When Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned to write a ballet and given a choice of three stories, he chose »Romeo and Juliet« without hesitation, declaring, »I ›bit‹ straight into the plot, it would have been hard to find a better one!« And no wonder: Shakespeare’s perhaps most famous love story provides the perfect mix of drama, passion and exciting action, allowing the orchestra of the spectacular National Center for the Performing Arts – Beijing’s answer to the Elbphilharmonie – to showcase its full expressive range.
Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major is just as captivating. The French composer was inspired by American music, and more specifically jazz. He skilfully translates the seductive rhythms of jazz for the orchestra, with the same lively energy that made George Gershwin’s »Rhapsody in Blue« a sensation just a few years earlier.
At the piano, Bruce Liu is a genuine stand-out talent. Born in Paris in 1997 and raised in Montreal, he impressed audiences with his electrifying performances at the 2021 Chopin Competition, earning a record deal with Deutsche Grammophon as a result. NDR Kultur described his debut album of Ravel’s solo works as »an event in every respect!«. He now brings that same brilliance to the composer’s only concerto, alongside one of China’s finest orchestras under the baton of South Korean maestro Myung-Whun Chung.
PERFORMERS
China NCPA Orchestra orchestra
Bruce Liu piano
Myung-Whun Chung conductor
PROGRAM
Qigang Chen
Wu Xing (Die fünf Elemente)
Maurice Ravel
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major
- Interval -
Sergej Prokofjew
Suites from the ballet »Romeo and Juliet«, Op. 64
