Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor on silk and gold
The 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn's birthday provided many opportunities around the world to honour the great composer. The Chinese musician Sheng-Chun Gao, well-known in his mother country under the artistic name Guitar Gao as a leading E-guitarist and rock musician, has moved onto classical paths; since 1996 he has been working on an arrangement of Mendelssohn's fabulous Violin Concerto in E minor, opus 64, MWV O 14. In the anniversary year 2009 he printed his arrangement for E-Guitar, band and orchestra onto an artistically created 16-metrelong gold-plated silk roll.At a
press conference (PDF, 1,1 MB) on 31 March 2010, Gao presented this "golden roll" to the Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Foundation in Leipzig. The Chinese artist expressed his admiration for the composer Mendelssohn through this gift, and stressed the interrelationships between the cultures - very much in the spirit of Mendelssohn. Leipzig Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung accepted this gift in the name of the Foundation, of which he is the Chairman.In return for this valuable gift Burkhard Jung presented the Chinese guitarist with a formal certificate from the Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Foundation in Leipzig.
The presentation of the golden roll had been announced at a press conference in Beijing in January 2010, at which the Foundation had been represented by its Director Jürgen Ernst. The announcement had generated significant media interest in China.
The news of Gao's visit and presentation in Leipzig was also widely covered in the Chinese media.
The first performance of Gao's guitar work is planned for October 2010 in Beijing, when Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Gao's arrangement will be performed one after the other.
