Producer’s Expo
Host Jindong Cai and guests will offer a peek into the Chinese market for all things Beethoven, looking beyond traditional classical music concerts to three unique productions currently underway in China: a play, a Broadway-style musical, and a multi-media exhibition.
In English and Chinese, with English subtitles. More information below.
Ludwig Beethoven: the Piano
Beethoven in China
The Beethoven Experience
the exhibition
The Beethoven Experience
真情无界·纪念贝多芬诞辰250 周年声音交互艺术体验大展
presented by Shanghai Concert Hall
“The Beethoven Experience” opened on September 19, 2020, on the fourth floor of the magnificent Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall and will run for 6 months until March 21, 2021. This multimedia, multi-sensory exhibit is co-presented by Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall and LWA Loire Culture. 10 exhibition areas run through Beethoven's life, musical works, and life stories, interspersed with immersive interactive technology, interactive visual projection, and Beethoven’s symphony works specially recorded for this exhibition.
Representing the Beethoven Experience in tonight’s discussion will be Fang Jing 方靓, general manager of the Shanghai Concert Hall.
the play
Beethoven in China
《贝多芬在中国》戏剧
presented by Tianyu Theater Company
Poster for the October 2019 production of the play “Beethoven in China”
The 6-act stage play ‘Beethoven in China’ has been performed in numerous community theaters around China since the beginning of this century, most recently in October 2019 at the Penghao Theater in Beijing.
It is universally acknowledged that European classical music shines as one of the greatest gems of human civilization. Among the numerous European classical composers, the most influential one in China can be no other than Beethoven, the Mater Composer.
Beethoven passed away in 1827. Only then did he realize his long-cherished wish. His soul traveled on, roaming the land of China, as his works journeyed through the East, witnessing one after another various musical epiphanies until the dawning of the twenty-first century. His epic music has been appreciated and understood more and more deeply by the Chinese people, becoming part of their lives. (…) “Beethoven in China” is a traditional stage-play where music itself becomes the real protagonist. The emergence and development of the characters and plots are all centered around Beethoven's music.
— synopsis, “Beethoven in China,” (excerpt, edited for clarity)
Playwright Yuanlai Jiang 姜原来 and director Bing Yue 冰约 will discuss the play during tonight’s program.
the musical
Ludwig Beethoven: the Piano
《路德维希：贝多芬》音乐剧
presented by HeHe Musicals
Poster for the December 2020 production of the musical “Ludwig Beethoven: the Piano”
Originally a Korean production first staged in 2018, the musical “Ludwig Beethoven” comes to China in a new production in Shanghai from December 22 to 27, 2020.
This production focuses on the strife between Ludwig and his nephew Karl, who wants to be a soldier but has to follow Ludwig's dream instead of his own.
The musical features three different actors to portray different stages of Ludwig's life. From a child actor and a young Ludwig to the elderly Ludwig who recollects his life, the musical shows various aspects of the composer's life.
As Ludwig suffers from hearing loss, the fictional character Marie brings him hope. Marie is described as an ambitious woman who dreams of becoming an architect and inspires Ludwig to think outside the box. Her addition makes the musical take a step forward from being a simple biographical one, adding contemporary elements.— Excerpted from the article “Korean musical ‘Ludwig’ makes way to China” by Kwon Mee-you, Korea Times, 8-3-2020
Discussing the musical in tonight’s program will be Ruijia Gao 高瑞嘉, Director, Weijie Li 李玮捷, Musical Director, and actors Fan Jia 贾凡 and Keren Zhou 周可人 who both play Beethoven at different life stages.
Thank you to all the participants and their production teams for their help with this program.
