Mikhail Pletnev's Recital Opens Oriental Art Center's New Season

Venerated Russian maestro Mikhail Pletnev inaugurated Shanghai Oriental Art Center's new performance season with a seamlessly flowing piano recital on Sunday evening during which he presented a very authentic interpretation of classical music.

The name Pletnev carries prestige across the fields of piano performance, conducting, composition and arrangement, with pianist remains his most prominent identity.

For the Shanghai concert, he weaved classic works from three giants – Bach, Schumann, and Grieg – into a musical lineage spanning a century.

The recital began with four of Bach's Prelude and Fugue, which were followed by Schumann's "Kreisleriana."

In the second half, the maestro drew 16 pieces from the ten books of Grieg's "Lyric Pieces," reordering their sequence to breathe new life into these works that blend unique Nordic natural scenery with human sentiment.

"Finding new colors to create novelty is not my aim," he once said in a past interview. "I simply play what I hear."

A total of 49 stage productions in 61 performances will be presented during the Art Center's new season from February to August.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra will step onto the Art Center's stage in turn.

The lineup of soloists for the new season includes Russian master Mikhail Pletnev, star pianists Yuja Wang and Zhang Haochen, as well as emerging artists such as An Tianxu and Wang Zitong.