New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Deutsche Grammophon's live 120th Anniversary festivities take flight on October 10 with a sensational concert at Taimiao - the Imperial Ancestral Temple of Beijing's Forbidden City. The concert will be streamed delayed live on the DG YouTube channel. The event trains the spotlight on Chinese excellence in classical music while underlining Deutsche Grammophon's position as one of the world's leading cultural ambassadors. It also marks the beginning of an unprecedented, comprehensive and strikingly ambitious international programme of activities designed to raise awareness of the label's rich legacy, present innovations and future aspirations. The year-long anniversary programme, presented with global support from Google Arts & Culture and Volkswagen Group, offers everything from rare archive recordings and new albums to high-profile performances, classical club nights and extensive online coverage. The concert at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, organized by Beijing Mingxun Communications Consultants Co., Ltd, will be presented in partnership with Chinese digital-music platform Kuke
Music and the luxury watch and jewelry brand Chopard.
Dr.
Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon, believes that DG120's programme of events and recordings holds the power to build bridges between different cultures. Above all, he says, it will highlight the international reach and enduring power of classical music. "Deutsche Grammophon has been in the business of inspiring people with music and performances of the highest quality since the 1890s. The label has always been alive to new markets and new technologies. Long Yu and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra share our vision of building the future audience for classical music, one that is open to people from all backgrounds and ages. I am thrilled that Deutsche Grammophon will start its anniversary year with a genuinely historic event in Beijing. Millions will be able to watch the concert on TV and digital media and to follow other DG120 events online."
Managing
Director of Universal
Music China, Garand Wu, praises Deutsche Grammophon's vision for the future of western classical music in China and beyond. "We know that there are well over 40 million piano students in China and that the already strong appetite among Chinese audiences for orchestral concerts and opera productions is only set to increase," he comments. "Deutsche Grammophon's decision to launch its 120th anniversary year with a live performance in Beijing, at one of the world's great historic landmarks, is sure to inspire millions of young people in China and give momentum to the rise of a vast audience here and across Southeast Asia. This is an exciting time for everyone involved in introducing new listeners to classical music in China. I am delighted to see Deutsche Grammophon and Universal
Music China leading the way with such a bold series of DG120 events and outreach projects."
Taimiao last hosted a classical concert twenty years ago, when Zubin Mehta led a production of Puccini's Turandot. Deutsche Grammophon artist Long Yu will become the first Chinese conductor to perform there when he directs the internationally renowned Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in a programme crowned by Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. They will be joined by the mixed adult voices of the Wiener Singakademie; the Shanghai
Spring Children's Choir; soprano Aida Garifullina, tenor Toby Spence and baritone Ludovic Tézier. The lyrics of Carmina Burana are taken from a 13th Century manuscript discovered in a Bavarian monastery and are thus from a similar era as the inceptions of the Forbidden City.
The concert opens with a special arrangement of Enchanted Night by Liu Tianhua. Violinist Mari Samuelsen takes the solo lead in "November" from Max Richter's Memoryhouse, a seminal work of contemporary neoclassical composition, before Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2, with soloist Daniil Trifonov, closes the concert's first half.
Deutsche Grammophon also signals its long-term commitment to China and the development of new audiences for western classical music with the introduction of its pioneering Yellow Lounge Classical Club Night format to Beijing. Violinist
Daniel Hope, members of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and clarinettist Wang Tao, whose local DG debut album proved an online sensation across Asia, are among the artists set to bring the Yellow Lounge experience to China. Special DG120 editions will take place during the anniversary year in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo and will be live streamed to fans around the world.
Maestro Yu and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, who signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon earlier this year, will preview the Taimiao programme for their home audience at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall on October 7. Shortly before delivering the DG120 Beijing concert, conductor and orchestra will also record their debut album for the label in Shanghai. Set for release next year and coinciding with the orchestra's 140th anniversary, it will establish a dialogue between Chinese and European orchestral music in repertoire including Qigang Chen's Violin Concerto, with
Maxim Vengerov as soloist, and Rachmaninov's
Symphonic Dances.
Kuke Music, title sponsor for the DG120 Forbidden City concert, now in its second decade operating in the field of classical music and education services, will broaden its commitment to classical music in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon during the DG120 year. "We are delighted to sponsor this bold initiative from one of the great names in classical recording and contribute to its plans to grow the global audience for classical music," observes the website's founder and President, Yu He. "Deutsche Grammophon's wholehearted commitment to China is such an important step in creating the next generation of classical fans. And, as being the only non-pop music platform in China, Kuke
Music will also commit to the development of classical music more generally."
Caroline Scheufele, Artistic
Director and Co-President of Chopard, is very honoured to be the partner of DG120. The
Swiss luxury watch and jewelry Maison shares Deutsche Grammophon's commitment to excellence and to the highest standards of beauty in art. "Chopard and Deutsche Grammophon were both founded in the 19th Century and have developed since by understanding the need to build and create for the future. We are delighted to support DG120's Beijing gala and to be involved with a project of celebrating the arts as its highest level."
About Deutsche Grammophon:
One of the most prestigious names in global classical music since its foundation in 1898, Deutsche Grammophon has always stood for the highest standards of artistry and sound quality. Home to the greatest artists of all time, the famous yellow label is a beacon to which music lovers all over the world look for outstanding recordings and interpretations.
Deutsche Grammophon's current artist roster includes some of the most distinguished artists in classical music such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Martha Argerich,
Daniel Barenboim, Hélène Grimaud, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Murray Perahia, Maurizio Pollini, Grigory Sokolov, Daniil Trifonov, Krystian Zimerman, Gustavo Dudamel,
Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Elīna Garanča, Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazón and Max Richter. In addition, the label's catalogue represents the cultural legacy of whole generations of maestri and features recordings from many of the finest classical artists in music history including Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein,
Pierre Boulez, Herbert von Karajan,
Carlos Kleiber, Vladimir Horowitz, Mstislaw Rostropovich and Andrés Segovia. Highly dedicated to the development of new repertoire, Deutsche Grammophon also fosters and promotes a whole range of popular, contemporary artists.
Deutsche Grammophon is part of Universal
Music Group, the world-leader in music-based entertainment. Find out more at: https://www.deutschegrammophon.com
