Thursdays at 9:00 pm
The NCPA Orchestra with Maestro Lü Jia
From Beijing, WFMT's new weekly series featuring the NCPA Orchestra led by chief conductor Lü Jia
This Week from China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts showcases the best-in-class musicianship of the orchestra of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and its affiliated programs in choral music, traditional Chinese forms, opera, and more. With a focus on presenting familiar Western masterworks alongside new and traditional Chinese composers, Maestro Lü Jia and the NCPA Orchestra are sure to delight casual listeners and classical aficionados alike.
Listen to the past two episodes of This Week from China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
Beethoven, Xu Changjun, Wagner, Chen Gang, Zhang Qianyi
March 31, 2022
This week, we’ll hear Beethoven’s famed Symphony No. 9 “Choral”, the thunderous rhythms of Xu Changjun’s Dragon Dance, Wagner’s Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin, the violin concerto The Sunshine on Tashkurgan, and the song “Silhouettes of Angels” written in dedication to the frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wang Yunfei, Strauss II, Qigang Chen, Beethoven, Schubert, and Zhang Qianyi
March 24, 2022
This week, we’ll hear Wang Yunfei’s Spring Flowers and Autumn Fruits, Franz Schubert’s brilliant Symphony No. 9, Strauss Jr’s hypnotic By the Beautiful Blue Danube, Qigang Chen’s colorful work Jiang Tcheng Tse, Beethoven’s Overture to the Ruins of Athens, and Zhang Qianyi’s Overture “My Homeland”.
Glazunov, Zhao Jiping, Beethoven, Brahms, Fang Kejie, and Strauss Jr.
March 17, 2022
This week, we’ll hear piano virtuoso Lang Lang perform with the NCPA Orchestra in Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. We’ll also hear Glazunov’s charming Concert Waltz No.1, Brahms’ Song of Destiny and Chinese composer Zhao Jiping’s fascinating Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with Ning Feng.
Bach, Beethoven, He Zhanhao, Chen Gang, Verdi, Julian Yu, and Strauss Jr.
March 10, 2022
On our program this week, we’ll hear He Zhanhao and Chen Gang’s moving Violin Concerto: The Butterfly Lovers, featuring soloist Siqing Lu; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1; Saito Hideo’s orchestral arrangement of J.S. Bach’s Chaconne in D minor Julian Yu’s Concerto on Chinese Themes; and we’ll end our program with music from some of Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous operas.
Beethoven, Zhao Jiping, Debussy, and Shi Guangnan
March 3, 2022
On our program this week, we’ll hear Beethoven’s magnificent incidental music for Egmont, Zhao Jiping’s Cello Concerto, “The Disillusioned Dream” featuring cellist Li-Wei Qin, Debussy‘s impressionistic La mer, and a rousing choral and orchestral arrangement of Shi Guangnan’s song, In the Hopeful Field.
Beethoven, Chopin, Zhao Cong, Haydn, and Debussy
February 24, 2022
This week, we’ll hear Beethoven’s grand Choral Fantasy, Chopin’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring the 18 year old gifted pianist Hao Rao, the Symphony No. 103 by Haydn, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and the Pipa and Orchestra work Flying Fairies of the Silk Road by pipa artist and composer Zhao Cong.
Britten, Prokofiev, Li Huanzhi, Schoenberg, Chen Gang, Beethoven, Wagner, and Verdi
February 17, 2022
This week, we’ll hear Arnold Schoenberg’s touching Transfigured Night; Britten’s Simple Symphony; Sergei Prokofiev’s brilliant Symphony No. 1 “Classical”; Chen Gang’s virtuosic work for violin and orchestra The Sunshine on Tashkurgan; Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture; as well as overture favorites by Wagner, Verdi, and Beethoven.
Tchaikovsky, Chen Qigang, Dvořák, Zhao Jiping, Wagner, and Suppé
February 10, 2022
This week, we’ll hear Antonín Dvořák’s monumental Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, Chen Qigang’s touching L’éloignement, the traditional Chinese orchestra sounds of Zhao Jiping’s The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge, and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme featuring cellist Li-Wei Qin. We also get two opera overtures with Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and Suppé’s Dichter und Bauer.
Saint-Saëns, Liu Dehai, Mozart, Brahms
February 3, 2022
Pianist Chen Sa joins the NCPA Orchestra and maestro Lü Jia for Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No.2 and French horn player Zeng Yun is featured in Mozart's charming Horn Concerto No. 4. We'll also hear the first concerto written for pipa and orchestra, "Little Sisters of the Grassland" and Johannes Brahms’ heroic Symphony No. 3.
Ravel, Brahms, Zhang Weiliang, and Bruckner
January 27, 2022
This week China's National Centre for the Performing Arts presents, Anton Bruckner’s bold and colorful Symphony No. 6, Brahms’ choral and orchestral work "Nänie", and Zhang Weiliang’s luscious folk inspired "Dreamworld" for Dizi and Orchestra. Also featured is 2021 Chopin Competition winner, Bruce Liu, in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major.
Verdi, Beethoven, Xian Xinghai, and Guo Wenjing
January 20, 2022
This week, we’ll hear orchestral splendor and choral richness.
Beethoven, Bao Yuankai, Ravel, and Schubert
January 13, 2022
The NCPA orchestra flexes its symphonic muscle with Beethoven’s 8th and Schubert’s 6th. Our program will also feature Maestro Lü Jia leading the orchestra in Bao Yuankai’s vivid, folk-infused symphonic suite “Drizzle in the South” and Ravel‘s Mother Goose Suite.
Tan Dun, Mozart, Liu Tianhua, and Beethoven
January 6, 2022
Join host George Preston for the inaugural program of This Week from China’s NCPA.