Xǔ Zhōng

A Chinese director to play a symphonic piece of his countryman: The Five Elements of Chén Qígāng is a work commissioned by Radio France in 1999 to represent the traditional Chinese concept of Wu Xing - the union of Water, Air, Metal, Fire, Wood. During the evening Xu Zhong plays as a soloist Concerto no. 2 for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, and finally returns to the podium for the Ninth Symphony by Dmitrij Šostakovič, written in 1945 as the last part of a symphonic triptych intended to celebrate the suffering, the commitment and the victory of the Soviet people during World War II.

Program

Chén Qígāng
Wu Xing (The Five Elements) for orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concert n. 2 in B-flat major op.19

Interval

Dmitrij Šostakovič
Symphony n. 9 in E-flat major, op. 70

Artists

Conductor and piano
Xǔ Zhōng

Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino