To continue the trend of doing everything that is available in the States that I never actually took advantage of, I went to the symphony Saturday night. The Shanghai Orchestra with the assistance of a European conductor, choir, pianist, and opera signers gave us a small reprieve from Peking Opera and mind-boggling contortionists as entertainment options.
Mozart began the evening, but his whimsical violin parts were pushed into an uncomfortable surround sound harmony with unexpected Chinese accompaniment. The sparkling of uncovered coughs popped up around the room like spring peepers on a hot summer day. As the music advanced, the coughs and sniffles were joined with the gentle snoring of the man next to us. At the apex the cellos and trumpets welcomed a new instrument to their menagerie: the crinkling chip bag smuggled into the theatre.
The unnecessary musical assistance abruptly concluded when Beethoven began since, quite obviously, the Coral Symphony was what people came to see. The man on one side of us stopped snoring and conducted along with the actual conductor. The man on the other side of us leaned forward in his chair to the point that his nose almost touched the seat in front of him.
Personally, I was riveted by yet another display of the marvels of Chinese engineering occurring onstage. A forty to fifty person choir, orchestra, conductor, grand piano, and six opera singers all managed to squeeze onto a stage smaller than my high school auditorium in a small country town in Ohio that’s biggest claim to fame is that Miss Junior Ohio 1995 came from our masses.
The pianist was phenomenal even if the only place to put her was right in front of the conductor, tottering dangerously close to the edge of the stage.
Another large surprise came at the end of the concert. While I’m pretty sure standing ovations are not often practiced in China, the audience will continue clapping until the conductor and opera singers return to take three additional bows.
My palms throbbed, and my arms tired, but the audience kept clapping. The experience was like some kind of sophisticated game of chicken, and I just couldn’t be the first one to stop cheering. The novel Chinese torture technique finally stopped when the theatre ended it for us by turning off the stage lights. I really hope the baritone did not take out a base as he was trying to find his way off stage.
The evening included incredible music and a few Shanghai surprises.
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