The national orchestra of Sweden has completed a successful tour in China in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sweden.

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra was led by two-time Grammy award-winning US conductor Kent Nagano, together with violinist Ray Chen from Taiwan.

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra is world famous for its "Nordic sound", especially their renditions of work by Finnish composer Sibelius, says manager Johan Nordin.

The national orchestra was founded in 1905. It has been 16 years since it last toured China. The China tour is sponsored by Swedish automobile maker Volvo.

The orchestra presented Sibelius, Mendelssohn and Brahms' works, as well as Beast Sampler, a contemporary work composed by Swedish musician Anders Hillborg especially for the orchestra's China tour. The work was the opening piece for every performance.

The tour covered Macao, Guangzhou of Guangdong province, Hangzhou of Zhejiang province, Shanghai and Beijing.

The color and texture of sound the orchestra produces is remarkable. "When they play you see Scandinavia," says Nagano. "You can see the color of the sky and feel beauty of nature."

Working with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra has brought Nagano to a very different landscape from his home. He says that he feels he is experiencing part of Scandinavian culture.

Nagano asked Hillborg to compose a piece, to "represent the Sweden of today", and "tie together the cultures of China and Sweden". The composer created Beast Sampler, drawing inspiration from his fascination with the mystical creatures in both Chinese and Swedish mythology, Nagano says. Just like China, Sweden also has a rich heritage of mythology.

The 10-minute piece "is like a dream, with many colors and many pictures, mainly pictures of nature", Nagano says. "And in nature, the woods, mountains and the sea become very special Scandinavian beasts. They are mythological, or fairy-tale monsters, like the troll, valkyrie, unicorn ... many of them you find in the movie Lord of the Rings."

Violinist Chen, 26, says this was the first time he has toured with a renowned orchestra to Asia, and playing with Nagano and the experienced musicians has taken his music "to a higher level".

In 2014, Chen toured with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to eight cities in Europe, led by its artistic director, Yu Long.

Nagano came to China for the first time in 2014 and led the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to stage Life Love - Montreal Symphony Orchestra Concert in Beijing. He is also deeply impressed by the Chinese audiences and the theater.

The 64-year-old conductor is of Japanese descent. He used to work as the assistant conductor to maestro Seiji Ozawa at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to technique, Nagano says, Ozawa taught him "what it was like to be Asian in the West".

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 04/14/2015 page10)