Source: CCTV.com

03-29-2007 13:49

Green issues are at the top of everybody's agenda these days. And concert halls as well as conference halls are as good a place as any to get the green message across. That is certainly the thinking in Norway which co-sponsored the gala evening "Call For a Green China" in Beijing on Tuesday night, along with the State Environmental Protection Administration and the World Bank.

Artists from China, Norway and the United States all took part in the gala. Among the items featured was a shortened version of the play "An Enemy of the People", written by Norway's most famous playwright Henrik Ibsen. And a multimedia piano concerto called "A Green Call."

The Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, who was on an official visit to China, attended the evening and spoke to the audience. He pointed out that his top priority during his visit was to promote a sustainable development and environmental protection in China.

The pieces chosen for the evening were intended to reflect this theme. "An Enemy of the People", written in 1882, was probably the first theatre play ever to address environmental issues. The performance starred acclaimed Chinese actor Han Tongsheng and actress Feng Xianzhen, and its accompaniment on the night by a full symphony orchestra gave it a new "evergreen" twist.

The experimental piano piece "A Green Call" is built upon musical themes taken from the Yellow River Piano Concerto and Keith Emerson's Piano Concerto No.1. It is performed in synchronization with a film about environmental protection. Young Chinese pianist Chen Sa and American master Timothy Smith presented a perfect collaboration. The Yellow River Concerto was originally written as a tribute to the Chinese people's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The intention with "A Green call" is to use this powerful and inspiring work to stimulate people to face China's most critical challenge of the current age: environmental protection.

For the artists, the evening was a perfect mix of art and social responsibility.

Environmental protection is the focal point of cooperation between China and Norway. And this cultural evening a new way to awaken the consciousness of China's people to the environmentalist cause.

 

Editor:Liu Fang