When the music's over
Well-trained classical musicians abound on the mainland, but audiences no longer have time for concerts, conductor Li Xincao tells Oliver Chou
When top mainland conductor Li Xincao made his debut in Hong Kong in 2000, he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future of Western classical music in China. At the time, he reckoned the most pressing issue was funding.
China had tens of millions of students learning piano and violin, and thousands competed in order to enrol in conservatories across the country.
Thirteen years on, however, Li, the principal conductor of the China National Symphony Orchestra, the country’s leading classical ensemble, has a gloomier view. “It’s true that the country is richer, has more new concert halls and better orchestras. But there are fewer classical music concertgoers,” says the Beijing-based maestro.
“That may sound ironic, but it’s the reality. We musicians in China have been working very hard but to little effect. No one cares. It’s scary.”
Li, who recently toured the US with the orchestra, will lead the Hong Kong Sinfonietta tomorrow in a season finale featuring works by Beethoven and Mozart, including the latter’s Piano Concerto No 22 featuring pianist Lio Kuok-wai, a native of Macau.
The 42-year-old is in a prime position to observe the changes taking place in classical music on the mainland. A graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music of China and the Musikuniversität Wien in Vienna, he was just 22 when he won the all-China conducting competition.