Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra holds centennial concert in China

The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) held a splendid concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing on Tuesday night, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

This is the BPO's second visit to China, coming 23 years after the previous visit. The BPO's China tour was initiated by the legendary conductor Zubin Mehta, who hopes to support the orchestra's international promotion in prestigious music centers that only offer venues to the most distinguished orchestras. Mehta believes that the BPO deserves a place among the finest symphonic ensembles in the world. However, due to health issues, Mehta had to cancel his performance.

The BPO's China tour was taken over by Neeme Jarvi, a renowned conductor from Estonia. With a brilliant career spanning decades, including conducting some of the most famous orchestras and top soloists, and more than 450 recordings, Jarvi is one of the most respected conductors in the world.

"Mr Mehta could not come because of his health, so I took his place at the last minute," Jarvi told the Global Times about his China trip.

But for the experienced Jarvi, he was ready for every performance. "I have prepared for it all of my life," he told the Global Times.

Before coming to Beijing, the orchestra had performed in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, where Jarvi praised China for having a large number of well-equipped concert halls, which is something that he said Estonia needs to learn from.

"With the need for a hundred people to be accommodated, without acoustics, we need to build those halls and we need to pay attention to the culture, especially for music. We should learn from China. China is doing a wonderful thing," he said.

The BPO is the most famous symphony orchestra in Serbia, and was founded in 1923. It has collaborated with many world-renowned conductors and soloists, performing music works of various styles and periods. The orchestra enjoys a high reputation on the international stage, and has been hailed as "the musical pearl of the Balkans."

On November 18, the orchestra will perform at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, as part of the Shanghai International Music Festival.

During the tour, the BPO will share the stage with soloists and violinists including Giovanni Andrea Zanon and Huang Mengla, performing works by Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Berlioz and Beethoven.