Drum roll for classics

The second Mercedes-Benz International Music Festival will shine the spotlight on percussion music this summer. Chen Nan reports.

Three Chinese cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen - are in for a treat of the finest of classical music at the second Mercedes-Benz International Music Festival.

Bringing together nearly 20 musicians from Spain, Demark, Germany and China, the festival will shine the spotlight on percussion music this summer.

Renowned percussionist Li Biao, and his group, will put more than 200 percussion instruments on stage to present classic pieces such as Ogoun Badagris by composer Christopher Rouse and CaDance for Four by Andy Pape, as well as his original compositions such as Drum Together. The performance will cover a range of genres, from classical to jazz and pop.

Li will also collaborate with the symphony orchestra of the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) and world-renowned conductor Christoph Eschenbach on Chinese composer Guo Wenjing's enchanting The Rite of the Mountain, which was written in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

Eschenbach, who is also a great pianist, will join violinist Zhu Dan for a concert that is sure to be one of the highlights of the festival. They will perform Mozart and Beethoven sonatas.

As the music festival marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, Eschenbach will conduct such works as Mahler's Symphony No 1, "Titan" and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 "From the New World."