2010 Jul 22 Award-winning piano-violin duo coming to Beijing
Wu Promotion, a local performing arts promoter founded in 1991, has been active lately bringing European classical musicians to Beijing for special one-time concerts. The company's at it again, this time with an award-winning duo -- Dutch violinist Frederieke Saeijs and Georgian pianist Nino Gvetadze -- who will be playing at the National Center for the Performing Arts this Sunday at 7:30 pm.
Saeijs and Gvetadze began their collaboration in 2007 with tours of several European countries. When Gvetadze won prizes at the 2008 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, she and Saeijs were given the opportunity to tour China -- the first time for either musician in this country. Recently we emailed the duo regarding their musical experiences and visit to China.
How did this trip come about?
Gvetadze: Liszt organizes concert tours for their winners, and they connected us with Wu Promotion, which organized this wonderful tour for us. We don't know yet how different our performance in China will be from our other performances, but we are definitely looking forward to the concerts and hope the Chinese public will enjoy them.
What's been your favorite city or venue to play in?
It is always difficult to choose, as all the places are different and all the audiences are unique, but it's always inspiring and rewarding to play for audiences that can live through the music together with us. It gives us energy. And it can happen anywhere in the world, as music doesn't need translating.
Is there anything that makes your duet unique?
As a duo we enter a musical conversation and exchange musical ideas. There is communication and connection between us. It's about becoming one musician with four arms and with one voice... about painting one picture of a rich and colorful landscape with two brushes instead of one.
What inspires you as musicians?
People, surroundings, life, good and bad things that happen around us... everything affects the music as it affects us. We transfer our emotional state into music and try to express it in our way.
Do you have a favorite composer or composition?
For Frederieke, if she would have to choose one piece to bring to a deserted island, it would be the Chaconne by Bach because it covers the whole range of the violin and it's a deeply touching piece of music, like a prayer.
For me, it's always different as it always depends on my mood, but there are pieces -- such as Goldberg Variations by Bach, Schubert's A-major Sonata, Chopin and Brahms' concertos and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring -- that I'll always enjoy listening to and playing.
What can audiences expect from your performance?
They can expect to hear beautiful classical music performed with lots of devotion, love and excitement.
Saeijs and Gvetadze play this Sunday at 7:30 pm at the National Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets starting at 160 RMB are available from Piao.com.cn. The duo will play a program that includes Chopin, Saint-Saens, Brahms, Bach and Beethoven, among others.
You might also be interested in :
The Power of Seven Steinways: Not Your Typical Piano Recital
François Lindemann, founder and member of the Swiss Piano Seven, likes to say the sound of seven pianos is "not seven times the power of one piano," hinting that while a big sound is to be expected, there's so much more by way of layering, juxtaposition, ensemble and individual flair. But however one describes it -- dramatic, unpredictable, bold, sometimes romantic -- the concept is undeniably unique, unlike anything else in contemporary classical music.
Lindemann and company, including two guest musicians (violinist Stéphanie Décaille and percussionist Nicolas Levon Maret), bring their one-of-a-kind sound and original music to the National Center for the Performing Arts for a 7:30 pm performance tonight.
Win Tickets to Trondheim Symphony Orchestra's China Debut
Norway's venerable Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is touring China for the first time in its 101-year history, with its opening show this Friday at 7:30 pm at the Beijing Century Theater. The program includes Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor and Antonin Dvorak's beloved Symphony No. 9, "From the New World." Read on to find out how you can win a pair of tickets to this concert.
Carmen's Premiere at the National Center for the Performing Arts
The National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) was surely built with shows like Carmen in mind: productions that are big and colorful, timeless yet contemporary, instantly recognizable and all-around dazzling. This Thursday, NCPA will stage Georges Bizet's operatic masterpiece on its main stage, with American director Francesca Zambello helming an oversized production involving two separate lead casts (one Chinese and one Western), a Chinese chorus of 100-plus singers and all the dramatic richness of this classic story of love and lust.
Soft Vowels and Melodic Syllables: Boi Akih Debut in Beijing
Moluccan folk fused with modern jazz? If you’re not quite sure what that would sound like, head over to Star Live on Friday, September 10 to find out. Boi Akih, comprising life partners Monica Akihary and Niels Brouwer, plus table player Sandip Bhattacharya, will be taking the stage there in the group’s Beijing debut.
Service in His Blood: Johannes Mayr of the Kempinski Hotel
Austrian national Johannes Mayr is the Kempinski Hotel Beijing’s new Director of Food & Beverage. With over a decade of international F&B management experience under his belt and a lifetime affinity, Mr. Mayr will step in to oversee the daily operation of seven highly respected restaurants and bars within the hotel.
