On a bright, sunny day in Beijing, in October 1998, two orchestras are arriving at the concert hall for a rehearsal. Two orchestras? No, the hall hasn’t been double booked! A bemused group of Australian players from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra spills off the buses to be greeted by a musical performance. A school band, of brass and wind instruments, dressed in bright greens and yellows, is playing on the plaza in front of the concert hall. A group of elderly ladies, dressed in a kind of pink pyjamas, and each holding a fan, wait their turn. When the children finish playing, they will begin their dance in a ring with stylised fan movements, to the accompaniment of a very loud two-piece band of Chinese percussion. Whenever there is a break in the rehearsals, and the players come out for some sun, the ladies the Australians dub affectionately the ‘dancing grandmothers’ are still at it. If the Tasmanians want an explanation of these cultural mysteries, they can try asking their colleagues in the other orchestra – the locals, members of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra. But communication is a challenge – very few of the Chinese orchestral musicians speak English and no one of the Tasmanians can speak any of the Chinese dialects. The common language here is symphonic music.
There are 48 players from Australia, rather more from the Beijing Symphony Orchestra. That makes a large orchestra indeed, and they will be playing together. In many ways the most enterprising and intriguing aspect of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s 5-concert tour of China, the concert to be given in the evening after this final rehearsal combines the Australian and the Chinese orchestra. Many Western symphony orchestras have toured China by now, but few if any have joined with a Chinese orchestra to give a performance.
Once the players have unpacked their instruments and filled the large stage, the hall resounds to the strains of some music which becomes very loud indeed, the mighty first movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.7, the ‘Leningrad’ symphony, so-called because it was composed in that city under siege by the Germans in 1941. This war-time symphony quickly became a symbol of international collaboration. Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union made the Russians allies with the British and the Americans. The music of the symphony, on microfilm, was flown out of Russia across enemy lines, and the most famous orchestral conductors of the day vied to give the first American performance. The tussle was won by Toscanini, and his broadcast was heard by millions. A picture of the composer in a firefighter’s helmet during the siege of Leningrad, made the front cover of Time magazine. Since that heady first flush of enthusiasm for Shostakovich’s symphony, which was interpreted as symbolising resistance ot Nazi aggression, the Leningrad symphony has been rarely performed, mainly because it requires an enormous orchestra.
That, of course, is the reason it was chosen for the combined concert in Beijing. Neither orchestra had played it before – here was their opportunity. The TSO’s tour of China had come about in part at the invitation of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, through its Chief Conductor Tan Lihua, who had met TSO Music Director David Porcelijn when he toured China conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Tan had also visited Australia to conduct the Australian Youth Orchestra, and taken them on tour to China. In the combined concert, as it was planned, in a reciprocal ‘baton salute’, Tan Lihua would conduct the TSO alone, accompanying Australian pianist Ian Munro in Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. Then David Porcelijn would conduct the combined orchestras in the Shostakovich symphony.
Even in Australia it would be an unusual and demanding challenge to put together a ‘new’ orchestra, to rehearse and perform ‘from scratch’, such a demanding work. Add to that the language difficulties of combining orchestras from two different cultures, and it will be understood that the TSO party, and presumably their Chinese counterparts as well, were in a state of eager but suspenseful anticipation, before the beginning of the first of five combined rehearsals. As the equipment was unpacked and the vast orchestra set up, the Australian and Chinese players, who had been disposed so that most ‘desks’ joined one Australian, and one Chinese player, began to meet and make introductions, comparing instruments and noting passages in the music, with a voluble sign language. Then the two Music Directors spoke, Tan Lihua in English and Chinese language, David Porcelijn through an interpreter who would translate his musical directions when necessary. Then the pregnant moment: the baton gave the first beat and a new orchestra was heard for the first time.
It would be idle to pretend that making a performance under these circumstances was anything other than hard work - but with a happy outcome. The Tasmanian players, in the lunch break, began to experience the warm hospitality of their Chinese section counterparts, some being taken to the first of many elaborate Chinese meals. Australian instrumentalists could be seen in the rehearsal breaks giving Chinese colleagues tips on maintenance of their instruments – one thing which was clear was the Australians were privileged in the quality of their ‘hardware’, and the lore of keeping it in good working order.
The most heart-warming experience was that music could be a common language, and with their instruments both orchestras, which were now one, could speak it together. Barbara Gilby, the TSO’s then Concertmaster, who led the combined orchestra, with the Beijing Symphony’s leader alongside her, said:
The Chinese players had amazing commitment, and they showed us that willingness to adapt can have excellent results. It was an eye-opening experience for us, because there are so many things, such as familiarity with a musical style that we take for granted. Along with that, there was a humility and openness. My stand partner, an extremely able and flexible player, picked up everything I was doing, and he called me his teacher! This is a humility which has been bred out of us, often to our detriment.
David Porcelijn directed the players, training them and, once they began to sound like an orchestra, shaped their music-making into ever more exciting results. Shostakovich’s symphony began to take shape as under a sculptor’s chisel. He commented afterwards:
All kinds of ‘behind the scenes’ interaction produced good musical results. The Chinese orchestral musicians were fast to pick up stylistic things. You feel after a while that they understand completely – faster, actually, much faster than we would be able to absorb their musical culture.
True international collaboration, of which we feel sure that the Premier of Tasmania [Jim Bacon], who attended the concert, was proud, comparing notes with China’s Minister of Culture, who also heard the TSO in Beijing.
The TSO’s Artistic Administrator, David Garrett went with them to China.