Music | Beethoven season closing concert to be held on July 28

The orchestra’s music director Lu Jia

The closing concert of the 2017/18 season of the Macao Orchestra (OM), will be held on  July 28 at the Cultural Centre, at 8pm. OM’s music director Lu Jia will conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Op. 125. Several talented young Chinese vocalists in the international classical music scene have been invited to perform together with the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus.

The Op. 125, which consists of four movements, is the final complete symphony composed by Beethoven between 1818 and 1824. It is a well-known piece and is considered as Beethoven’s magnum opus. After experiencing years of emotional struggle and creative blocks, the composer created this masterpiece when he was on the verge of becoming completely deaf and entering his later period of composition, being skillful, profound, exploratory and experimental.

According to a statement issued by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the famous Symphony No. 9 “fully demonstrates how Beethoven elevated the symphony from a traditional genre into an art carrier that possesses great dramatic significance and philosophical character, as well as touches upon great propositions and makes statements in front of the whole humanity.”

OM has invited young Chinese vocalists including soprano Song Yuanming, mezzo-soprano Niu Shasha, tenor Shi Yijie and bass Guan Zhijing, who, together with vocal interpretation of the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus, will offer a perfect ending to the concert season.

A pre-concert talk on Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 led by Lu Jia will be held at the Cultural Centre Conference Room on the same day from 7 to 7.30 pm, aiming at allowing the audience to better appreciate and understand the concert.