Love for Western classical music continues to rise in China
- Upcoming Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra concerts across the border highlight rising appreciation and enthusiastic audiences
- Number of professional symphony orchestras on the mainland has grown well beyond 80
Works by two Austrian composers who experienced starkly contrasting levels of fame during their short lives – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the little-known Hans Rott – feature in Sunday’s concert by Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) in the Guangdong city of Zhuhai, led by conductor David Stern.
The performance, supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong, will take place at the RMJM-designed Zhuhai Huafa & cpaa Grand Theatre.
Other than well-known works by Mozart such as the Don Giovanni Overture and woodwind Sinfonia Concertante, the Discover Classical Romance programme also features a lesser-known score by Rott, who was 25 when he died of tuberculosis in 1884 without any of his music having been published or performed.
The concert shows that appreciation for classical music in China continues to grow and mature, especially among young generations.
Shanghai-born Lin Jiang, principal horn player of HK Phil and one of the four Sinfonia concertante soloists – along with Michael Wilson on oboe, Andrew Simon on clarinet and Benjamin Moermond on bassoon – says the growth of Western classical music appreciation in the country has “gone through the roof”.
“It’s somewhat comparable with drinking fine wine – the Chinese taste for Western music has become finely honed and much more nuanced,” he says.
