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Wood-lined auditorium of Shanghai Symphony Hall in 2018
Shanghai Symphony Hall’s auditorium, 1 January 2018. Archival interior during another programme; not a 2026 concert photograph. N509FZ / Wikimedia Commons; resized and converted to WebP. Image source · CC BY-SA 4.0

From Hamlet to Tenebrae

The 5 July opening introduces a music-and-drama work based on Hamlet, directed by Li Liuyi and using Shostakovich’s incidental music. The same concert includes Joe Hisaishi’s Howl’s Moving Castle Symphonic Variations and Viola Saga, with Berlin Philharmonic principal violist Mei Diyang appearing as soloist.

British vocal ensemble Tenebrae makes its Asian debut with Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles and Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell. Aurora Orchestra joins pianist Wang Liya and horn player Zeng Yun for Mozart and Richard Strauss. These are quite different musical scales, from sung pilgrimage to orchestral colour, within one short summer season.

The sounds beyond a conventional season

Randy Brecker opens the outdoor lawn-concert series. Pipa player Wu Man appears with musicians from Central Asia, bringing the instrument into a Silk Road conversation. A John Williams programme conducted by Dirk Brossé offers another kind of shared recognition through film music.

The closing concert brings Venezuela’s Juan José Landaeta Symphony Orchestra, with Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story alongside Latin American orchestral works. I like a festival that can accommodate that programme and a British choir without pretending they are interchangeable versions of the same evening.

Shanghai Symphony Hall exterior in 2017
Shanghai Symphony Hall, 8 September 2017. Archival exterior of the Xuhui venue. N509FZ / Wikimedia Commons; resized and converted to WebP. Image source · CC BY-SA 4.0

The July festival

MISA’s dates are 5–20 July. Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall is at 1380 Middle Fuxing Road, Xuhui (徐汇区复兴中路1380号); individual programmes also use other venues. Talks, workshops, screenings and city performances extend the festival outside the main concerts. Each concert has its own date and booking arrangements.