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“Zhou Long is a gifted musical colorist with deep roots in the natural world”—The Washington Post

“Richard Dubugnon’s music is ​driven by a playful modern sensibility”—The New York Times

“Yiwen Lu’s virtuosity allows her to blend techniques and styles – modern and traditional, Eastern and Western – defying expectations for this simple instrument”—Peak Performance

“Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s diamond-bright playing is poetically refined, simultaneously delicate and colorful” Classical Music

“Gautier Capuçon’s lean but penetrating sound and rhythmic acuity were matched by an abundance of lyrical feeling”—Chicago Tribune  

For well over 25 years, the Beijing Music Festival has proudly commissioned the most exciting contemporary musical voices from around the world. The 27^th Beijing Music Festival 2024 enthusiastically continues this venerable tradition by presented two newly commissioned works. American-Chinese composer Zhou Long’s Jiu Ge Concert for Erhu and Orchestra features the fabulous erhu virtuoso Lu Yiwen, while international French superstars, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and cellist Gautier Capuçon sparkle in the fantasy Eros Athanatos by Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon. Supported by the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Huang Yi, this exciting and highly original program of contemporary commissions will undoubtedly invigorate your musical senses.

Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long is internationally recognized for creating a unique body of music that brings together the aesthetic concepts and musical elements of East and West. Deeply grounded in the entire spectrum of his Chinese heritage, Zhou is a pioneer in transferring the idiomatic sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions into a contemporary Western idiom. Conceived by Maestro Long Yu, and jointly commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Beijing Music Festival Arts Foundation, the delightful concerto for erhu and orchestra Jiu Ge revisits the eleven chapters of Qu Yuan’s immortal “Nine Odes,” with soloist Lu Yiwen providing intense musical virtuosity and her own unique artistic expression and charm.

Simultaneously dedicated to the incomparable pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the unrivalled cellist Gautier Capuçon, Eros Athanatos by Richard Dubugnon is a fantasy devoted to the mysteries of our own existence. Subdivided into several sections with different tempi and atmospheres, this unique double concerto was specifically written for Thibaudet and Capuçon and designed in its harmonies and subtlety of rhythms to suit the exquisite Gallic taste of the two dedicatees.

Jiu Ge Anew + Immortal Love promises a rousing evening of sparkling intimacy and musical brilliance; a testament to contemporary creativity and skill you don’t want to miss.  

Track:

Richard Dubugnon：Eros athanatos, Fantasy Concertante for Cello, Piano and Orchestra, OP.69     26′

 —Intermission—

 Zhou Long：Jiu Ge-Concerto for Erhu and Orchestra                                                                        36′

The program is subject to change

Artist/Group:

Richard Dubugnon, composer

Zhou Long, composer

 Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Gautier Capucon, cello

Lu Yiwen, erhu

Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra

Huang Yi, conductor