It may be a Sunday for most of the world, but here in Guangzhou it`s a normal working day. More importantly, it`s our first concert day of the tour. So we started out with a dress rehearsal at the Xinghai Concert Hall, beautifully situated on the banks of the Pearl River, where we were met by the backstage crew. Unfortunately, there was one casualty on the trip from Basel:one of the contrabasses did not survive the journey in playable condition,so the local symphony orchestra has graciously offered to lend us an instrument for tonight`s concert.
The rehearsal began with Tchaikovsky`s violin concerto where we finally met our soloist, Huang Mengla. It didn`t take long for this charmingly unassuming young man to capture our attention with his poetic and commanding style- even with jet lag, you have to sit up and take notice. When Mario left the stage to listen from the hall, as he often does, Huang Mengla immediately took over with an instinctive and secure hand and led the orchestra until he came back. It was a pleasure to play with him-with and without conductor. My only problem was forgetting to make my entrances because I was listening to him play and forgot myself- cross your fingers for me for tonight`s concert.
I`m curious to experience the reactions of a Chinese audience, but I`m sure they`re going to get a great show. The orchestra is very concentrated and listening to itself in a way that`s almost like making chamber music- the very best way to play indeed. It may be a working day, but we` re going to just play and have fun.
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