Rhyme along the Silk Road
The 32nd Macao International Music Festival (MIMF), organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), will present the large-scale symphonic suite Cantonese Rhyme along the Silk Road on 14 October (Sunday), at 8pm, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, taking the audience on a journey through the magnificent Maritime Silk Road. Interested music aficionados are advised to take the opportunity to purchase tickets.
Cantonese Rhyme along the Silk Road will be presented by the Guangdong National Orchestra. The seven movements, namely “Setting Out”, “Sea Ritual”, “Voyage”, “Foreign Lands”, “Homesickness”, “Returning” and “New Dreams”, tell the story of a sailing voyage, taking the audience on a journey through the magnificent Maritime Silk Road. Among these movements, the movement “Foreign Lands” recreates the lively scenes of trading and exchanging between the fleets and the local population when they passed by different countries, thereby establishing maritime trade routes and commercial pathways, cultural bridges between the East and the West as well as links of human communication. The movement “Homesickness” adopts the core elements of some Guangdong folk songs, such as Rainy Day, The Shining Moon and Guangdong music Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon, creating a hazy impression of homesickness. The movement “New Dreams” looks forward to the future with a majestic musical mood, imbuing the ancient Maritime Silk Road with new vitality. The Chinese music concert Nostalgic Lane by the Macao Chinese Orchestra will be held on 19 October (Friday). The Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Macao Chinese Orchestra, Liu Sha, will join hands with Chinese suona legend Guo Yazhi to lead the audience to appreciate this instrumentand Chinese music from a whole new perspective.
In addition, several other concerts will be staged this week. On 12 and 13 October, L'Opéra de Chambre de Genève will present opera Il Signor Bruschino at Dom Pedro V Theatre, showing Gioachino Rossini’s witty humour; Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander takes to the stage with his trio to present A Life in Jazz and interpret passionate and lively jazz songs; on 14 October, the renowned Brazilian cellist António Meneses comes to Macao to present Bach’s Cello Suite, Pereira’s Suite Macambira, Piatti’s Caprices for Solo Cello andCassadó’s Suites for Cello Solo, demonstrating the highest level of cello art.
In order to allow the audience to have a deeper understanding of the content of the MIMF, pre-show talks will be specially held for a number of programmes, including Queen of Muses, Tenebrae Responsories, Camerata Salzburg and Renaud Capuçon, Christian Thielemann and Staatskapelle Dresden, inviting a number of speakers who will analyze the highlights of the performances. Online registration for the outreach activities is available through the “Activities Registration System” on IC’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event.
For more information about the 32nd Macao International Music Festival programmes, ticket purchase and discounts, please visit the Festival’s website at www.icm.gov.mo/fimm. 24-hour ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. Ticketing website: www.macauticket.com.
