# Chinese orchestra vs. Russian orchestra



## Radames

National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra of China is playing in Montreal tomorrow. BUT the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra is playing in Schenectady at the same time!! 

The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra will have cellist Joshua Roman and will be performing:

Gounod: Ballet music from Faust
Saint Saens: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op.33
Brahms: Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98

The Chinese orchestra will have Lü Jia as conductor and Lu Siqing, violin. Performing:

Chen Qigang, Wu Xing (The Five Elements)
He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, Violin Concerto (The Butterfly Lovers)
Dvořák, Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88

Which one to go to?

I'm probably going to the china orchestra since you don't hear the Butterfly Lovers concerto much. I actually did hear it in concert in 2007 played on a real erhu in Albany. One of the concerts that made me a big fan of the Albany Symphony.


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## joen_cph

I´d find the Chinese programme probably a bit more to my taste, and you are likely to hear a certain Chinese character in the phrasing etc. But overall, established Russian orchestras do have even better quality than Chinese. Their programme is definitely more "serious" than the Chinese, though.


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## Haydn man

I would go to the Russian Orchestra as I am a sucker for the Brahm's


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## ptr

I'd go Chinese, the Russian program seem rather unimaginative to my ears!

/ptr


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## dgee

I'd go to the Chinese programme - if you're within reasonable travelling distance of Montreal and New York you can hear what's on the Russian programme any time played by quite possibly better orchestras and soloists. Maybe if they were playing Russian works, it might be different...


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## hpowders

I ain't russian to either one of them.


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## Levanda

I am not talking any sides. Chinese and Russian are brilliant. Is little out of topic I watched today on Arte Channel Japanese ballet with Israel orchestra and it was brilliant.


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## Radames

dgee said:


> I'd go to the Chinese programme - if you're within reasonable travelling distance of Montreal and New York you can hear what's on the Russian programme any time played by quite possibly better orchestras and soloists. Maybe if they were playing Russian works, it might be different...


Yes - I went to the Chinese orchestra. A very young orchestra - the average age of the 90-member orchestra is only 29. I only saw one player who looked to be in his 40s. Their playing was spirited, but not note perfect. Siqing Lu is quite a fiddle player! He played some Paganini encore with tremendous panache.

The Russian Orchestra is down at Jorgensen Hall at UConn tonight playing:

Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36

It's a bit of a drive - but I gotta go! Real Russians playing Russian - and I have not heard Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg play live in a while.


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