Inside Perspective

The Concert Halls - Nicole Philipp

I want to return to the topic of concert halls for a minute.  There are so many beautiful things about The Egg and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, that I wanted to make sure I posted pictures.

Here is violist Meng Wang standing in the outer lobby of The Egg, prior to rehearsal.

 

If you look closely behind him, you'll notice a portion of the roof is wood and another portion is glass.  Here is the concert hall from the outside:

  

Where Meng is standing is where the two materials of the building meet.  As I've mentioned before, this venue is HUGE.  Andrew Druckenbrod from the Post-Gazette compared it to two Mellon Arenas.  Here's a photo of the ATM like machine that I mentioned in my previous post.  The machine helps to guide you from one point to another within the venue.

 

The venue in Shanghai is comprised of five areas.  It is said that the concert hall was built to resemble an orchid or a butterfly - depends on who you ask.  Each of the five round areas of the venue hold a different concert hall.  Like The Egg, there's a hall for chamber music, one for opera, and so on. 

 

The concert in Shanghai was unbelievable!  The audience loved it so much, they wouldn't stop applauding until Honeck and the Orchestra performed a third encore! 

Tonight is the rehearsal for the program in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  The Orchestra arrived Monday evening from Shanghai.  The venue in Kaohsiung, as I've mentioned before, is brand new.  Built for the 2009 World Games which begin here in July, the Orchestra will inaugurate the new stadium.  The World Games are very important to the city of Kaohsiung, with a number of posters and signs announcing the PSO's concert.  I've seen a number of commercials since I arrived as well.  The venue holds 40,000 seats, and the Orchestra will perform in the center of the field, much like a rock concert. 

Maestro Honeck, PSO President Larry Tamburri and the soloists all took part in a press conference here in Kaohsiung to discuss the concert, and the excitement surrounding it.

 

On the far left is just one of the many promotional posters I mentioned.  These posters are everywhere - from a university campus we drove by in a taxi, to the elevators in the hotel. 

For more photos, make sure to take a look at Stephanie Tretick and Chuck Lirette's photo blog!

As promised: Interesting Treats - Nicole Philipp

I've been holding off on posting this until I was able to fix my technical issues.  This is one blog post that NEEDS photos.  While in Beijing, many people in the tour party went exploring.  What did we come across?  Delicious treats, of course!  In addition to foods like Peking Duck and dim sum, there was this:

 

Yes, the picture above is scorpions on a stick!  I obviously had read about this in the various tour books I perused prior to the trip, but, like most things, this was quite the experience in person. 

In addition to scorpions, there were millipedes, silk worms, starfish and grasshoppers.

 

I'm sorry to say, even though I'm willing to try most foods, I wasn't adventurous enough to try the grasshoppers and scorpions.  Overall though, the food has been delicious, and I think many of us can say we've added new foods to our favorites lists.

Beijing - Nicole Philipp

The National Center for the Performing Arts is pretty spectacular. The architecture alone is something to marvel, with its clean lines and beautiful earth tones.  (You'd think I was writing for Architectural Digest here, but it really is beautiful.)

It took awhile, but I was finally able to venture into the front of house.  As impressed as I was by the concert hall, I was that much more impressed by the main lobby.  By my count, there were at least four stories of various rooms, shops, collections of art, and concert halls.  Not to mention the number of floors beneath the halls that hold dressing rooms and practice spaces. There are four concert halls total.  Nearest to the hall where the PSO is performing is the opera hall. 

When we arrived for the first concert in Beijing, there was a production taking place within the opera hall.  There are a number of flat screen television monitors around the backstage area.  These monitors allowed us to watch portions of the opera with it's brightly colored sets and costumes. The backstage area between the two halls is so large, that even though there were many opera performers, there was very little, if any, overlap between our two groups. I saw one or two singers, but mostly as they were standing in a shared hallway.  I mention this because I don't know that I can quite convey the size of The Egg without literally taking a video camera, and walking room by room.  I'm sure you can imagine that with all this space, and a language barrier, if you venture too far, it's easy to get lost.  One thing that does help, however, is an ATM like machine that sits in the hallway backstage.  The touch screen has both Chinese characters and English.

Both concerts at The Egg were well received, with Honeck leading the Orchestra in two encores both nights.  Orion Weiss also played an encore after his performance of Beethoven's Piano Concert No. 5 during the second concert.  Today, we landed in Shanghai.  The first major difference is the weather.  Shanghai, at least today, is much warmer and far more humid.  Tonight's concert, and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center is SOLD OUT and has been for two weeks! 

So, I've been experiencing some technical difficulties, which is why there haven't been photos in the last few posts.  I'm hoping to get this issue sorted out tonight, and have photos of both concert halls, the "ATM" I mention earlier, and some other fun shots posted soon.

A note from a Beijing patron - Nicole Philipp

Below is a lovely email PSO President Larry Tamburri received following the first tour concert in Beijing.  (I'll be posting a blog soon with an update on the first two tour concerts, and some interesting treats.)  Anyway, I wanted to share the email - with permission of course - because it's always nice to hear from the locals while we're on tour.

Ms. Koo writes:

As an American ex pat living in Beijing, I want to tell you how much I enjoyed the performance at the NCPA here. My NY roots and long standing residency in CA have afforded me many opportunities to hear first class orchestras, however this concert will always hold a special place in my memories. If it were up to the ticketholders, we would still be there.

It was a privilege to be at the egg for a wonderful program and extraordinary musicians.

In watching the faces of the local people around me, I know they also appreciated the magic of the evening.

Sandy Koo

Thank you for the wonderful email, and please know you're always welcome in Pittsburgh!

Goodness, Gracious, Great Wall of China - Nicole Philipp

We came.  We saw.  We climbed the Great Wall.  And let me tell you, they don’t call it the Great Wall for nothing.  More on that later.

First, we should discuss the Forbidden City.  Quick history lesson:  the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  This 7.8 million square foot area is literally from where the entire country was run for nearly 5 centuries.  The name comes from the fact that no one could enter or exit the city without the emperor’s permission.  Overall, the city housed 24 emperors, ending with the last emperor of China, Puyi, in 1912 (although Puyi continued to live on the property until 1924). 

To say the Forbidden City is magnificent is a complete understatement.  Everything from the ceilings of the various buildings to the drainage system is amazing.  The picture below is just one of the ornate ceilings.  The dome is completely covered in brightly painted tiles depicting dragons, phoenixes and wildlife. 

We then met up with a larger group of musicians and staff for an hour bus ride to the Great Wall.  Personally, every picture I’ve seen of people on the Great Wall is beautiful.  The photos are full of happy people smiling away while standing on top of one of the world’s most amazing wonders.  I now know why they’re smiling – they’ve finished the climb.  The wall is a marvel, built over a number of centuries and spanning 4,000 miles.  The climb begins with a very steep “staircase.”  (By very steep, I seriously mean steep)  Once you reach the top, however, the view is worth being out of breath.  

This is the view from the top of the section I climbed.

Below is photo I took after we had made our decent.  Yes, those are all stairs.  (The picture isn't very crisp due to the haziness of the day)

Tomorrow, the Orchestra will rehearse and perform the first concert on the tour.  The program includes Rouse's Rapture, Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.  I cannot wait to see the inside of The Egg.  More pictures to come!

We've arrived! - Nicole Philipp

Just a quick, everyone arrived safely, post.  After a 13 hour flight, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra arrived in Beijing late in the afternoon of May 12.  After clearing customs and collecting our luggage, we were on our way to the hotel.  Following check-in, many musicians and the staff took the opportunity to settle in quickly and head out in search of dinner. 

Following a good night’s sleep, Wednesday will be spent getting accustomed to the time difference, practicing, and a little sight seeing.  Currently, plans are in the works for many to travel to the Forbidden City in the morning, before a large group departs for the Great Wall in the afternoon.

More later!

Our bags are packed! - Nicole Philipp

In less than 24 hours, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarks on a 10-day tour of China and Taiwan, with Music Director Manfred Honeck.  This trip is the first time the PSO will perform internationally with Honeck - he has led the Orchestra in two tour concerts domestically, however.  The first was in 2005 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.  The second was just this past week, with the PSO and Honeck performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  (Click here for the review)

The PSO's long history of international touring began in 1947 with a trip to Mexico under then music director, Fritz Reiner.  Since then, the PSO has made seven trips to the Far East, 32 to Europe, and two to South America.  Highlights include a 1964 State Department tour, which lasted three months, and included stops in Tehran, Iran and Beirut, Lebanon, among others.  Amazingly, there are only two continents where the PSO has not performed, Antarctica and Africa.

On this tour, the PSO will perform two concerts in Beijing, China (both at "The Egg"), one concert in Shanghai, China (at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center), and a final concert in Kaohsiung, Taiwan held at the Main Stadium, built for the 2009 World Games which begin in July.

On to Beijing!