"An article in the People's Daily accused the Philadelphia Orchestra, which had visited Beijing, of playing counterrevolutionary Western music, especially Beethoven's Sixth Symphony."
- Mao and Nixon, by Margaret MacMillan
No telling yet whether the Philadelphia Orchestra's upcoming week-long presence in China starting June 1 will set off the political rumbles Beethoven 6 did in 1973. It's doubtful. The ensemble has been back since becoming the first American orchestra to play in China, and not since 1973 has anyone detected dark shadows overlaying musical scores. Still, it should be more than a little interesting to see what kind of impact the orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach can achieve while they are there this time. Beethoven's 6 is once again on the schedule, along with the considerably more political Shostakovich Symphony No. 5. But as for impact, everyone it seems is playing China these days.
In fact, the Philadelphians will be playing hopscotch with Juilliard's orchestra, which tours China at the same time. New York Philharmonic associate conductor Zhang Xian, a graduate of the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, leads the students in Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai.
Curiously, Juilliard and Philadelphia are even overlapping in some repertoire: the Yellow River Concerto, and Bernstein's Overture to Candide.
Look for Inquirer coverage of the Philadelphia Orchestra in China from the paper's Jennifer Lin, its former Beijing correspondent. Right now the orchestra is in Tokyo, with concerts there, Hyogo and Seoul to come.
(Photo: Eugene Ormandy introducing a new piece to the repertoire of China's Central Philharmonic Society - Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 - September 1973, from the University of Pennsylvania Library.)
