Dec.16 (EIRNS)—China has not been remiss in celebrating Beethoven’s birthday, with many concerts being performed throughout the country. Celebrating Beethoven has a long history in China, beginning as early as the end of the 19th century, when Beethoven’s music was being played in concerts and salons in the Shanghai Concession. The first major performance of Beethoven’s Ninth in the P.R.C. was in 1959, and although Western Classical music was suppressed during the Cultural Revolution, the tradition lived on. Qian Xueshen, the father of China’s rocket program, loved the music of Beethoven, and his wife was a music professor who began her career in Shanghai singing German Lieder. Roman Rolland’s Beethoven biography was translated by Fu Lei in 1946 and gained a wide audience. It was reprinted again after the reform and opening up.
The online concert occurred in different venues, interspersing the music of Beethoven with discussions by Chinese musicians and music professors talking about Beethoven’s life and works. The broadcast was carried live on the web. In many of the venues, there were live audiences. Some of the performances were from earlier broadcasts at Shanghai Radio, which sponsored the program. And the audience, and many of the performers, were young. While the music is readily understandable, there is no English translation of the discussion, which was quite extensive. But the entire concert can be found at https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_10402951
