Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra to perform in Shanghai

The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center on May 18.

One of the three most celebrated symphonies in Vienna, the orchestra was founded in 1969 and is the only radio orchestra in Austria.

The concert will feature American Chinese pianist Claire Huangci, who will play Rosamunde Overture by Franz Schubert and Dmitry Kabalevsky's Fantasy in F Minor under the baton of Cornelius Meister, chief conductor of the orchestra since 2010.

The concert, which is being held to commemorate the 190th death anniversary of Schubert, will also consist of Schubert Symphony No 9, also known as Great.

"Schubert is one of our Viennese heroes," Meister said. "But we are also convinced of the idea to combine two original Schubert pieces with Kabalevsky’s transcription of the famous Fantasy in F Minor for piano four hands."

Kabalevsky based his piece on the original version but transformed it into a brilliant concerto for piano and orchestra, he said. "I am really looking forward to performing that piece together with her (Huangci) and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in China."

This is the last season Meister will be leading the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

"I am looking forward to becoming general music director at Stuttgart State Opera and Stuttgart State Orchestra in September 2018," said the conductor.