential artists, Plácido Domingo has performed 115 operatic roles and is sought after by audiences around the world. Hearing that this top music star was coming to Weifang to perform, Liu Mengyao, a post-2000s fan, was so excited that she almost stayed up all night and quickly bought tickets for the concert. “I made an appointment with my classmates to go to the concert hall together, and I look forward to seeing me tomorrow night. Idol”.
Held for the 22nd time, from south to north, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival continues to expand its festival venues. This year’s “circle of friends” has expanded again, and a branch venue has been set up in Weifang, Shandong for the first time. On October 21, soprano Angela Georgiou took the lead in shining her voice at the Weifang Concert Hall, singing a new chapter in the new branch venue with her golden voice. The repertoire performed by this “Queen of Opera” includes excerpts from famous operas, as well as lyric songs and folk ditties. In Rachmaninov’s “Spring Tide”, she used a wide vocal range to present the majestic turbulence of the torrential water; following the tune of “I No longer Feel the Flame of Youth Burning in My Heart”, she went to romantic Italy with the audience to perform… At the scene, Georgiou interacted with the audience with “Hello Weifang” and also sang “Jasmine” and other songs familiar to Chinese people.
Following Angela Georgiou and Plácido Domingo, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will visit Weifang on November 12 to present a diversified music feast. “The China Shanghai International Art Festival, the world’s top art event, has settled in Weifang. It is an important symbol that Weifang’s art exchanges with the world have risen to the international level. It is a vivid practice that strengthens the linkage between Shanghai and Wei, deepens the benefits of art for the people, and promotes the integration of culture and tourism. It will surely It will better meet the high-quality literary and artistic needs of the people and greatly enhance the visibility and influence of Weifang’s urban culture.” said the relevant person in charge of Weifang City, Shandong Province.
Along the “route” of the art festival, original masterpieces head to the big stage
On November 2, the British 1927 Theater Company opened the Ningbo branch of the festival with the drama “Roots”. The musicians standing on both sides of the stage are very eye-catching. They use niche instruments such as saw piano, nose flute, and donkey jawbone to inject fresh energy into the stage. Despite the different cultural backgrounds, the audience can still understand the deep meaning in the drama. “This drama gives me a very ‘wonderful’ feeling. It is like a sophisticated instrument, with actors, props and curtains working perfectly together.” Ms. Li, an audience member, said: “The atmosphere at the scene today is particularly great. I can see this in Ningbo.” The repertoire is particularly good!” This is the fifth time that Shanghai and Ningbo, Zhejiang have co-organized the festival. On November 19, a concert by Li Chuiyi and the Salzburg Chamber Orchestra will appear at the Ningbo Natural Stage Theater, bringing pure German and Austrian sounds. .
The China Shanghai International Arts Festival has always continued to serve the Yangtze River Delta and radiate the whole of China, and has successively held branch events in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and other places. Since it was held in 2012, the branch venue in Wuxi, Jiangsu has become an important local carrier of people-benefiting activities and a city’s cultural business card. On October 19, just after performing Wagner’s Four-Part Opera in Shanghai, maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra appeared at the Wuxi Grand Theater. This opening concert of the Wuxi branch has become one of the highest-level classical music performances in the region. This year, the Wuxi branch venue, with the theme of “Embracing the World and Paying Tribute to the Classics”, provided citizens with 37 high-quality stage performances and nearly 60 other activities. The Anhui branch held an exchange meeting to showcase the development trends and successful examples of Sino-European tourism creative parks and promote the cooperation and development of Chinese and foreign cultural tourism creative parks.
At the same time, many domestic original masterpieces sailed to the main venue along the open and inclusive art festival “route”. On November 15, the dance drama “Eastern Port” originally produced by Ningbo Performing Arts Group will be unveiled at the Shanghai Cultural Square, telling the passionate youth and touching past events of several generations of great port builders. The creative team said that “Oriental Grand Port” being on the main stage of China Shanghai International Arts Festival is another “breakthrough” of Ningbo’s high-quality products and Ningbo stories. The Ningbo branch venue also sent Ningbo opera performances to the “Art Sky” section of the festival, forming an interactive communication mechanism between the main venue and the branch venues, further amplifying the allocation function of performing arts resources.Reporter Xuan Jing
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责编：张晓荣 ]
