Shanghai Art Festival Performs All Beethoven Symphonies in Single Day

On Oct. 8, on the empty outdoor stage of the Shanghai Exhibition Center, conductor Xu Zhong led the China Shanghai International Art Festival Orchestra, consisting of members from the Shanghai Opera House and Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Opera House Chorus and four lead vocal soloists to perform Beethoven’s nine symphonies in one go, starting at 1:00 p.m., in a nine-hour concert divided into two halves. Under the umbrella of CSIAF Orchestra, musicians of the Shanghai Opera House performed symphony Nos 1, 2, 6, 7, while musicians of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra performed symphony Nos. 3, 4, 5, 8. Both forces, numbered over a hundred, performed the Ninth, along with the Shanghai Opera House’s Chorus and its four soloists: tenor Yu Haolei, soprano Song Qian, baritone Dou Qianming and mezzo Wang Xiaoxi. More than 4,000 people were in the audience and more than 200 musicians on the stage in the truly historic performance.