We have tickets this evening for one more concert in Shanghai: Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham is appearing with the very international string ensemble Sejong (its members come from nine different countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States) at the Shanghai Concert Hall. We're going along with my violinist friend. The program is supposed to be:
J.S. Bach: Violin Partita No.3 in E Major, BWV1006
Golijov: Last Round for String Orchestra
Haydn: Violin Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Hob. VIIa-4
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Haydn: Violin Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Hob. VIIa-4
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
We are especially looking forward to the Mendelssohn. Both Miles and I fell in love with this work when it was played by one of the ensembles at AlpenKammerMusik last summer. If you're not familiar with Mendelssohn's output, just know that this being his Opus 20 means that he wrote it when he was 16! Of course, we only heard the first movement at AlpenKammerMusik. It will be a pleasure to hear the complete work.
I had a really great time on Friday.
My violinist friend here is also a teacher here, at a school for expatriate children. She directs the arts program at the school, and Friday was the Winter Concert for the middle and high school age students. She had a 6th grade kid, a violin student, who wanted to play at the concert but needed an accompanist, and I was happy to volunteer. He was really very good! We played one of Charles Dancla's Air and Variations — this one on a theme by Pacini. Very 19th century indeed!
The concert included 12 acts in total — everything from the String Orchestra (mostly beginners) playing "Theme from the Planets (Jupiter)" by Gustav Holst, to the Choir (all girls) singing "Can I Have This Dance" from High School Musical, to the Rock Band (all boys) doing "With Me" by Sum 41. What fun! There's video of this available. Because of privacy concerns, I can't post a public link here, but will be happy to share it with you individually; if you would like to see the video just add a comment on this post.
After the school concert, we went to see the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe's "Huangpu Sensation" show at the Shanghai Center Theatre. This was really cool. If you're ever in Shanghai, be sure to check whether this troupe has a show on while you're there, and go see it if they do. They did some really incredible acrobatic routines, including one where the performers take a running start and dive through very small hoops attached to a table, doing somersaults either right before going through the hoop or right after. Another routine (shown in the picture) involves a duo who perform up in the air suspended by a pair of silk cloths. You may have seen acrobatic shows before, but this troupe's offering is a notch up, for sure. They are constantly inventing new routines, so when you go, you'll probably see different ones than we did.
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