Classical renewal in the air

Nast recalls that in 2014, when the orchestra played at the NCPA for the first time, Shanghai-born violinist Huang Mengla, who won first prize at the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy in 2002, was invited to join the orchestra in the performance of Mendelssohn's famous Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64. In 2017, the orchestra performed Beethoven's symphonies cycle, which made it the first Western symphony orchestra ever to play all nine of Beethoven's symphonies in Shanghai.

This year's tour also brings the conductor and the Vienna orchestra to more Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Shenyang in Liaoning province, and Tianjin.

The Wiener Symphoniker was founded in 1900 and gave its official debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein under the baton of Ferdinand Lowe on Oct 30 that year. In its first decades, the orchestra premiered an impressive series of works, which are now anchored in the repertoire, including Anton Bruckner's Symphony No 9, Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Franz Schmidt's The Book with Seven Seals. The orchestra was also the first in Vienna for international composers, such as Claude Debussy, who repeatedly performed with the orchestra as a pianist.

"I have played with the orchestra and the conductor many times," says violinist Julian Rachlin. "I also played with many Chinese symphony orchestras, such as the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Like the conductor said, I also feel that the audience is full of enthusiasm."

During the orchestra's current China tour, Rachlin is playing Mozart's Violin Concerto No 3 in G Major, K 216, Kreisler's Violin Concerto from Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen and Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 77 with the orchestra.

Rachlin, with a career spanning more than 30 years, has taken his many interests with him around the globe as a conductor, soloist, chamber musician, teacher and artistic director. He says he enjoys "seeing two sides of a coin", and by taking on different jobs, he sees different aspects of music.

"I also founded music festivals, and I am very happy when I spend a great time with other musicians, which is beyond the joy of music," Rachlin says. "The chemistry among people is unbelievable. When we performed onstage last night at the NCPA, the chemistry between the conductor, the orchestra and me was remarkable, which also could be sensed by the audience."