Why Asians love musicians

The tour of the Bolshoi Theater was a great success in Beijing, an ovation was given to Valery Gergiev with the symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater in Shanghai, a patriotic hit by the singer Shaman was solemnly performed in Pyongyang — in Asia, Russian artists are becoming more and more interested.

The Asian audience greets classical performers with great love — masterpieces of Russian music are recognizable and in demand at any time.

For example, at the end of July, dancers from the Bolshoi Theater performed triumphantly in Beijing, completely refuting the stereotype of the unemotional and «calm» Chinese audience. According to the head of the ballet troupe Makhar Vaziev, the artists were greeted with «elements of violence.»

“Given that we were here for the last time five years ago, the audience, it seems to me, is wonderful and met us very warmly, sometimes even with some emotional elements of violence, so everything is fine and I am very pleased,” he said.

And at the end of March, Valery Gergiev’s concerts with the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra were sold out in Shanghai: more than eight thousand tickets were sold in the first 20 minutes alone.

«Gergiev is a real master. When he conducts, even familiar pieces sound completely new,» said Wang Jiyan, musicologist at the Chinese Academy of Arts.