Concert Review: Sinfonietta-Schmid-Zuckermann

Concert Review: Sinfonietta-Schmid-Zuckermann

July 10, 2010, CH
Hong Kong Sinfonietta - Benjamin Schmid - Ariel Zuckermann
Rossini - Beethoven - Shostakovich

I attended the concert for two reasons: to hear the always stimulating Benjamin Schmid, and to check out the conductor Ariel Zuckemann. The latter is assistant to Ivan Fischer at the wondrous Budapest Festival Orchestra, a not insignificant post. I was rewarded on both counts, it being the best Sinfonietta concert I have attended.

The opening of Rossini's William Tell overture set the mark for the wonderful evening. I don't know why Laurent Perrin is now only assistant to principal cellist 張培節, but musically it mattered little as the duo, as well as their colleagues, played rapturously in the finely spun part-writing for lower strings. Congratulations for delivering the most poetic and atmospheric orchestral lower string passage I have ever heard. Better still, the conductor molded the long overture carefully, maintained coherence and injected much color and excitement. Despite the familiarity of the theme, this sprawling overture to the sprawling opera is actually not easy to bring off. Here, one must commend the wonderful winds of the Sinfonietta.

Benjamin Schmid delivered a patrician reading of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, with able support from the orchestra and conductor. As in the second-half of the recital 2 days ago, his tone was beautiful and ample, and he played with fluidity and ease. The whole was immensely satisfying.

The cogent reading of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 must be counted a miracle. The all-important opening was brilliantly delivered (as few on recordings). The strings were well-articulated, yet expressive, macabre and nonchalant by turns. The winds and brass punctuated the proceedings with controlled yet spirited outbursts. The reading had an easy flow, and the hairpin dynamics sounded utterly natural under the able conductor's hands, no mean feat. If the reading did not erase memory of the 2006 VPO/Gergiev performance, which brought out more tragedy, it was a completely valid performance able to stand on its own, illustrative of the central enigma and superior in conception to many a recorded performance. Even if the energy ebbed slightly towards the end, it was still a valedictory reading to put alongside this year's Shostakovich bounty (HKPO's No. 11 and SZSO's No. 15). Congratulations are in order.

A word on the excellent Sinfonietta Musicians. It should be kept in mind the strings were small (maximum 10, 10, 8, 6, 4 for this concert) but sweet and steady. The concertmaster designate James Cuddeford was outstanding in his leadership. In the other sections it's really too bad the roster had to change so often, and I miss some of the previous players and principals. But as a whole I have to say, judged by this concert, the wind section, exposed by the small string section, are the best ever. Not only were the principals steady, so were their seconds. Even more importantly, they cohered into a whole that was more than the sum of the parts, something the HKPO winds have yet to do. The brass too were very steady. A great job!

The big question is, with this orchestra, how long can that be maintained? I wish at least until Zuckermann's returns (hopefully soon)!