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Mainland filmgoers who are still reflecting on the medley of songs from the 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables starring Anne Hathaway (pictured) and Hugh Jackman can now appreciate the epic in theaters. Universal Pictures' musical drama, which has just won three Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway, premiered in the mainland on Thursday. Every year the Academy Award-winning films draw intense public attention in China, but due to paperwork and procedures for imported films, few of them get a quick release in theaters. The film, in English with Chinese subtitles, will also be available on DMAX, China's own giant screens, in select theaters.
- Liu Wei
The Bells ring in Beijing
The Bells, a choral symphony by Sergei Rachmaninoff based on a Russian translation of Edgar Allan Poe's namesake 1913 poem, was the composer's favorite work along with his All-Night Vigil. For the first time, the work will be performed by China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and conducted by Zhang Guoyong (pictured). The concert will also present Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Kabalevsky's Piano Concerto No 3. Eight-year-old piano prodigy Wang Yalun, the youngest prizewinner of the Bach Piano Competition held by UC-Berkeley University, will perform solo.
7:30 pm, March 2. Forbidden City Concert Hall, inside Zhongshan Park, West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6551-3348/3349.
- Chen Nan
Eclectic electric show
Seven years ago, the lead singer of the Beijing indie band Carsick Cars, Zhang Shouwang (pictured), was just a teenager trying to find his way in the world. A few years later, the band joined Sonic Youth for their European tour, and the 26-year-old Zhang, who also founded the experimental noise band White, has become one of the country's most dynamic young rock stars. Zhang will join four other young Chinese indie musicians, including Fu Xiao, Yan Yulong and Zhou Qian, to perform at the Ullens Center For Contemporary Art's electronic music concert. This show highlights some of the emerging leaders of this movement, in and from China, with pure instrumental works, visual projections and live performances with electric guitars.
6 pm, March 3. UCCA The Space, UCCA, 798 Art District, 4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing.
010-5780-0200.
- Chen Nan