China National Symphony Orchestra

Venue: Concert Hall

Date: April 23, 2017

Conductor: TANG Muhai

TANG Muhai is dedicated to creating new avenues for classical music and as such has most recently concentrated his attentions to building the audience and artistic reputation of new or lesser known orchestras. He is Chief Conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tianjin Opera and Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Shanghai Philharmonic and Zhenjiang Symphony Orchestras in China. From September 2009 he has also held the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

TANG Muhai has always been drawn to the musical stage, and has conducted opera on several continents, most recently with a highly acclaimed new production of Rossini’s opera Le Comte Ory in Zurich. He previously held the position of Chief Conductor of the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki where he conducted productions such as Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Turandot, Der Rosenkavalier and Pique Dame, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, La Rondine, Boris Godunov, The Marriage of Figaro, La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and Othello. In 2007 he conducted fully-staged performance of TAN Dun’s opera Tea with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

Tang Muhai’s international recognition began when Herbert von Karajan invited him to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in its 1983 subscription series. This success led to repeat appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic and invitations from many of the world’s leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Sydney Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras amongst many others. Since then he has appeared as guest conductor on four continents and at music festivals in Prague, Berlin, Edinburgh, Verona, Bergen and Beijing. He has worked with numerous great artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Martha Argerich and Anne-Sophie Mutter to name just a few.

TANG Muhai also enjoys working with younger musicians in a mentoring role and has conducted the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra, where he studied himself and in Berlin as part of the Young Euro Classic Festival in which 17 youth orchestras performed in 17 days. In August 2007 he brought students from the Shanghai Conservatory to collaborate with the German Youth Orchestra, a project culminating in two performances at the Berlina Konzerthaus and then a tour through six major cities of China; this led to a chamber orchestra tour in 2009 and the collaboration continues to this day. TANG Muhai became Conducting Professor and Head of the Conducting Department at the Conservatory in 2007. He has also worked for Shanghai Concert Hall as Artistic Director and also holds the title of Conductor Laureate of the National Symphony Orchestra of China.

Among TANG Muhai’s many recordings, the Guitar Concertos by TAN Dun and Christopher Rouse with Sharon Isbin and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, for Teldec, was awarded a Grammy in 2002.

Presenter: China National Symphony Orchestra

China National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) is one of the most outstanding professional symphony orchestras in China. Originally founded as the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China in 1956, the orchestra was restructured and renamed in 1996. Leading the CNSO into the future are Director GUAN Xia (Composer), Principal Conductor Michel Plasson, Laureate Conductor TANG Muhai, Principal Resident Conductor LI Xincao, Principal Guest Conductor SHAO En as well as Guest Conductor CHEN Xieyang.

For almost half a century, the CNSO has introduced Chinese audiences to a vast repertoire of classical, romantic, modern and contemporary orchestral works by both Western and Asian composers. Throughout its history, the CNSO has collaborated with many world famous artists in order to bring excellence to its audiences. CNSO audiences have been thrilled by famous conductors such as Ormandy, Herbert von Karajan, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Slatkin, Rozhestvendsky, Schwarz and Peress. Other well-known guest artists have included composer and conductor Krzystof Penderecki, instrumentalists David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Mutter, Martha Argerich, Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Shaham, WANG Jian, Lang Lang, LI Yundi, LIN Choliang and Lindemann.

The CNSO has toured throughout the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Australia, Mexico, Japan, DPR of Korea, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, giving successful performances to critical acclaim by the international press. In London, a music critic for The Times praised the CNSO as 'a mature group with a vital sound'. American music critics noted that 'the CNSO is an honorable member of the world music stage'. In Europe, critics headlined the orchestra as 'a great orchestra appears among the Kings of Orchestral Music '.

Source:National Centre for the Performing Arts