The 23rd International Festival of Chamber and Orchestral Music Asia – Siberia – Europe will open on September 3 at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre with a concert that brings together — in both dialogue and contest — two great musical traditions: East and West.
Under the baton of conductor Haozhang Li, the programme will feature outstanding soloists: Rimma Benyumova (violin, Russia), Alexander Ramm (cello, Russia), Arthur Ancel (piano, France), and Yang Jing (pipa, China). For the first time in Krasnoyarsk, audiences will hear works by two leading contemporary Chinese composers, Zhao Jiping and Shaosheng Li.
Zhao Jiping is a seminal figure in 20th–21st century Chinese culture. His worldwide fame came through his collaborations with film director Chen Kaige. Zhao’s music has become an integral part of both Chinese and global cinema, as well as a vital contribution to the development of the Chinese art song tradition rooted in ancient poetry.
Also making her Krasnoyarsk debut is world-renowned pipa virtuoso Yang Jing, who will perform the Russian premiere of Zhao Jiping’s Concerto No. 2 for Pipa and Orchestra along with the festival orchestra.
The pipa — a plucked string instrument of the lute family — is one of China’s oldest classical instruments. Its name comes from the traditional playing technique: pi, the downward stroke, and pa, the upward stroke. The ancient poet Bai Juyi once described its sound as “a cascade of pearls, large and small, tumbling onto a jade plate.” With its wide technical and tonal range, the pipa is equally compelling in solo repertoire and in orchestral settings.
Shaosheng Li, one of the brightest voices among China’s new generation of composers, will present a sweeping soundscape that spans five thousand years of Chinese history and stretches across eight thousand li.
The programme will also include a cornerstone of Russian musical heritage — Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances — as well as the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, originally presented by the composer as the Grand Concerto Concertant, not only represents Viennese classicism but also embodies the festival’s central idea: unity. In this work, Beethoven assigns leading roles to three soloists — pianist, violinist, and cellist. Yet, instead of rivalry, the concerto emphasizes harmony and ensemble collaboration, a musical metaphor for the very spirit of the festival.
