If you saw the film Titanic, you must have been touched by its emotional ending, as silver-haired Rose dreams of her 17-year-old self slowly ascending the staircase on the intact Titanic and walking towards Jack in the view of the blessing eyes of passengers and crew members on the ship. Fictional characters though Jack and Rose are, they have brought a generation of audiences tears, inspiration, and perhaps also a yearning for a true love that stands the test of catastrophes.
On October 15, at the invitation of the 2023 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival, Vadim Repin, one of the world's most popular violinists, together with pianist Svetlana Smolina, performed three most representative violin sonatas by Debussy, Grieg and Franck at Shenzhen Concert Hall for the audience from Pengcheng (known as Shenzhen). The passion and tenderness flowing between the bowstrings filled the hearts of the audience. Long after the last note, the audience was never less enthusiastic, resulting in the players back to the stage twice for continued performance.
Béjart Ballet Lausanne, at the tip of the ballet pyramid, is a world-renowned and award-winning modern ballet, and also the first ballet to integrate Mozart's works with rock and roll music. It's impossible to miss Béjart Ballet Lausanne when it comes to modern ballet. On October 13 - 15 (Friday - Sunday), Béjart Ballet Lausanne made its debut in Shenzhen with Boléro Night, attracting Pengcheng (known as Shenzhen) audience into the realm of absolute beauty at Guangming Culture & Art Center to feast on the profound essence amid dance and music.
Cantonese opera, known as the Lingnan Red Bean (a token of traditional Chinese love), with outstanding musicality and regional customs of Lingnan (appellation of the region south of the Five Ridges in southern China), has become a key and popular play type to be included in the 2023 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival. On October 12, The Legend of Liu Yi, starring Kang Jian, a national second-grade actor, and Ma Youmin, an outstanding young actress, both from Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute, was aesthetically staged at the Shenzhen Grand Theater. An ancient Chinese folk legend of love is interpreted in a classic Cantonese opera that has been performed for 60 years. What kind of splendor blossomed when the popular and widely celebrated opera was staged at the 2023 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival?
A great woman, a magnificent epic. Xian Ying, a young girl of the Li Chinese (appellation of the groups around the Lingnan area by the Central Plains people of the North), devoted her life to walking a legend of a thousand years, i.e., "I have been loyal to the monarchs of three dynasties with a dedicated heart. All fame is vanity, and I'm all alone at last", leaving the myth of "Lingnan Madonna" revered by the people for ages. On the evening of October 11, Night of Futian - Guangdong Cantonese Opera Institute "Madam Xian", was staged at the Shenzhen Grand Theatre during the 2023 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival and the 3rd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival.
A pair of forceful hands beat the mystery of musical symbols on black and white keys, shining under the stage lights. The music, changing back and forth between low and gentle, makes people feel like they are in the countryside and stepping into the stream. On October 9, at the invitation of the 2023 Shenzhen Belt & RoadInternational Music Festival, Gerhard Oppitz, known as the "Best Inheritor of German Classic Music", performed the classic works of two great artists, Schubert and Liszt, at the Longgang Cultural Centre, leading the audience to enjoy the infinite charm of music amid black and white keys.