A repertoire of French operas highlights has been selected for Winland Christmas Gala Concert 2024 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Known for its finesse and elegance, French classical music and operas occupies a special place in the history of classical music, it’s also the embodiment of romance and universal love. This year's concert features Delibes's Lakméand Ravel's Boléro, whilethe former is romantic and gentle, the latter exquisite and avant-garde. May the concert bring you the beauty of the art, serve as a window for Chinese audience to learn about western operas, and bridge the cultures of the West and East.I hope that tonight’s concert brings you enjoyment, solaces and the sublime.

As the year is approaching to its end, we enjoy the fantastic concert with the support of Adam Yu. Let’s celebrate the cultural exchanges between the two countries, facilitate the communication of French culture, foster the connection between the peoples……The seed we sow this year will bear fruit and with good yield in the next year. Just as a Chinese proverb put it, “spring is a season of blossoming, and autumn is a time of harvest”. I wish everyone a good evening, looking forward to open a new chapter of cultural exchanges between China and France together.

——the Ambassador of France, Bertrand Lortholary

In 2014, the 50thanniversary of Sino-French relations, under the auspices of leaders of our two countries, we collaborated with French artists to create the large-scale mechanical art installationLong Ma, serving as a symbol of the enduring Sino-French friendship.

This year, for the 60thanniversary, we’ve hosted a series of cultural exchanges with our French friends. 

On January 27, the anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations, we launched theSino-French Perfume Culture Yearat Hangzhou Winland Center, celebrating our shared pursuit of beauty through fragrance.

In May, the Royal Opera of Versailles performed for over 3,500 attendees at the OMNI Place in Hangzhou, and the Palace of Versailles presented the six-month immersive exhibition Virtually Versailles. Also in May, we partnered with Business France on the exhibitionSo French So Chic Lifestyle. 

In October, we joined hands with Maison Guerlain in organizing an exhibition to commemorate the centenary of Puccini’s passing and the birth of Turandotand an open-air concert – the first ever with scent as its theme. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, Guerlain presented an installation of a golden dragon, one of the Chinese totems. 

The mural we can see up there is Nessun Dorma, an unfinished masterpiece by Mr. Chen Yifei. Just as befitting to the world of Turandot, and tonight, we could experience a special fragrance. The scent was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1929 with inspiration from the OperaTurandotand entitledLiu, and Guerlain has kindly gifted each of you a scented testing strip of this fragrance. Tonight’s event is truly French and with a unique fragrance.

For the 50th anniversary concert a decade ago, we choseCarmenandFaust. This year, to mark the 60th anniversary, we presentLakméby French composer Léo Delibes, a masterpiece of that era. 

Set during the Anglo-Indian War, it tells a tragic love story shaped by cultural and religious conflict.

Lakmé was completed by Delibes in 1881 and premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1883. It falls into the category of grand operas, a genre characterized by its magnificent stage setting. The story is set in colonial India under the British rule, a land of Eastern exoticism depicted by a Western composer, where different cultures, beliefs, and customs clash and coexist.Gerald, a British army officer, and Lakmé, the daughter of an Indian high priest, fell in love with each other despite their disparate religions and social status, shattering the constraints of conventions, however, their love story ended in a tragedy as Lakmé took poison to end her life to save Gerald’s. Gerald is mundane and egocentric, yet willing to act for his ideals - at the portrait of a bejeweled Lakmé, he fantasized about and fell in love with her, and determined to win the hand of this exotic lady;while Lakmé was open-minded – willing to accept foreignness, she empathized with the conventional Gerald, won his love and became a more sentient and sophisticated human being. She was also brave and kind – she took her own life with poison to protect Gerald from the punishment by her own people. 

Viva the friendship between China and France.