Huang Mengla’s Scottish Fantasy

Begin your new year of 2008 with a dazzling music showcase! In four consecutive weekends from from 11 Janunary, Maestro De Waart will conduct four of the most brilliant young Chinese musicians today. You will hear the soulful playing of Wang Jian in Dvořák’s cello concerto, the virtuosic performance of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy by Paganini competition winner Huang Mengla, Prokovfiev’s 2nd Piano Concerto by Yundi Li, and Yang Xuefei’s interpretation of the beloved Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, the same work with which she won great praises at the mere age of 14 from the legendary Spanish composer himself.

Winner of the famous Paganini Competition in 2002, Huang Mengla is one of China’s finest violinists. His staggering technical command of the violin is enriched by his dark-hued sound and Bruch’s virtuosic yet lyrical Scottish Fantasy will put the full range of this superb young artist on display. Elgar’s turn-of-the-century First Symphony glows with nostalgia for an empire in decline with music of pride, sadness and acceptance. By contrast, the Scottish composer James MacMillan’s orchestral fantasy on patriotic themes is playful and irreverent, galloping through three centuries of British music and trampling a few traditions along the way.