Biennial festival unveiled on 'Piano Island'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-07-30 16:14

The roar of the waves breaking on the rocks and impressive piano melodies will surround and linger in the evening today over Gulangyu, China's piano island, just opposite Xiamen, on the coast of East China's Fujian Province.

The occasion is the Second Gulangyu Piano Festival, which will start with a concert featuring a piano recital, concerto and repertoire for two pianos played by well-known musicians from both home and abroad.

Under the baton of renowned Chinese conductor Zhu Hui, young pianist Xu Xing'ai, whose ancestral home is on Gulangyu Island, will premiere the concerto "For Gulangyu," by composer Du Mingxin. Du specially scored the work for the festival.

The other two young Chinese pianists, Chen Sa and Sun Meiting, will perform Rachmaninov's "Concerto No 2" and Liszt's "Concerto No 1, respectively.

The opening concert is expected to reach a climax with Bartok's "Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion" played by Xu, French pianist Michel Bourdoncle and percussionists Arndt Josten and Thomas Fink from the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Gulangyu Island is known as the "Piano Island" because the people there love piano. As early as 1913, students in schools run by foreigners started studying piano. Interest in the instrument later spread to ordinary people on the island, and many "piano families" have produced accomplished musicians.

The 1.78 square kilometre island, located five minutes by boat from Xiamen, started the biennial festival in 2002.

Different from the previous one, Gulangyu is not the only venue for the festival this year. Besides the Second National Competition for Young Pianists, which is held on the island, the four previously mentioned pianists will go on a four-city concert tour.

After the opening concert, they will perform at Beijing Poly Theatre on August 1, Shanghai Grand Theatre on August 4, Guangzhou Xinghai Concert Hall on August 8 and in Hong Kong on August 10.

"This is perhaps the first time that a local festival will tour outside the host city," says Ye Xizhi, general secretary of the festival organizing committee. "We have prepared a good and varied programme to feed classical music fans and we hope the Gulangyu piano festival will have a much wider influence in the country."

Besides the concerto "For Gulangyu" played by Xu, other numbers include Liszt's "Spanish Rhapsody," Chopin's "Prelude Op 28," Mozart's "Concerto for Three Pianos in F Major" and Bach's "Concerto for Four Pianos in A Minor."

"The carefully-selected repertoire combines classical and contemporary, ranging from Baroque's Bach and classical Mozart to romantic Chopin and experimental Bartok in the 20th century," says Li Weiming, music professor of the Art School of Xiamen University, who is one of the musical consultants for the festival.

The festival, which is organized by the Chinese Musicians' Association and the Xiamen municipal government, will run through August 12.

Renowned Chinese conductor Zhu Hui will take the baton at all the concerts. It is great challenge for a conductor to collaborate with four orchestras over such a long time - 12 days. In each city, Zhu will conduct different local orchestras including the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, China Central Opera Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.

"We believe that Zhu is commanding enough to conduct four orchestras in two weeks. He knows how to co-operate with an orchestra and com-municate with the players in an efficient way," says Li.

This is the second time for Chen Sa to performe at the Gulangyu Piano Festival. Two years ago, her recital delighted audiences at the First Gulangyu Piano Festival.

"I am happy and honoured to return to Gulangyu and the festival as well. It is my hope that the audience enjoys my playing as much as last time," she says.

The 25-year-old rising star amazed the classical world in 1996, when at the age of 16, she was seen live on BBC Television, competing in the final of the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition, with Simon Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony. The British public was captivated.

Chen began her musical studies at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and then moved to the Shenzhen School of Arts. After her success in Leeds, she gave a much acclaimed debut recital at London's Wigmore Hall and was subsequently offered a scholarship at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama, where she has been studying since 1997.

Her most recent award was at the 14th International Chopin Piano Competition in October, 2000, at which she won the Best Polonaise Performance Award, as well as Fourth Prize overall.

The festival's closing concert will return to Gulangyu on August 12. The Vietnamese-Canadian pianist Dang Thai Son will play works by Debussy and Edvard Grieg.

"Dang is a pianist of superb discipline and undeniable distinction, having reliable technique and amazing expression," commented conductor Zhu.

An emerging figure among the leading international musicians of our time, Dang, 46, was propelled to the forefront of the musical world in October, 1980, when the then 22-year-old was awarded first prize at the 10th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

His international career has taken him to over 40 countries and into world-known halls including the Lincoln Centre in New York, Barbican Centre in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Musikverein in Vienna, the Opera House in Sydney and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Dang has played with a number of world class orchestras, such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic as well as Virtuosi of Moscow, Vienna Chamber and the Sydney Symphony.

Gulangyu Piano Museum, China's only museum for piano collection and exhibition, will provide the concerts with four precious pianos. They are the 1904 Erard, 1927 Wertheim, 1888 Steinway & Sons and 1937 Bluthner.

The Second National Competition for Young Pianists will also be held at Gulangyu. Each of the three age groups has 30 competitors who were selected by a jury from applicants all over the country in July.

The contestants will play the required repertoire of the competition and the final awards will be announced on August 2.

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