The musicians depart for China on Monday, September 7.

The extensive tour by the Kazan Chamber Orchestra "La Primavera" includes 14 concerts across 14 cities. This marks the ensemble's second international trip since the pandemic. Their previous tour in China was a success and was very warmly received by local audiences.

This year, the tour will be held on a larger scale. It coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival (Zhongqiu Jie)—the second most important traditional holiday in China after the New Year. It symbolizes the harvest, family unity, and harmony.

"At first, we were a bit surprised when the organizers asked us to include pieces featuring the moon—such as the 'Moonlight Sonata,' 'Moon Waltz,' or 'Clair de Lune'—but then we learned about the history of the holiday. The program also includes 'Autumn' from Vivaldi’s *The Four Seasons*, and one concert will be dedicated to classic international cinema," shared Rustem Abyazov, the orchestra’s artistic director and chief conductor.

For this tour, the musicians from Kazan have also prepared four Chinese compositions. One of them, *The Butterfly Lovers* (also known as the *Butterfly Legend*) by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, is the most famous classical work in the history of Chinese music. It is a piece performed by many great violinists, including Vanessa-Mae and Maxim Vengerov.

Rustem Abyazov created an orchestration of the work specifically for a chamber ensemble. "The music is truly beautiful." "It even appears in my dreams at night," the maestro confessed.

Incidentally, the piece will also be performed—in a new orchestration—at the opening of the La Primavera orchestra’s new concert season in Kazan, marking its debut in this form.

During the tour in China, there are plans to perform the famous "Kalinka," accompanied by a local children’s choir. On a previous occasion, the children delivered a brilliant rendition of "Moscow Nights" (Podmoskovnye Vechera) in both Russian and Chinese.

The orchestra is set to return to Kazan on September 29—just in time for the opening of its 38th concert season.

"We’ll head straight from the train station to rehearsal," Abyazov stated.