There is also room in town for one more great symphony orchestra and Shanghai tomorrow night is playing host to a great one from Asia. Michelle Qiao previews the concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

 

South Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra will play a Chinese masterwork in their upcoming concerts.

 

It's awkward timing for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra's appearance at this year's Shanghai International Arts Festival — its concerts are scheduled very close to those by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

But for local lovers of classical music, the Tokyo Philharmonic's concert is not to be missed. South Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the youngest-ever Paganini Violin Competition winner Sayaka Shoji will ensure the concert matches those of the other two great orchestras.

"The Tokyo Philharmonic and I selected Schostakovich's 'Symphony No. 5' because we have had great success performing the piece in Tokyo in the summer of 2004," says Chung, the orchestra's music adviser and one of the few influential Asian conductors on the international stage.

"We also felt it quite meaningful to include Chinese and Japanese works in this friendship tour," he says. "Regarding Brahms' 'Symphony No. 1,' it's another beautiful piece we want to share with our friends here."

Chung began his career in music as a pianist and came second at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1974.

He has been music director or principal guest conductor with several famous orchestras, including the Opera de Paris-Bastille and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Chung has conducted virtually all the world's leading orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, all the major orchestras of London and Paris, the Chicago Symphony and New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Chung impressed Shanghai audiences five years ago with a concert he conducted when his sister, violinist Kyung-Wha Chung, was soloist at Shanghai Grand Theater.

"We had a wonderful time then performing together, especially as we do not play together so often any more," says Chung. "However, we are planning to come back to Asia with the Dresden Staatskapelle next year. When we get together we talk mostly about our families, especially our children."

Another of Chung's sisters is the renowned cellist Myung-Wha Chung and the "Chung Trio" made an EMI Classic recording of Beethoven's "Piano Trios Op 11 and 97 (Archduke)" in 1994.

"My mother had all her children learn music as part of their general education," says Chung. "In my case, I owe a great deal of my music development to my elder sisters and brothers. Being the sixth child among seven, I was surrounded by music played by my sisters even when I was in my mother's belly. I may have been the one who benefited the most from this environment."

Referring to the playing of violin soloist Sayaka Shoji, local music critic Li Yanhuan says: "Shoji's playing did not enthuse me immediately but I found her skill to be so solid after a more careful appreciation.

"Her playing is not aggressive. Her tone is soft, pleasant and beautiful, but sometimes might be lost in the playing of the orchestra. I especially enjoyed her second album which was released in 2001. She astonished me by perfectly illustrating the structure of a Brahms' sonata when she was only 18."

Chung says the orchestra will also be performing Chinese composer Ge Ganru's "Six Pentatonic Tunes for Orchestra."

"It is important to keep the door open for the general public, especially young people, so that we can convey the concept that classical music is not difficult or distant as they may think," says Chung. "Pop and classical music are quite different things. When it comes high quality, it takes more preparation, expense and time.

"If you have a hamburger and fine cuisine, though they are both food, you are in a very different state of mind. One eats hamburger to quickly fill your stomach, while you take time to enjoy a refined dinner."

Date: November 3-4, 7:30pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong

Tickets: 100-500 yuan

Tel: 6217-2426, 6217-3055