 Philharmonic Press Conference (AP)
Posted: February 25, 2008
BEIJING (AP) -- Facing dwindling popularity in the West, classical music could receive a boost from a large Chinese population increasingly interested in other cultures, the music director of the New York Philharmonic said Saturday. Speaking ahead of two performances in Beijing's new National Grand Theater, Lorin Maazel noted that China is embracing outside influences. "We need defenders of our tradition of classical music if classical music is to survive," he told reporters. "It could very well be that one of the most important defenders of classical music will be found in the country of China.
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"I think the Chinese people, who have shown their passion and very, very high sense of aesthetics, are an ideal spawning ground for burgeoning interest in classical music," Maazel said at the theater, an egg-shaped structure sheathed in titanium and glass. The two concerts in Beijing are part of an Asia tour by the Philharmonic, so far highlighted by a Tuesday performance during an unprecedented visit by a prominent American cultural group to North Korea. The U.S. and communist North Korea remain technically at war since the 1953 cease-fire halted the Korean War and they have no normal diplomatic relations. The conductor and other Philharmonic officials refused Saturday to answer questions about the North Korea trip, preferring to keep the focus on the Beijing performances. |
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