Under the baton of music director Lin Daye, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) will launch its new season next Friday, featuring renowned violinist Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcovici and emerging young violinist Lin Ruifeng.
A poster for the SZSO concert on Sept. 5. Photos courtesy of SZSO
The program will include contemporary composer Alexey Shor's "Violin Concerto in B Minor" and Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 7."
Romanian conductor and violinist Herschcovici regularly leads the Munich Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin-Munich-Vienna Philharmonic Octet, and other chamber and symphony orchestras on world tours and recording projects.
Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcovici.
Having served as concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic for years, he has collaborated with world-class ensembles such as the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He will assume the role of concertmaster in Friday's performance.
Composer Shor is known for his poetic melodies infused with modern sensibilities. His "Violin Concerto in B Minor," composed in 2021, marks a departure from his earlier works. More modern and passionate in style, the piece is charged with dramatic tension and reflects deep contemplation of our time.
Rising violinist Lin Ruifeng.
Lin Ruifeng, who will perform the violin solo, is currently a doctoral candidate at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He has won first prize in the violin competition of the China Music Golden Bell Awards, was honored as a "National Outstanding String Art Talent" in 2023 by the China Musicians Association, and was a finalist in the inaugural Classic Violin Olympus Competition in Dubai this year.
Shostakovich (1906–1975), a Russian composer and pianist who seamlessly blended tradition with innovation, is regarded as one of the most eminent composers of the 20th century.
He began composing at the age of 11 and was admitted to the Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory as a piano student at 13. A genius known for his profound intellect and prolific creativity, he left behind a vast body of work, including 15 symphonies, numerous chamber pieces, and concertos.
His four-movement Seventh Symphony, commonly known as the Leningrad Symphony, stands as one of the composer's monumental achievements.
Three weeks after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Shostakovich volunteered for the Home Guard in Leningrad. As the siege intensified, he worked on the symphony, completing three movements before being evacuated east by train. The piece was finished in December of that year.
Though he initially gave each movement a programmatic title, he later withdrew them, leaving the epic work as a powerful symbol of heroic resistance in times of conflict and crisis. "I dedicate my Seventh Symphony to our struggle against fascism, to our coming victory over the enemy, to my native city, Leningrad," he declared.
Blending classical traditions with modern techniques to convey intense emotion and reflections on wartime experiences, the symphony has remained a staple in concert halls worldwide since its premiere.
SZSO music director Lin Daye.
Time: 8 p.m., Sept. 5
Tickets: 80-880 yuan
