By Ni Min
                                                                    Chailly performing on stage

Renowned conductor Riccardo Chailly is on his way to Beijing to lead the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for a weekend of Mendelssohn at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The highly respected Italian is known for his wide repertoire, with Chinese audiences in for a rare treat with a premiere piece.

Riccardo Chailly was born into a musical family in Milan in 1953. Chailly made a name for himself when he was just 20 years old with his passionate, sprightly and vivid style executed with extreme vigor and dynamics. Since 1978 he has been in constant demand across Europe and America.

"I started my first collaboration with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1986 at the Salzburg Festival. With Karajan's invitation, my collaboration with the orchestra began and still lives on today," Chailly explained. "After being the chief conductor of the orchestra and general music director of Opera Leipzig for five years, I feel so proud to be in China with my orchestra."

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is based in Germany and originated around 1740. "The musical history of my orchestra can date back to the era of Bach. Because of this profound historical connection, I usually focus on Bach in baroque," Chailly noted.

In Beijing, the orchestra will perform Mendelssohn, Mahler and Bruckner. "It will be the first time that we will cooperate with violin soloist Arabella Steinbacher who is outstanding among Neozoic violinists. When listening to her playing Mozart's violin concerto, we were captured by her performance, which made us decide to invite her to be our soloist on this tour."

"In memory of Mendelssohn's 200th anniversary of his birth, it's our pleasure to perform Mendelssohn's Symphony No.5 for Chinese audiences. Before Mendelssohn's work came out, the way of performing was simple. There are various versions of Mendelssohn's classical performances today," Chailly said. "However, his original version has never been played, because this valuable version was just collected and released last year. There is a huge difference between the original and current version: 143 newly found syllables. To bring this version on the tour of China and Japan we have been working hard."

The performance of Mendelssohn's work will be accompanied on Saturday by Mahler and on Sunday by Bruckner.

Mahler's Symphony No. 1 was recently performed in Beijing during the Lucerne Festival in Beijing 2009 by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, led by Claudio Abbado.

"It seems that there must be friendly competition between Abbado and me!" Chailly laughed. "Mahler's works demand a lot as he is a challenging composer. He leads musicians to various emotional states and every part of the orchestra is exposed to the audience."

Chailly explained that it takes courage to perform Mahler. "Everyone can find their own way to express Mahler's work. From my point of view, it is the reason why Mahler is one of the favorite composers for both orchestras and conductors."

There is also a special connection with Mahler and the city of Leipzig as he was once the assistant conductor of the Leipzig Opera.

"In Mahler's two years of living in Leipzig, he began to compose his Symphony No.1, which marks his connection between the city and piece of work. There is no doubt that Leipzig inspired Mahler to create this great piece."

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra led by Chailly will play at the NCPA this weekend.

"I think I am co-conducted by my passion and devotion to new music," Chailly commented. "The devotion to new music makes me concentrate more and more on conducting. The spirit of exploring is an ever-lasting source of energy for my musical career."

Performance: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Concert