BY WENDY ZHANG
Lake Honghu in Concert
Hubei Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Opera House, 4 October
Lake Honghu in Concert was a unique cultural performance combining a Western symphony orchestra, large choir, and seven principal singers with traditional Chinese musical instruments to showcase the story of Lake Honghu in 1930. What fascinated me most about this concert was the seamless integration of Western and Chinese musical instruments in the six acts and how beautiful they all sounded together; as well as the knowledge and passion displayed by the conductors – Yilin Luo and Sydney conductor Vanessa Scammell.
The concert opened with a symphonic suite of Lake Honghu – the harp played continuous ascending scales and was joined by the flute and then strings, creating a peaceful opening as if depicting the beauty of Lake Honghu – a famous lake in Hubei Province of China.
In Act One, a choir of 20 male singers in black and 20 female singers in white joined the orchestra on stage; and the conductor also changed from Luo to Scammell. Donning a stunning black gown, Scammell appeared radiant and smiled to the audience as she walked towards the podium. There was also the noticeable addition of four Chinese instruments joining the orchestra – pipa (string), erhu (string), suona (woodwind) and luo (percussion). Principal singers Qin Song and Ma Yaqin went up on stage and started singing, accompanied by erhu and pipa. Man was a standout from the beginning – the soprano’s voice was clear and crisp, with deep emotions.
Act Two was set at a large Chinese garden of the village mayor’s residence, as guests celebrated the one-year anniversary of the mayor’s return. It opened with the distinct loud and high-pitched sound of suona, which was traditionally used in Chinese weddings and outdoor celebrations. A little girl appeared on stage, holding a porcelain plate with chopsticks. She then started singing, and used the pair of chopsticks to produce beats on each side of the plate to accompany her singing. At first, I thought she was only acting and the accompaniment was from the orchestra. But then, I looked closely and observed that it was indeed the little girl singing. It was amazing to watch her sing and play with the chopsticks to produce quick beats in succession – she looked relaxed and playful. But it must take a lot of practice behind the scenes to be able to perform to that standard.
Act Three was set at Lake Honghu, as the strings opened with the theme of the peaceful and beautiful body of water. Ma appeared and started singing the famous song Honghu Lake, Waves upon Waves with a big voice, and I heard many people in the audience start humming the tunes with her. It was clear the music resonated with the audience, as I saw some shed tears in their eyes when they heard this song.
Ma was then joined by the male and female choir and the orchestra, and the voice and music became one and got stronger and stronger. It was indeed a powerful and emotional performance led by Scammell – her passion, energy, and knowledge of the music was clearly shown through her body movement and eye contact with each of the performers, choir, and the orchestra. The audience loved this performance: as such, it erupted into an ongoing applause after the song ended.
Lake Honghu was not just another nice concert by an orchestra and a performing troupe from China. It was an outstanding concert, which showcased Chinese history and music through beautiful singing, successful integration of a symphony orchestra and Chinese musical instruments; and deep passion and knowledge of the players, singers, and audience towards this particular era of Chinese history and music.
Images courtesy Ausfeng Group.
