At 8 p.m. local time on July 6, Hamburg, Germany, a concert version of the original opera "The Diaries of John Rabe" from Jiangsu province was staged at the world’s top River Elbe Concert Hall.

At the end of the nearly 2-hour masterful performance, the lead singers and the band took five curtain calls amid 20 minutes of applause. The stories and art from China won praise from the city of classical music.

Du Xiaohui, Chinese consul general in Hamburg, Wang Yanwen, member of the standing committee of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and head of the publicity department, watched the performance with local people from all walks of life.

A Unique Concert Version

The original opera "The Diaries of John Rabe" had just been performed twice at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera House).

The Rive River Elbe Concert Hall staged a unique concert version.

The concert was performed by the famous young conductor Cheng Ye of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group, along with lead singers Han Peng, Anna Isabel, La Sot, Tian Haojiang and Tong Meng, the symphony orchestra of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group and of Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the chorus of the Singing and Dancing Theatre of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group.

The 2,100-seat River Elbe Concert Hall was full that night and the tickets were sold in a flash.

The River Elbe Concert Hall is an extremely modern and young concert hall with the most advanced and unique acoustic design in the world today.

It is not the usual "box" shape. The audience sit around the stage by 360 degrees. It looks from the inside like a spherical honeycomb, with the auditorium of staggered layers from the bottom to the top covering 5-8 floors. The distance between the audience and the stage are within 30 meters.

Hamburg is the Hometown of John Rabe.

Hamburg is home to our international friend John Rabe. Mr. Rabe was born here on November 23, 1882.

He was employed by Siemens China in 1908.

His residence (and office) at No. 1 Xiaofenqiao, Guangzhou Road, Nanjing protected more than 600 refugees when Japanese invaders began attacking the city in November 1937.

As the chairman of the Nanjing International Safety Zone, Rabe and other international friends, together with the International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone, saved more than 250,000 Chinese people in the less than 4 square kilometers of the zone.

John Rabe

If the opera version of The Diaries of John Rabe is about enjoying a piece of music while experiencing a dramatic story, the concert version is more about pure singing and music. The 17 pieces of music and arias were beautifully interpreted in the band's intimate cooperation with the singers and performers, conveying the content and emotion of the story from a more musical perspective.

The Applause Lasted 20 Minutes and the Cast and Crew Returned Four Times.

At ten o 'clock in the evening, the concert ended as scheduled. The audience burst into prolonged applause and cheers for 20 minutes. The cast and crew returned to the concert four times. Du Xiaohui and Wang Yanwen shook hands with the performers on stage.

Conductor Cheng Ye, who studied at HfM Berlin for five years, said: "when I knew I was going to perform here, I was very excited because I knew it was the best concert hall in the world. When I saw this concert hall from a distance on the bus, I got excited."

Cheng told reporters that the orchestra had been fully prepared for the performance and had been rehearsing since the Spring Festival. After countless practice and polishing, the band, chorus and lead singers all did very well tonight, presenting the audience in Hamburg audio-visual enjoyment.

Consul General Du couldn't contain his excitement. He spoke highly of the concert: “it is a Nanjing-based story with international expression and world standard, and it promotes peace.”

She Drove More than 300 Kilometers to the Concert.

Shao Hua, a librarian of the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, and a researcher at Research Institute of Nanjing Massacre History & International Peace, drove more than 300 kilometers from the Ruhr District to Hamburg on the evening of May 5. Chen Yong, member of the standing committee of Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and head of the publicity department, thanked her for her contribution in searching overseas for historical data on the Nanjing Massacre.

According to Shao, Rabe's story was not well known in Germany in the past, and it was only through the release of The Diaries of John Rabe and the official publication of the diary in Germany that Germans began to understand the kindness of their compatriots in Nanjing. Such performances will push Rabe's story to the wider public.

Chen Yong (first from left) expressed his thanks to Shao Hua (first from right). Ling Xi (middle), deputy curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders

Music Can Help People Understand Stories Better.

Austrian tourist Ingrol Kainrath was at the concert with two friends. Three women who were on holiday over the weekend wanted to see a show in Hamburg and found information on the Internet about the performance of The Diaries of John Rabe.

Ms. Ingrol Kainrath found the music particularly good and appealing, helping listeners to understand the story well.

“I feel very moved,” said Anker, director of sales at Hamburg Port and Logistics Group. “this historical theme is about China and Germany, about Hamburg, and this story shows how important peaceful development and international cooperation are.”

“German audiences can quickly understand the content and deeply feel the emotion through subtitles and music. And the work is artistically musical, without any special, excessive packaging of the story. It's very natural.”

"The Diaries of John Rabe" Background Materials Exhibition Attracts Attention.

In conjunction with the concert, an exhibition of background materials for The Diaries of John Rabe was on display at the River Elbe Concert Hall. During the intermission of the concert, the audience made their way to the exhibition and looked through the background materials of The Diaries of John Rabe.