Shenzhen's new concert hall was launched Friday night with a passionate two-hour show by pianist Lang Lang.

After a brief ceremony attended by State and city officials, local citizens and journalists Lang Lang stole the spotlight with his performance.

Pianist Lang Lang accompanied by Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO) stages concertos in the new concert hall in Shenzhen City on October 19. (photo: Shenzhen Daily) 

Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zong-heng said the new concert hall, first planned 10 years ago, is a 21st century landmark facility for the city.

"As an international standard concert hall, it will be a venue for fans to enjoy shows by classical masters and also for ordinary people to access music at public welfare events," Xu said.

Chen Xiaoguang, China's vice cultural minister, praised the city government for spending generously on facilities to promote culture and art among the general public.

"It surprised me that the new concert hall is located in the CBD area where the price of land is so expensive. You have a vision in seeing the value of culture," the official said.

Then, it was Lang Lang's turn. Shenzhen, dubbed "a city of pianos," picked Lang to stage the opening show at the concert hall.

The young pianist, born in 1982 in Shenyang, is one of the best-known Chinese pianists in the world. He performed two concertos accompanied by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

The concert started with SSO's "Les Preludes," a symphonic poem by Hungarian Franz Liszt. Conducted by Yang Yang, the performance went well with the theme of the night and ushered in a new era in the city's musical history.

The first piece performed by Lang Lang was Chopin's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor" — in a "lightly romantic" style in the words of the pianist himself.

The piece is in effect the anthem to Chopin"s patriotism, which he chose as the centerpiece to his farewell concert at the National Theater of Warsaw on the eve of his departure for Vienna in 1830.

Lang Lang's thoughtful expression and superb skills demonstrated the feelings of a romantic and melancholy Chopin who was about to leave his deeply-loved motherland.

In the second half, it was the more familiar Lang Lang that fans embraced, a pianist exuberant with passion.

Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor," one of Lang Lang's favorites, is a "heavily romantic" piece of music.

The audience was completely moved by his talent and passion. "It's sweet and melancholic, with well conceived meditation and surging passion. The music made me think of feelings such as the raging sea and bright sunshine," said Cindy Wang, a local music fan.

The audience gave Lang a 10-minute ovation and the pianist responded by answering the curtain call six times.

(Shenzhen Daily October 20, 2007)