The National Symphony Orchestra received a standing ovation for its first concert in Zurich, Switzerland, on its current European tour, affirming the group’s aim to “make friends in the world with music from Taiwan,” its executive director said.
National Symphony Orchestra executive director Kuo Wen-chen (郭玟岑) on Thursday said that the concert at the Tonhalle Zurich was 95 percent full and many in the audience gave a standing ovation at the end.
The orchestra, which performs abroad under the name Taiwan Philharmonic, opened its first concert in its seven-stop European tour with Taiwanese composer Li Yuan-chen’s (李元貞) Tao of Meinong, and was then joined by pianist Khatia Buniatishvili for Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor Op. 23 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Photo courtesy of the orchestra via CNA
Li’s piece, a symphony that incorporates Hakka folk music, was featured on the orchestra’s US and Japanese tours last year.
The orchestra then played Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G-major Op. 88 for the second half of the concert, before performing two encore pieces — Dvoak’s Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 8 and Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao’s (蕭泰然) The Angel from Formosa, a statement released by the orchestra said on Thursday.
Switzerland-based cellist Yang Wen-sinn (楊文信) said he was moved by Li’s piece because it reminded him of Asia, as his family was from Taiwan before moving to Europe, the orchestra said in the statement.
He also praised conductor Jun Markl, music director of the orchestra, for his elegant delivery and Buniatishvili’s excellent guest performance, the statement said.
The orchestra played its second concert of the tour in the Victoria Hall in Geneva on Thursday. It played at the Stadtcasino Basel yesterday and is to head to Germany for another three concerts, at the Staatstheater Braunschweig today, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on Tuesday, and Kuppelsaal in Hannover on Friday.
The tour is to conclude with a concert at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris on Saturday, the orchestra said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to