German audience impressed by National Symphony Orchestra on European tour

Braunschweig, Germany, April 8 (CNA) Several audience members said they were "very impressed" by the performance of the National Symphony Orchestra from Taiwan at the Staatstheater in the city of Braunschweig in northern Germany Sunday evening.

Led by Music Director Jun Märkl, the orchestra, which performs aboard under the name "Taiwan Philharmonic," gave the first of three concerts in Germany on its seven-stop "From Formosa" tour, which began in Switzerland on April 3.

The audience was treated to Taiwanese composer Li Yuan-chen's (李元貞) "Tao of Meinong," a Western-style symphony that incorporates Hakka folk music in Taiwan at the beginning of Sunday's concert.

New York-based violist Paul Huang (黃俊文) then joined the orchestra for the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Huang has been working closely with the orchestra, curating chamber music concerts, and was the guest soloist on the orchestra's U.S. tour in April last year.

The orchestra then performed Antonin Dvorák's Symphony No. 8 in G-Major Op. 88 for the second half of the concert, and Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao's (蕭泰然) "The Angel from Formosa" as the encore piece.

Before the encore piece, Märkl told the audience in German that he wanted them to know a group of friendly Taiwanese people while pointing to the members of the orchestra on the stage.

The German-Japanese conductor said Taiwan was known as Formosa when European explorers traveled around the world centuries ago.

Despite natural disasters, such as earthquakes, and political tension, Märkl said he hopes to introduce Taiwan to everyone through music. His remarks received a round of applause.

Several concertgoers told CNA that they were first attracted by the program, but the performance by the orchestra and Huang left them with a great impression.

One of them, a woman who took her mother-in-law to the concert, told CNA that Märkl's remarks made her want to check flights to Taiwan for a visit.

A German couple who bought the tickets as a birthday gift, meanwhile, said they appreciated the orchestra for traveling from far away and bringing them great music.

The orchestra founded in 1986 will next perform with guest pianist Khatia Buniatishvili in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on Tuesday and the Kuppelsaal in Hannover on Thursday before concluding the tour at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on Saturday.

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