Into the ring

Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra's 2022-23 season closed with a concert on July 16. The eyes of the audience were on Sun Yifan, the 29-year-old conductor who stepped in for established conductor Yu Long.

Under Sun's baton, the orchestra and 14 star singers from around the world earned rave reviews for their performance of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), which is the first of the four grand operas that constitute Wagner's 15-hour epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

The concert was initiated by conductor Yu, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where the concert was staged, to commemorate the 210th anniversary of the birth of Wagner.

For health reasons, Yu had to pull out of rehearsals and performing in July. About four days before the concert, Sun was told he would conduct.

"It happened one day after the rehearsal. When I was told that I would be the conductor of the concert, I was shocked. I never expected that I would cover him to conduct such a large music work. I was very nervous and couldn't sleep that night but I had to react very fast and got in the groove," recalls Sun, who had been working as the assistant conductor of Yu since early June.

"My job as assistant conductor was like working as an assistant chef. I prepare food ingredients for the head chef, helping the head chef develop and test new recipes, and keeping records of what food has been prepared and what ingredients were used," says Sun. "When I changed my position from assistant conductor to conductor, I had to change my way of thinking."

He adds that luckily, the musicians of Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and the all-star cast of singers, such as bass-baritone Shen Yang, tenor Christopher Ventris, and baritone Liu Songhu, were very supportive and helped the young conductor work efficiently.

"Those musicians from the orchestra and the singers are very experienced. Some of the singers have performed the opera many times so they know it well," says Sun.