The Paris Connection: Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long Leads the HK Phil in Two Ravishing Ballet Scores and a HK Premiere with Violin Virtuoso Ning Feng
Bravo: Yu Long | The Firebird & Carmen (6 & 7 December)

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[29 November 2019, Hong Kong] In his second concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) this season, Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long directs a programme of works sharing a Parisian connection – two ravishing ballet scores and the Hong Kong premiere of composer Chen Qigang’s La joie de la souffrance, featuring virtuoso violinist Ning Feng. Two performances will be given at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on 6 & 7 December.

“Ning Feng displayed a gorgeous light touch with faultless intonation and deft bowing married to a sweet tone. The melodic lines were all smooth and beautifully shaped.”
--- Daily Telegraph

Premiered in Beijing in 2017, La joie de la souffrance is the first work written specifically for the violin by Chen Qigang, who finds that the instrument “has perhaps the widest capacity to express human emotion”. With hauntingly beautiful melodies, this violin concerto explores the relationship between joy and suffering which, in the composer’s own words, is “a matter of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang,’ inseparable and hence all things should contain both”. The Hong Kong premiere will be directed by Maestro Yu Long and Ning Feng, conductor of the world premiere and violinist of the US premiere respectively.

The concert opens with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Based on an old Russian legend, the Firebird ballet was a huge success in Paris and propelled Stravinsky to international fame. Arranged by the composer himself, the 1919 Suite distills the essence of the complete work into a satisfying stream of orchestral bravura.

Another Russian composer provides the concert’s closing piece with a transcription of excerpts from Bizet’s popular opera, first staged in Paris. Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite was devised as a ballet, and reimagines Bizet’s famous melodies in colourful and distinctively original orchestrations for strings and a battery of percussion instruments.

Bravo: Yu Long | The Firebird & Carmen will be held on 6 & 7 December (Fri & Sat) at 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are HK$480, $380, $280 and $220 and are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Artists
Yu Long, conductor [full biography]
Hailed as the “most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene” by The New York Times, distinguished Chinese conductor Yu Long is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and Music Director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony orchestras. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the HK Phil. Currently the Co-Director of the MISA Summer Festival in Shanghai, Maestro Yu is the Founder of the Beijing Music Festival and was its Artistic Director from 1998 to 2018. He has signed a recording deal with Deutsche Grammophon and started global release and distribution partnership.

Ning Feng, violin [full biography]
Ning Feng is recognised internationally as an artist of great lyricism, innate musicality and stunning virtuosity. Recent successes have included tours with the HK Phil and Jaap van Zweden to Europe, Asia and Australia, a tour to China with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Lawrence Foster as well as successful debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. In recital and chamber music Ning performs regularly with Igor Levit, amongst others, at many of the world’s major festivals and concert venues.


BRAVO SERIES: YU LONG | THE FIREBIRD & CARMEN
6 & 7 | 12 | 2019
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$480 $380 $280 $220
Tickets are now available at URBTIX.
For ages 6 and above

Programme