Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

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Shanghai Symphony Hall
The new logo of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (Chinese: 上海 交响乐团) is the oldest symphony orchestra in Asia and is one of the most influential professional music ensembles in China .

history

The predecessor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1879 as a Shanghai Public Orchestra. In 1922 it was renamed the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Music Band. In 1919 the Italian pianist Mario Paci took over the direction and during his 23 years as a conductor he played a wider range of pieces and performed with famous musicians in Europe and other parts of the world, for the first time in the Far East.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the orchestra was renamed several times and in 1956 was formally appointed the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall is located at 1380 Fuxing Middle Road in the Xuhui District and opened in September 2014 with the official nickname “Wonton Skin”.

Chinese premiere of Beethoven's 9th Symphony

Program booklet for the Chinese premiere of Beethoven's 9th Symphony

One of the highlights in the orchestra's history is the Chinese premiere of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 with Schiller's Ode to Joy . Excerpts - without the choir finals - were first heard in March 1927 in a concert on the 100th anniversary of Beethoven's death. The first full performance followed on April 14, 1936 at the Grand Theater in Shanghai. The vocal soloists were H. Sand (soprano), M. Krilova (alto), Alexander Slobodskoy (tenor) and Vladimir Shushlin (bass). According to the program, the 150 singers in the choir came from five local associations and institutions: The Shanghai Choral Society, The Shanghai Songsters, The National Conservatory of Music , German Community Choral Group and Russian Choral Society. The performance was likely in English.

management

The orchestra's current music director is Yu Long, the first Chinese conductor invited to the United States to conduct one of the five major symphony orchestras, the Philadelphia Orchestra .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai, Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese , New York 2004, p. 89; ISBN 0-87586-179-2