Mahler und die fahrenden Gesellen aus China

Renowned Chinese baritone and Dean of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Prof Liao Changyong, one of the foremost interpreters of art song in the world today, travelled to Hamburg in mid June with the SCM Chamber Orchestra for a concert at the Laeiszhalle on June 19th, conducted by Prof Clemens Malich.Joined by Hamburg-based musicians, among them students of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, the ensemble accompanied Liao in song cycles by Mahler and Ravel alongside works by Chinese composers, framed by a programme that also drew on Brahms, Vivaldi, Zhu Jian’er, Huang Yijun and Chen Gang.In this documentary, music critic Rudolph Tang spoke with Prof Malich, Prof Elmar Lampson and several of the German guest musicians about what it means to share a stage across cultural boundaries, their admiration for Liao’s command of the German Lied, their encounter with Chinese music, and their sense of belonging to a single, borderless musical family shared with European legacy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit klassikom.substack.com