On 1.October 2026, the historic Palais Pálffy in Vienna became the setting for a musical dialogue between China and Austria. Presented by the Golden July Music Festival Vienna, the Vocal Recital with German and Chinese Art Songs on China’s National Day was dedicated to China as well as 55 years of diplomatic relations between Austria and China. The evening featured Chinese tenor Prof. Diao Ke, Welsh tenor Steffan Mullan, and pianist Byron Yue.
The program placed the Lieder of Hugo Wolf alongside Chinese art songs by Huang Zi, Ma Sicong, Lu Zaiyi and Ding Shande, creating a fascinating encounter between two musical traditions.
As the music critic Helena Chang well observed, Prof. Diao Ke captured the Lieder sentiment with remarkable precision and profundity. His pure lyrical tenor was distinguished by impeccable German diction and excellent breath control. Particularly impressive were his soft high notes, which retained a striking power of projection—substantial and gentle, yet luminous.
When Diao moved into Chinese art song, she said, an entirely different sound world emerged. Pentatonic colours and poetic images of nature, love and homeland carried the audience into an Eastern atmosphere. Works such as Lu Zaiyi’s “Heimat” and “Sehnsucht” demonstrated how Chinese composers combined their own poetic traditions with elements of Western musical language.
The evening also welcomed Welsh tenor Steffan Mullan, who performed two Chinese songs during the concert. His participation added another international dimension to an evening devoted to musical and cultural exchange.
The concert reached its climax in the finale, when Diao Ke and Steffan Mullan joined together in “I Love You, China”. Performed by Chinese and Welsh tenors together in the heart of Vienna, the song provided a powerful conclusion to the evening and gave special meaning to a concert celebrating both China’s National Day and 55 years of Austria–China diplomatic relations.
Witnessing Diao Ke move naturally between two vastly different musical cultures was a genuine pleasure, as Helena Chang joyously noticed. The beauty of a cross-border musical stage calls for artists who possess not only technique, but also a deep understanding of the traditions and ideas behind the music.
On this special evening in Vienna, German Lied and Chinese art song became two musical languages speaking of shared human experiences, that are love, longing, nature and home!
(Article contributed by the Golden July Music Festival Vienna)
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