Concert Review: HKPO-Jaap-Renaud Capucon

June 17, 2017, CCCH
HKPO-Jaap-Renaud Capucon
Berg-Schubert

Renaud Capucon is a reliable violinist with secure intonation and good tone, but passion is not his strongest suit. It showed in the Berg Violin Concerto, which needs more fire and angst, something that can also be said of the accompaniment.

Schubert's 9th fared better, to an extent. The orchestra played well for Jaap, who as usual focused on drama, often idiosyncratically. However, as usual too, theatricality came at the expense of depth. There was no sense of Schubertian flow, languor, not to mention intimations of undercurrents. In many ways I preferred the recent performance of the same piece under Christoph Poppen (roll down below),