Classical music followers in Toronto are blessed with a sensible choice of concert events celebrating the New Yr — Bravissimo and Salute to Vienna readily come to thoughts. The Li Delun Music Basis’s East-Meets-West New Yr’s Live performance, although lesser-known to many Torontonians, has been an almost-annual custom for over ten years and is not any much less spectacular.
First, some background: Maestro Li Delun (1917–2001) was the founding conductor of the primary skilled symphony orchestra of the Individuals’s Republic of China, and he devoted his life to selling classical music in communist China. One in all his most well-known collaborations was with famend violinist Isaac Stern, the primary American musician invited to play with the China Central Symphony Society (now the China Nationwide Symphony Orchestra). This enterprise was captured within the 1979 documentary From Mao to Mozart, which received the Academy Award for Finest Documentary Function.
Regardless of the compulsory speeches, sponsor acknowledgements, comedic banter, and even magic methods stretching the night to nearly three hours, there have been nonetheless two stable hours of music, that includes a combined programme of Chinese language and classical works carried out by the Toronto Pageant Orchestra and three world-class soloists.
The 60-strong orchestra is technically a pickup ensemble assembled yearly for this event, with musicians younger and previous (each in age and in years in Canada) enjoying facet by facet. The range of the group was highlighted when members wished the viewers “Completely happy New Yr” in 12 totally different languages. For an ensemble that solely performs yearly, the calibre is remarkably excessive. This yr’s live performance was carried out by Lihua Tan, Chief Conductor of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
The live performance opened with “Wild Dance of the Golden Snake,” a joyful, spirited work composed by Nie Er — who famously wrote the Chinese language nationwide anthem. Impressed by Chinese language mythology and people music, this 1934 piece was initially written for conventional Chinese language devices and later organized for western symphony orchestra. Right here, the orchestra captured the transformation of the dancing golden snake with gusto — an particularly becoming piece to ring within the new yr, as 2025 ushers within the Yr of the Snake.
The remainder of the orchestral performances have been equally thrilling. They included two items by Johann Strauss II: the “Voices of Spring” Waltz, a Viennese New Yr staple evoking the vitality of the season, and the energetic polka “Unter Donner und Blitz.” Underneath Tan’s exact baton, the fourth and closing motion of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 (Allegro con fuoco) blazed with power, and the orchestra rendered the allegro passages in spectacular unison. As a closing encore, a visitor conductor led the orchestra in Strauss Sr.’s rousing “Radetsky March.”
It’s unattainable to decide on only one favorite act from this live performance; for me, there have been three highlights. First, I used to be most excited to listen to Ryan Wang, the 17-year-old piano prodigy from Vancouver and winner of the BBC Younger Musician 2024 award. This was simply the most recent in his lengthy checklist of accolades, together with the Prix Cortot. Though I’ve watched many YouTube movies of Ryan enjoying by the years (since his look on The Ellen DeGeneres Present at age 5), seeing him reside was merely magical and soul-stirring. His efficiency of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor was technically flawless, with an uncanny lightness within the allegro passages. But it was his mature interpretation and unpretentious magnificence that have been most putting, particularly for somebody so younger. Drawing thunderous applause, he delighted the viewers with an encore: a playful, jazzy association of Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” showcasing a unique—however equally very good — facet of his artistry. This gifted younger man has a limitless future.
The second spotlight was “The Sound of Pamir” Clarinet Concerto by Chinese language composer Hu Bijing, who sadly handed away a month in the past. Many of the viewers, myself included, was listening to this piece for the primary time, and I used to be blown away by its sweeping melodies and wealthy instrumentation, particularly the unique percussion results. Even with out the programme notes, the unmistakable imagery of camel caravans crossing an unlimited desert alongside the Silk Street got here to thoughts within the first motion. The second (Adagio) motion was a heartfelt love tune full of longing. The third (Allegro) motion evoked a Tajik marriage ceremony celebration in an uncommon 7/8 time; I may virtually hear the galloping of horses. Soloist YaoGuang Zhai — Principal Clarinet of the Baltimore Symphony — is a pleasant performer, exhibiting exceptional finger dexterity and breath management, from easy legato strains to crisp staccato bursts.
The opposite showstopper was Australian-Chinese language tenor Kang Wang, who will likely be starring as Pinkerton within the Canadian Opera Firm’s manufacturing of Madama Butterfly later this month. He carried out two operatic arias with contrasting feelings: “De’ miei bollenti spiriti” from Verdi’s La Traviata and “E lucevan le stelle” from Puccini’s Tosca. Wang is an expressive and pure performer with a commanding stage presence; his highly effective, attractive tenor voice has a slight darkness that jogs my memory of Jonas Kaufmann. The viewers merely couldn’t get sufficient of him, and he graciously rewarded them with an encore of Leoncavallo’s “Mattinata.” It could be a disgrace to not hear extra from him whereas he’s on the town for Butterfly.
And it will be a mistake to not make attending the Li Delun New Yr’s Live performance an annual custom!
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Denise Lai is a Physiotherapist and Faculty Professor. She is an alumnus of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and a rusty piano participant.