One notable strength of China’s music scene is its openness to conductors who are no longer welcome in mainstream concert halls across Europe or the United States. Some of these artists have been branded with labels such as “sex offender,” “child abuser,” or “Putin’s puppet.”But not in China. When visiting artists steer clear of the so-called 3T1C taboos, China shows a rare measure of grace and tolerance — one that places art above politics. The list of musicians performing here in recent years could almost read like a “most wanted” roster in the eyes of the West.Charles Dutoit, for instance, made his 39th visit to China to conduct the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in the Chinese premiere of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck Saturday night, exactly a century after the opera’s world premiere. It took him nearly three weeks to prepare the orchestra — unaccustomed to atonal repertoire — for Berg’s formidable operatic masterpiece. He was joined by a strong international cast.The Chinese premiere of Wozzeck also arrives more than two decades after Berg’s Lulu was first introduced to Chinese audiences in 2002 by the Beijing Music Festival. The Wozzeck production will be repeated at BMF on 18 October in the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen / Johan Simons staging, which has just been nominated as New Production of the Year by the International Opera Awards.
Regrettably, I’ll have to miss that one again.
