China News Agency, Beijing, January 1st: How to make the world fall in love with the "Sound of Music" from China?
——Interview with Chairman of Beijing International Music Festival Art Committee and famous conductor Yu Long
China News Agency reporter Ying Ni
Harold C. Schoenberg, chief music critic of The New York Times, wrote in the book "The Great Conductor", "He has multiple identities: musician, administrator, executive, envoy, psychologist. An expert, a technician, a philosopher, and a person who can get angry at any time... If he does not have absolute confidence in himself and his ability, he is nothing." The "he" in the article does not actually refer to any conductor, but is a generalization of this group.
If it were not for his absolute trust in himself, it would have been difficult for conductor Yu Long to establish the Beijing International Music Festival 25 years ago and go all the way to today—this journey has been described as "building a house in the desert".
Today, the house has not only laid a solid foundation, but also become a tall building.
Every golden autumn, top musicians and orchestras at home and abroad come and go here. Excellent works and cutting-edge stage forms are staged here. The Beijing International Music Festival has become a golden business card of the ancient capital of Beijing.
Famous conductor Yu Long conducts at the "Yu Long and GYSO" Lantern Festival concert.
Photo by Qu Honglun
In the cultural exchange between East and West, how to create a symphony of "Chinese concept"?
How to create an international music festival with high standards?
How to tell the "Chinese story" well with symphony and make the world fall in love with the "Sound of Music" from China?
Chairman of the Beijing International Music Festival Art Committee and well-known conductor Yu Long recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions" and answered them one by one.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: What was your original intention to organize the Beijing International Music Festival 25 years ago?
Yu Long: In 1997, I was 33 years old. I returned to Beijing after studying abroad in Germany. I was young and vigorous, and it could be said that I was "ignorant and fearless" in a certain sense. I wanted to try something in the field of music that no one else had done.
A few friends and I imagined our vision for the future. At that time, our idea was: Is it possible to hold a professional music festival with international influence in Beijing, the national cultural center?
In March 1998, a 3-page creative report on the establishment of the Beijing International Music Festival was approved by the then Ministry of Culture and the competent authority of Beijing.
In October 1998, the first Beijing International Music Festival was held.
Many details of preparing for the first music festival, including planning projects, inviting artists, signing contracts, finalizing the venue, etc., are still as clear in my mind as yesterday.
In a blink of an eye, it turned out to be nearly 25 years ago.
I have changed from a young conductor in his early 30s to a conductor and art manager who is about to enter his sixtieth year.
I have dedicated the best and most exciting 25 years of my life to the Beijing International Music Festival. The 25 years accompanied by the music festival are very happy.
The special performance of the 10th Beijing International Music Festival was held in Zhongshan Concert Hall.
Photo by Tomita
My ideal remains the same.
First of all, Beijing is the capital and political center of the country, through which the whole world observes this big country that is advancing the cause of reform and opening up in full swing; secondly, as a cultural center, this city has many people who are passionate about art.
I hope to provide the world with a window to pay attention to China from a cultural perspective. At the same time, through professional operation and professional perspective, the Beijing International Music Festival will become one of the models of music art communication in the world.
China News Agency reporter: If you briefly summarize the history of the Beijing International Music Festival in the past 25 years, how would you sum it up?
Yu Long: Over the past 25 years, the Beijing Music Festival has insisted on using the highest artistic standards, the most professional operating mechanism, and the most forward-looking artistic concepts to build a broad platform for eastern and western music and even cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
We invited art masters such as Argerich, Stern, Barenboim, and top art groups such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, and the Orchester de Paris to visit Beijing, enabling countless music fans to experience the past at close range. Opportunity to stage an artist's presence that can only be heard on record.
The famous conductor Ashkenazy conducted the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the 4th Beijing International Music Festival to play the handed down work of the Czech composer Smetana - the orchestral suite "My Motherland" composed of six symphonic poems. ".
Photo by Li Gang
In 2001, the Beijing International Music Festival launched the "commission mode" for the first time, and more than 20 commissioned works have been performed at the festival so far.
The opera "Legend of the White Snake" commissioned by the music festival won the Pulitzer Prize for music, creating history for Chinese musicians.
In 2002, the music festival put forward the "China concept" for the first time, and let the world listen to and understand China through music.
We held music sessions for outstanding Chinese composers such as Huang Zi, Ding Shande, Tan Dun, Ye Xiaogang, Guo Wenjing, etc., and creatively displayed and promoted Chinese music forms such as folk music, opera, and minority music.
Composer and conductor Tan Dun.
Photo by Zhang Hengwei
In 2005, we realized the historic premiere of Wagner's masterpiece "The Ring of the Nibelung" in China, and also staged Wagner, Richard Strauss, Berg, Shostakovich Many opera masterpieces have filled the gaps in the Chinese opera stage.
For a long time, I personally and the music festival have insisted on conveying a concept, "a music festival is not a pure performance, not simply a collection of many performances in one time period", but must have its own concept and clear theme.
Based on this, there was the complete works of the musician Mahler in 2011, and a series of plans to commemorate Beethoven in 2020 under the influence of the epidemic, and the "New Unit" section that has been held in Sanlitun, Beijing since 2016 A series of cutting-edge stage innovations and explorations represented.
The rehearsal and observation of Mahler's Eighth Symphony was staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo by Wu Jiandao
Only by constantly trying, being brave in innovation, refusing self-repetition, and adhering to artistic standards can the continuous vitality of the music festival be guaranteed.
We have also been working hard to shorten the distance between classical music and audiences, especially young audiences, from performance venues to forms of expression, and strive to be close to modern urban life.
China News Agency reporter: There is a view that symphony music is an imported product for the Chinese. What do you think?
Long Yu: I think this is a paradox.
As far as the symphony orchestra is concerned, it cannot be divided into Chinese or foreign, only the difference between professional and amateur.
Today is the era of globalization. Many things cannot be simply distinguished from the West or the East. They are all the crystallization of human culture and the common wealth of mankind. Music is a very convincing world language.
The London Symphony Orchestra, a century-old famous troupe, held its China tour at the Reignwood Opera House in Beijing, combining symphony and traditional oriental instruments.
Photo by Liu Zhen
To use music to communicate with the world, the first step is to establish standards.
When the art's standards match the world's, trust is quickly established.
Word of mouth among musicians is very important. It may take 10 years to build a reputation, but it may take one time to destroy it.
The second is professional ethics.
Professional ethics is like a touchstone in this industry. It can be imagined as a scene in martial arts novels where masters fight each other. A look and a handshake are enough to understand the opponent's strength.
As an artist who uses "symphony" to communicate with the world, what I want to do is to use the baton in my hand to convey my understanding and love for Chinese culture.
Why can the sea accommodate hundreds of rivers?
Because it is low-key and inclusive enough.
The charm of Chinese culture lies in the natural centripetal force based on broadness and tolerance.
Famous conductor Yu Long (middle) and performers appear at the symphony concert on the first anniversary of the countdown to the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Photo by Wang Gang
China News Agency reporter: In the face of different cultures, how to use the "symphony" to tell Chinese stories well?
Yu Long: How to make a story understood and moved by people from another country and another language requires empathy.
The stories told must reach a certain artistic level, so that the audience can appreciate the profoundness of Chinese culture.
For example, Chen Qigang's works express Chinese culture through different performance forms and musical instruments, reaching a very high artistic level.
Whether you are an oriental or a westerner, the transmission of beauty is the same, and symphony and opera are one of the best ways to spread Chinese culture.
The large-scale symphonic vocal divertimento "Liu Sanjie" was staged in Nanning, Guangxi. Through the form of symphonic vocal divertimento, the folk song represented by Guangxi "Liu Sanjie" was used as the blueprint, and the solo, duet, original ecological duet, chorus, and symphony band were organically integrated.
Photo by Hong Jianpeng
There must be the voice of world culture in China, and the voice of Chinese culture in the international arena.
Chinese art institutions are duty-bound to promote Chinese composers, Chinese music, and Chinese culture, but works that can truly go global must reflect the identity and genetic identity of Chinese culture. The more refined Chinese culture is, the more it can go global, rather than imitate and copying the West.
Simple duplication doesn't make any sense.
We undertake a great social responsibility to pass on Chinese culture to mainstream Western society.
Specific to the field of classical music, it is by no means something that can be accomplished in one generation. It should be a process of passing on the torch from generation to generation.
Now, there are young and outstanding composers in China like Du Yun and Zhou Tian who have entered the international scene and made extraordinary achievements. I look forward to more young composers in the future who will bring their works and go out on behalf of China.
"Culture of China·Global Chinese Concert" was held in the Concert Hall of the National Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo by Zhang Qin
The launch of "Concept of China" is not just to introduce a few composers and performers, but to show the world the excellent culture of the Chinese nation and the style of China today. This is the goal of "Concept of China" of the Beijing International Music Festival— —Let the world fall in love with the voice from China.
(use up)
Respondent profile:
Chairman of Beijing International Music Festival Art Committee, famous conductor Yu Long
Long Yu was born in a musical family in Shanghai and graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts.
He is currently the artistic director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the music director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, the chief guest conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the vice chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association, the chairman of the Symphony Orchestra Alliance of the Chinese Musicians Association, and a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Long Yu founded the Beijing International Music Festival and has served as the chairman of the art committee until now.
Long Yu has been awarded the "Chinese Cultural Figure of the Year", the "Chinese Art and Literature Award", the honorary academician certificate of the Central Conservatory of Music, the "French Legion of Honor", the "Global Citizenship Award" of the Atlantic Council of the United States, and the "Global Citizenship Award" of the Yale University School of Music. Sanford Medal", Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, "Cross Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany", Honorary Doctorate of Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, etc.