衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

※The performance have been changed. For more information please contact +886-7-2626669.

In 1946, Stravinsky composed the Concerto in D to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra. This exquisite concerto of three movements, each with unparalleled virtuosity and cohesion, is a jewel of the neoclassicist period.

In Beethoven’s First Symphony, one can easily identify the heritages of Joseph Haydn and W. A. Mozart as the first movement bears a resemblance to Mozart: Symphony No.41. Nonetheless, there are also some novel attempts in the symphony such as utilizing bass instruments instead of treble-range instruments for theme melodies, which have successfully enriched and expanded the possibilities of orchestral instruments.

The poetic creations of Gustav Mahler depict both blissful springs and excruciating winters of life. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) tells a bitter story of love. In the 2nd movement, " Ging heut Ｍorgen über´s Feld”, the singer’s happiness could never bloom like the flowers on the field. “Nicht wiedersehen!" in Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn) talks about the gloomy sorrow of losing a lover, while “Lied des Verfolgten im Turm" praises the value of human freedom. In Lieder und Gesänge, Mahler’s portrait of the sad reality of soldiers on the battlefield is both impressive and heart-wrenching.

Program

I. STRAVINSKY: Concerto in D for strings

L. v. BEETHOVEN: Symphony no.1 in C Major, Op. 21

G. MAHLER: Collection of Songs

1. ‘Ging heut morgen über´s Feld‘, from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

2. ‘Nicht wiedersehen‘, from Des Knaben Wunderhor (arr. by Berio)

3. ‘Lied des Verfolgten im Turm‘, from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

4. ‘Der Schildwache Nachtlied‘, from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

5. ‘Zu Straßburg auf der Schanz‘, from Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit (arr. by Berio)

6. Revelge 

Pre-talk

9/26 (Sat) 18:50-19:10. Concert Hall 3rd Floor

Artist Introduction

Shao-Chia Lü

Taiwan-born conductor Shao-Chia Lü studied music in Taipei, later at the Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and also at Vienna's College of Music. His training resulted in important first prizes at three renowned international conductor competitions: Besancon (France), Pedrotti (Italy) and Kondrashin (the Netherlands).

Shao-Chia Lü accepted positions as General Music Director of the Koblenz Theatre (1998-2001),the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz (1998-2004), and the Staatsoper Hannover (2001- 2006). He has also been Chief Conductor of the South Denmark Philharmonic from 2014 to 2017.

Shao-Chia Lü appears regularly as guest conductor at several world-renowned opera houses, including the Opera Australia in Sydney, Den Norske Opera in Oslo and more. Alongside his opera activities, Lü is equally at home on concert podiums. Lü has worked repeatedly with many leading European orchestras, such as the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and more. In Asia, Lü has worked with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, NHK, Seoul Philharmonic and more.

Shao-Chia Lü has been Music Director of Taiwan Philharmonic (the National Symphony Orchestra) from 2010 to 2020 and continues to serve as Artistic Advisor of the orchestra.

THOMAS HAMPSON

American baritone Thomas Hampson is one of the most respected and innovative musicians of our time. He has been lauded as a Metropolitan Opera Guild “Met Mastersinger,” and has been inducted into both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Gramophone’s Hall of Fame. He can claim a repertory of more than eighty operatic roles, which he has sung in major theaters around the world. His discography of more than 170 albums have brought multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and Grand Prix du Disque. Hampson received the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. and was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s first-ever Artist-in-Residence. In 2010, he was honored with a Living Legend Award by the Library of Congress, where he has served as Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America. Hampson is an honorary professor in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg, and holds honorary doctorates from the Manhattan School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Whitworth College, and San Francisco Conservatory.

Taiwan Philharmonic,

the National Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1986, the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at home, is hailed as one of the best orchestras in Asia and became the resident orchestra of the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center in 2005. Starting April 2014, the NSO has become an affiliate orchestra to the National Performing Arts Center. From 2010 to 2020, led by renowned conductor Shao-Chia Lü as its 5th music director, the NSO has cultural and music educational strength throughout Taiwan. Starting 2021, Lü will continue as artistic advisor. The 99-member NSO presents a 40-week musical season of approximately 75 concerts, chamber recitals and opera productions each year. It also has launched numerous educational programs and outreach projects, which it continually develops. The symphony tours regularly throughout Taiwan and overseas, including Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Milan, Seattle, San Francisco, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Seoul, Hong Kong , Beijing and Shanghai. The NSO has worked with internationally acclaimed conductors, such as Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Rudolf Barshai, Leonard Slatkin, Christopher Hogwood, Oleg Caetani, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Michael Sanderling, Vassily Sinaisky, Osmo Vänskä, Hans Graf, Long Yu and many famous soloists, including Mirella Freni, Ileana Cotrubas, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Thomas Hampson, Asmik Grigorian , Narciso Yepes, Fou Ts'ong, Alicia de Larrocha, Jacques Thibaud, Stephen Kovacevich, Lilya Zilberstein, Louis Lortie, Garrick Ohlssono, Kun Woo Paik, Dang Thai Son, Alexandre Tharaud, Yuja Wang, Yo-Yo Ma, Natalia Gutman, Lily Maisky, Gautier Capuçon, Jian Wang, Steven Isserlis, Daniel Müller-Schott, Sol Gabetta, Leonidas Kavakos, Nai-Yuan Hu, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz, Vadim Viktorovich Repin, Hilary Hahn, Midori, Joseph Lin, Ray Chen, Paul Huang, Richard Lin, Martin Grubinger, Sabine Meyer, Radek Baborák, Jörg Widmann, and Reinhold Friedrich.The NSO artistic reach extends to theater and opera. Its productions include collaborations with Lin Hwai-min, the world-renowned choreographer and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Austrian digital artist Klaus Obermaier, and opera stage directors Tobias Richter, Moffatt Oxenbould, Hans-Peter Lehmann, Andreas Homoki and James Robinson. In addition to its own semi-staged opera productions such as Der Ring des Nibelungen, and Elektra (2011), Parsifal (2018) and Tosca (2019), the NSO has collaborated with worldclass opera houses for its multinational productions, such as Der Rosenkavalier with Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 2007, Carmen with Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Norwegian National Opera and Opera Australia in 2009, Madama Butterfly with Opera Australia in 2012, Fidelio with Opernhaus Zurich in 2015, as well as in-house production Die Walküre (2013), Salome (2014) Othello (2016) and Il Trittico (2017).

Organizer