Best bets

Drama A Song of Guangling

Date: July 14-15 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a group of scholars gathered in Shanyang. The sentimental, upright and unconstrained scholars took pleasure in touring across the landscapes, who are hailed as "Seven Saints of Bamboo Groves" in history. Nevertheless, in the context of the rise and fall of dynasties, celebrity Ji Kang, who is a prestigious leader of literary circles, is greatly scrupled by tyrannical clan surnamed Sima in power. When his friend Lyu An is framed and sent to jail, Ji Kang never hesitates to kick against the pricks, and comes out to argue in favor of Lyu An. Accordingly, Ji Kang falls into a long-standing trap under conspiratorial plots, and has to embark on the road of no return. Just before his execution, Ji Kang calmly plays the guqin, looks up to heaven and sighs: "Guanglingsan disappears from now on!" Ji Kang achieves his immortality when walking toward the execution ground. The play is produced with Tang Ling as playwright, Zhou Long as director, Xu Ying as artistic director and famous composer Guo Wenjing as original music creator. Artistic creators of different backgrounds have produced an original full-scale drama with Chinese aesthetic features and performance characteristics concerning the spiritual essence of the Chinese people.

The 12 Cellists of Berliner Philharmoniker

Date: July 3 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

They are unique. Naturally, every symphony orchestra has its cello section. But nowhere else in the world have the deeper, larger strings joined together to form an independent ensemble - an orchestra within an orchestra - meeting with success after success. That is why every music lover knows immediately where the"12 Cellists" come from, even if they cannot name their orchestra. They are an institution. They have played together since 1972, appearing as an ensemble, occasionally in Berlin, often elsewhere, and quite often traveling great distances. Even their premiere concert, with its evening-long program, took place not in Berlin, but instead in Tokyo, the Japanese capital, a city with which they are still closely associated.