The Philadelphia Orchestra commemorates the 50th anniversary of its groundbreaking China tour

This week on Sinica, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1950 concert tour of China by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1973, Kaiser chats with Matías Tarnopolsky, the orchestra’s president and chief executive; Alison Friedman, executive and creative director of Carolina Performing Arts; and virtuoso guzheng player and composer Wu Fei about the legacy of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour, their continuing connection with China, and their concert performances in Chapel Hill, performed to the day on the two closing nights of that historic tour 50 years ago.07:00 – The China connection in the overall identity of the Philadelphia Orchestra

11:32 – 缘分 [yuánfèn] and the serendipity of the commemorative concert in Chapel Hill

14:19 – What can we learn from the original Philadelphia Orchestra members?

19:49 – Has the interest in the China-U.S. culture exchange started to fall off in recent years?

25:04 – Music as the common ground in the light of worsening relations with China

28:02 – “What’s the orchestra of today?” - as the leading theme for the commemorative concert

31:10 – The significance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.6 to the orchestra’s history in China

33:41 – The inspiration for Hello Gold Mountain and its connection to the Jewish history in China

A complete transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com.

Recommendations:

Matias: Soave sia il vento (the trio from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte)

Alison: Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (podcast)

Shanir Blumenkranz’s music

Fei: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (avant-garde metal band)

Kaiser: Good Harvest 大丰收 (restaurant)

Matteo Mancuso (Sicilian guitar virtuoso)

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