Alexander Rahbari

Concert Review: Alexander Rahbari

October 12, 2023, Shenzhen Concert Hall

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra - Alexander Rahbari - Niklas Epinger
Dvorak - Tchaikovsky

It's astonishing to think that I haven't been in a concert hall since last December! At the start of this year, China abandoned Zero Covid and the SZSO had a few concerts at the Bay Opera. Big Strauss and Mahler works that I'd have loved to have attended. I didn't, because I was being cautious then due to the "lying flat" scene playing out (hospitals being overwhelmed), and also because I am not fond of the acoustics there (see here). SZSO then played even in the Grand Theater, which I also skipped. FINALLY, they are returning to the acoustically superior SZ Concert Hall in full force! Hurray! Just stay there!

Ever since I repatriated to Hong Kong in 1992, I have known Alexander Rahbari. HK based Naxos was emerging as a formidable budget CD label at that time, and Rahbari (with his Belgian orchestra as well as eastern European ones) was one of the house conductors who had garnished rave reviews from magazines. I bought many of his CDs then, and still have them! The funny thing was I never heard him with the HKPO. The colonial-remnant management at HKPO (at most of bourgeois taste, and not more aspiring) has always preferred Western and White "famous" (but actually second-tiered) conductors to those with real substance (their choices of the pedestrian Edo de Waart and Jaap van Zweden were cases in point). Never mind Rahbari! An Iranian (but one highly appreciated by one no less than Karajan)! And so I jumped at the opportunity to hear the man, even if I was not completely crazy about the program!

I was not keen on the Dvorak Cello Concerto (much better in a recording than in the concert hall, imho) because I know the Solo Cellist always loses. This one was no exception. German Niklas Epinger played accurately, but with a smallish though controlled tone. The tempo was just too slow for me, and the "refined" sentiment came dangerously close to outstaying its welcome. Part of this was due to Rahbari accommodating his soloist, doing everything he can not to drown him (well, when the woodwinds sounded louder than the soloist, it's a problem). BUT, the work needs grandeur too, and it's a miracle that Rahbari sustained the tone painting and brought out innumerable details. I was intrigued - it was not at all a total loss (as is often) and became primed for the second half.

The Tchaikovsky 5th was an eye-opener. Throughout the concert, Rahbari just conducted with his hands (and from memory), AND it was not often he raised them high. But when he did, the orchestra just burst into ferocious flames. From my seat far away in the balcony, his hands appeared huge when he unshielded them and he was like an eagle soaring in big moments. A MOST powerful, yet unsentimental, rendition! No superficial effects, economic gestures and great results! Wow!

Not being a big name, attendance was abysmal (maybe 30%) BUT the applause was enthusiastic, I among them. I yelled bravo many times! Imagine my surprise when, after acknowledging the orchestral members, Rahbari turned to the audience and gave a short speech in perfect English: "... I love China! This time, I'm working with six orchestras. I have worked with this one (SZ) for one week, and they deserve a larger audience! Next time, make sure you bring your friends..." Well, how nice! In my experience, the best conductors are the ones who take care of the musicians!

Rahbari, surely because he's Iranian, never really got his due. That is also because he has held position in the Tehran orchestra. In today's world, it cannot be easy to be an Iranian musician (even if he's an Austrian citizen).

After the concert, I wanted to get his autograph (not often for me) and so I waited at the personnel entrance. I saw so many musicians familiar to me. I heard nothing but praise for the man. But he took too long to emerge, and I left.

Alexander Rahbari is yet another great example of what's wrong with the arts, where "correct" political alignment and inborn "privileges" triumph over substance. The West created Faust and the Devil, but they have yet to learn what those roles really mean. It's all rhetoric's, and virtuousness goes by the wayside.