bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Vincent Mak

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Sha Tin Town Hall

Ended yesterday

As a collective musical force, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra offers high hopes.

In its concert celebrating the anniversary of the People's Republic of China at Sha Tin Town Hall on Wednesday, the violins gleamed with a bright tone and the woodwinds chirped in clearly. The cellos were powerful (especially in Beethoven's Ode to Joy   from his Symphony No 9)  and there was some reliable brass playing.

But the orchestra  also had rough edges at times, and the ensemble playing was not always precise. Moreover, the conducting of its music director, the highly respected Chen Xieyang,  occasionally lacked subtlety.

The concert opened with a plain account of Wang Xilin's  folk-inspired Torch Festival. Sarasate's  Carmen Fantasy  showcased violinist Lu Siqing's superb technique and vivid, tasteful phrasing.

Lu was followed by cellist Wang Jian in Tchaikovsky's  Variations on a Rococo Theme.  Wang's playing was imbued with grace and  lyricism, and his encore - the first movement of Bach's Cello Suite No 1  - likewise displayed characteristic musical insight.

Four vocalists - Ding Yi (tenor), Wang Yanyan (soprano), Liang Ning (mezzo) and Yang Xiaoyong (baritone) - each sang one patriotic song in the second half. The songs were written in a dated idiom, and some singers had problems with tone production, projection or dynamic shading. But their subsequent contribution to the forceful performance of Ode to Joy was committed and fluent.

The encores included entertaining performances of the Drinking Song   from Verdi's  La Traviata  and Johann Strauss the Elder's  Radetzky March, for which Chen 'conducted' the clapping of an enthusiastic audience. Despite the various shortcomings, the orchestra deserved its applause - and its status as one of the mainland's best.



Ode to joy celebrates the republic