Serkin to Join S.F. Symphony in Shanghai Concert
SAN FRANCISCO — Pianist Rudolf Serkin plans to join the San Francisco Symphony for a debut performance in Shanghai next month, a symphony spokesman announced Friday.
The concert, scheduled for Feb. 29, will mark the first performances in China for both Serkin and the orchestra, directed by Herbert Blomstedt.
The San Francisco Symphony is only the fourth American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China and the second to perform in Shanghai, San Francisco’s sister city, spokeswoman Daren Cardell said.
Serkin, 84, a native of Czechoslovakia, made his debut in the United States in 1936 with the New York Philharmonic. A resident of the United States since 1939, Serkin has performed at state dinners at the White House and has received numerous awards for his performances around the world.
Serkin will join the orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Opus 58. The concert is also scheduled to include Roy Harris’s Third Symphony and the Mussorgski-Ravel “Pictures at an Exhibition.â€
The San Francisco Symphony was invited in early 1987 to perform in Shanghai by Madame Sun Zhu, deputy director of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office.
The concert concludes a seven-city, 15-concert Asian tour.
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