Daniel Lozakovich Tarmo Peltokoski Vasily Petrenko Sunwook Kim

Concert Review: Master Fiddler, 2 Pianists, 2 Bruckner, 3 Great Concerts

In chronological order, the last being the most recent, just the day before!

September 6, 2024, CCCH

HKPO - Peltokoski - Lozakovich

Sibelius - Bruckner

Typhoon derailed this Friday concert, which was rescheduled to an unusual 4 pm the next day (and the HKPO had to play the 8 pm concert too). The 2 Scandinavian artists delivered as satisfying as concert as one could hope for.

I have long followed Daniel Lozakovich (excellent albums on DG), and particularly admire his tonal allure. From the first note of the Sibelius VC, it was clear that he was everything the recordings conveyed (not true for many soloists unfortunately). Great projection, ravishing tone and nuance at any dynamic level (most violinists sound pinched as they go high or loud). Great rhythmic resilience and fire. The orchestral contribution was tight and it was as perfect a performance as one could hope to hear!

Although I regard myself as fairly well informed, I had never heard of very young Tarmo Pelkotoski until his appointment as HKPO's next director. Then came his somewhat idiosyncratic debut album of Mozart (DG). I was told by a friend with trusted ears that he had done well with the HKPO before, so I had high hopes.

I was not disappointed. The Bruckner 9 played out with great tonal weight and good flow. Yes, the third movement for me lacked angst and enough dissonance at its height of tension. More looking forward and reminiscence than confronting death. But then, many seasoned Bruckner conductors fail too at that (in my view; my benchmark is Schuricht/VPO). Very grateful to have heard B9, and I'm looking forward to more!

September 27, 2024, CCCH

HKPO - Petrenko - Fedorova

Rakhmadiyev - Grieg - Bruckner

This concert was absurdly and prominently billed as "Belt and Road". Huh? Perhaps to justify the wayward claim, concert opened with Kazakhstan composer Rakhmadiyev's Kudasha-Duman. A frivolous soviet-era piece with predictable rousing rhythm and cacophony.

Anna Fedorova is well known to me through her recordings, which have all been good but not exceptional. Her playing revealed a plain tone, lacking in sonorous depth. Her playing of the Grieg PC was curiously wayward in places, especially in the finale's marcato section, where her rhythm was downright unnatural. The orchestra was razor sharp in response, thought the woodwinds lacked warmth and elan. Overall, this rendition very much lacked the headlong ardor this piece should possess.

I've long admired and followed Vasily Petrenko on records (seminal Shostakovich cycle on Naxos; many good recordings on Onyx and Lawo), but I was not sure at all how he would be in Bruckner. I remember his NYC and HK appearances very well. In recent times, he has had a few well received outings with the HKPO, which I've missed.

The Bruckner 7 surpassed all expectations! From the opening, Petrenko showed his exceptional ability to tease out all the string parts (so important in this symphony) in a natural manner. Yes, I heard many things new in this thrice familiar score. Everything flowed well, and the brass played superbly, though not as full in tone as in the Tarmo B9. A minor caveat would be that the apotheosis of the slow movement should have tugged at the heart a little more. Anyway, a major achievement. As a Bruckner interpreter, it is obvious that Petrenko is more seasoned than Tarmo, as expected.

Unbelievable to have heard 2 excellent HKPO Bruckner concerts in a row! May more are to come!

September 28, 2024, CH

HK Sinfonietta - Poppen - Kim

Dallapiccola - Schumann - Brahms

Although I've been highly impressed by Christoph Poppen's conducting before (here), I admit my choice of this concert was to hear pianist Sunwook Kim, who have impressed me on discs (DG).

As usual for Poppen, concert opened with a "new" piece, in this case Dallapiccola's Piccola Musica Nocturna, well played and atmospheric. Then came a lithe performance of Schumann's Symphony 1, "Spring". I found the string sonority slightly coarse.

The Brahms PC2 was very well shaped, and the playing of Kim was poetic and immaculate. Power and nuance played in tandem. Again, while the Sinfonietta played very well, the somewhat dry string texture nagged at me. This is not typical of the Sinfonietta I used to know, which usually had warm strings. Although very different, I'd say I enjoyed Kim's playing as much as I had my heroine Leonskaja's 2018 SZSO performance, but on that occasion the orchestra really shone in a way the Sinfonietta didn't.

Kim ended the concert with a beautifully concentrated Brahms Nachtstucke.

Anastasia Kobekina Alexander Malofeev Gabor Takacs-Nagy Verbier AYO

4 Brief Concert Reviews

These concerts happened quite a while ago, and were not written up due to various reasons on my part. As they have lost any possible timely relevance, these comments are capsular in nature.

March 1, Shenzhen Concert Hall
SZSO - Lin Daye - Gorini
Beethoven - Mahler

Concert opened with a competent Beethoven PC5 with soloist Fillipo Gorini, who played in a refined manner, yet was ultimately quite bland and failing in probing the Beethovenian spirit.

Given their previous decent performance of Mahler, I was eager to hear the Mahler 1st, but it proved somewhat fragmented and earthbound. The playing was not on par with their recent very good Mahler 3rd.

March 28, Shenzhen Concert Hall
Olivier Latry organ Recital

Programme comprised Guilmant, Liszt,Bach, Saint-Saens (le Carnaval des animaux), Vierne, Dupre, Alain, Guillou, and some improvisation.

Latry is an excellent organist but I could not enjoy the concert. From my seat higher up, deep bass was sorely lacking and that's a deep no no for an organ recital. I was surprised, as similar seating position at the HK CCCH has good bass.

March 29, Shenzhen Concert Hall
Verbier Festival Orchestra - Takacs-Nagy - Bouchkov - Kobekina - Malofeev
Ysaye - Tchaikovsky - Saint-Saens - Beethoven

This was a highly unusual concert, as it featured not one, but three! concerti in the first half, and the soloists were uniformly excellent.

The Ysaye Violin Concerto featured Marc Bouchkov, who played superbly and was totally under the skin of this still rarely performed concerto.

While Ysaye may be too cerebral for some (like me), Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations is certainly much more accessible. Yet this is not an easy piece to bring off, even on record. That, Anastasia Kobekina certainly did, with aplomb! She was every bit as wonderful as on her marvelous Sony albums.

As if that were not enough, then came Saint-Saens PC2 played by none other than Alexander Malofeev, who had been praised here before. Needless to say, the pianism was pristine, but I'd have preferred a little more romantic ardor from both the soloist and the orchestra,

On records I'm a great admirer of Gabor Takacs-Nagy (especially his pulsating Mozart). He and the Verbier Orchestra has also recorded a decent Beethoven cycle (DG). On this occasion, the Beethoven 7
has all his trademark litheness but was not entirely satisfactory. Most of all, this touring iteration of the Verbier Orchestra does not seem to be quite at the same level as on recordings. As an example, the woodwinds and brass are only good to very good in my book, not exceptional.

August 3, 2024, CH
Asian Youth Orchestra - Jader Bignamini
Gershwin - Bernstein - Respighi - Mussorgsky

It's been a while since I attended an AYO concert. I chose Program B, which featured American conductor Jader Bignamini.

Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Suite and Bernstein's West Side Story Symphonic Dances were very well played, but lacked the last degree of lift.

Most surprising was a cogent Respighi Pines of Rome. This piece is not a fav of mine, but this atmospheric performance was as good as any I have heard! In particular, I actually reveled in the majesty of the Appian Way. Great!

Unusually, this was followed by another blockbuster, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The performance was fine but lacked the distinction the Respighi had.

It's a miracle the AYO has held on since founder Pontzious passed on. Although the current musical directors are much less known than before (likes of Commisiona, James Judd etc), they seem to soldier on. The musician standards remain very high

YMCG Orchestra and Daniel Harding

Concert Review: YMCG Orchestra and Daniel Harding

Jan 30, 2024, Shenzhen Concert Hall

YMCG Orchestra - Daniel Harding - Vilde Frang - Amihai Grosz

Leung - Mozart - Dvorak

For years I heard every concert within reach of the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO, chronicled here), as I love their enthusiasm and achievements. My penchant for youth enthusiasm perhaps started with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra recordings, of which Daniel Harding has always been a chief anchor.

This Orchestra is titled an improbable Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG; official link)! Close enough to OMG. LOL. Although said to have musicians of diverse nationalities, judging from the roster in the concert pamphlet, it's overwhelmingly Chinese, the majority from China and Hong Kong, and a few from elsewhere. Not at all as diverse as AYO. About 20% are young orchestral professionals.

Concert opened with a commissioned piece by Elliot Leung, titled Aureate Skylines 天穹之志：大湾华章. This is precisely the kind of thing I detest, to employ music to politically celebrate a project. The music was Ok, but not more than humdrum. A waste of time.

Then came the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. Beautiful tone and tight ensemble from Violinist Vilde Frang, Violist Amihai Grosz and the orchestra. Although pared down, for my taste the orchestra was still too bass heavy. The rendition was quite romantic, and the first and second movements were a bit too slow for my taste. This may be due to Harding, who is almost always just slightly on the slow side (judging from recordings). Nonetheless, quite enticing.

The Dvorak 9th was quite an Ear Opener! The orchestra played with immense power and almost perfect ensemble. Strings were great but, better than expected, the woodwinds and brass were all of a whole and very well blended, better than previous AYO iterations and SZSO. Most importantly, Harding's conducting was absolutely superb. As usual for him, fastidiously detailed and mindful of structure. One hears so much more details than usual, it's astonishing. So much fine details in the spread of the strings, much refined dynamic gradations. It was the most Wagnerian and Brucknerian rendition that I've heard, and that's the highest praise from me! In comparison, the recent HKPO Dvorak 9th, heard almost in the same seat, was even more blended but way lacking in details. This one is the best Dvorak I have ever heard.

For an encore, they played an arranged pop tune of Joeseph Koo 顾家辉，狮子山下。Nice!

Fabulous! And I look forward to hearing them next year!

Dang Thai Son

Concert Review: Dang Thai Son

Jan 21, 2024, Shenzhen Concert Hall

Dang Thai Son Rectial

Faure-Debussy-Chopin

Fou Ts'ong: "...Very Few People truly understand the language of Chopin - Dang Thai Son is one of them..."

From the first time over 20 years ago that I heard Dang Thai Son in Hong Kong, I have become his fan. The last time I heard him was in 2018, chronicled in this blog (here). This time the program is even better!

Concert opened with Faure's Nocturne in e-flat minor, Op33/1. The kaleidoscopic sonorities displayed is a lesson for his student Bruce Liu, who in comparison greatly lacks coloristic nuances (heard recently here). The murmuring and undulations were just gorgeous. Then followed the Bacarolle. Then Debussy Two Arabesques, just slightly angular, and Five pieces from Images I&II: Reflets dans l'eau, Hommage a Rameau, Mouvement, Cloches a travers les feuilles, Poissons d'or. All immaculately colored and sustained. Certainly not as "misty" as some play it, even masculine!

Second half was all Chopin. First Three Waltzes, Op 70/2, Op Posth, Op34/1, the last of which feeling like harbinger of the Polonaise to come. Then a less played Eccossaise, Op 72/3. Then Four Mazurkas, Op24, somewhat severe. Then the Tarantella Op 43. Concert concluded with the well known Polonaise in A-Flat, Op 53. 

Dang's Chopin style, like all his playing, is about refinement. Passion is to be found in the way notes are played and colored, not to the fore. But this is great piano playing!

Encores were a Chopin Waltz and Debussy's Golliwog's Cakewalk, the humor of which brought down the house. It was an all sold out concert! The venue manager told me tickets sold on on the first day!

Siberian Symphony Orchestra

Concert Review: Siberian Symphony Orchestra

Jan 7, 2024, Shenzhen Grand Theater

Siberian Symphony Orchestra - Dimitry Vasiliev

New Year Concert

My goodness! One week ago I was in heaven listening to the Russian State Academy Orchestra, and now I have to wax as much lyrics on the Siberians! This new year program is rather different too, being chock full of Russian Blockbusters.

The first half is Russian. Concert opened with 吕其明 红旗颂, quite forgettable really. Then came Glinka Russian and Ludmila. It was a little on the polite side but very well played, as were 2 interludes from Glazunov Raymonda. Then came a wild Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain, just spellbinding! This was followed by an atmospheric Borodin Polovitsian Dances.

The Second Half is Viennese. Three Strauss pieces, Russian March, Chinese Gallop and Emperor Waltz were Suppe Light Cavalry. Then followed Strauss In Pavlov Forest Polka (cu-cu) and the audience went wild! This was followed by 李焕之 春节序曲, which was alright. Then two more Strauss: Spring Voices and Tritsch-Trastch Polka.

Encores were wonderful. I knew all of them but by delaying the report I can't remember any of them! All I knew was that the near the end the audience were increasingly swept to their feet. The conductor by combinations of gestures was very good at working the audience. Despite the poor attendance (30 per cent or so) the audience was gratefully enthusiastic and involved.

The orchestra played on a very high level commensurate with the State Academy Symphony. The conductor was excellent. The strings are similarly small sized as the State Academy (touring formations). Similarly full sounding too! The only place where I wished they have the full force was in Night on Bald Mountain. Now, there was one woman (a very Russian sounding oboe) in the wind section and none in the brass. The sonorities were well blended and the Strauss waltzes a little more refined than the State Academy. An equally great concert! Come back soon!

The Grand Theater is an older venue but it looks quite well kept up and sonically very good!

State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia Evegeny Svetlanov

Click pics to enlarge. Marvelous hall!

Concert Review: State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evegeny Svetlanov”

Dec 30, 2023, Guangming Opera Theater 光明艺术中心 大剧场
State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evegeny Svetlanov”-Ayyub Guliyev
New Yea Program

I found out about this concert late, but within seconds I bought the cheapest ticket I could find (RMB280), as I had known about this orchestra all my life (from its former life as the USSR State, usually under the legendary Svetlanov, whose recordings we Russophiles know well), and it’s like a dream come true to actually hear them, even if generations removed! History of this illustrious orchestra here.

The concert venue was very far away, and I made a mistake getting there. Although I had gone there recently, this time I had mistaken the MTR stop, and overshot and had to back-track to make it there. So I had to forego dinner and made it to the concert just in time on an empty stomach.

Just recently I was at this venue for the Borodin String Quartet, but in the smaller Theater. This time it's in the Opera House. Both are magnificent. My seat was on the side balcony, very close to the stage, hovering over the fifth row.

From the opening blast of the Suppe Cavalry Overture, I knew I was in for a ride. The hall is marvelous acoustically. One could hear every strand. And what great bold brass playing to start!

Then came the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2. The orchestra played marvelously, but I had reservations about the piano sound of the soloist, Theodosia Ntokou, a Martha Argerich protege. The piano sound was not good and the lower registers just awful. For an encore, she played Chopin, quite inept if you ask me, in the New Year context. The best thing was that I heard from the orchestra totally authentic playing that is what Shosty should sound like. In this piece, as often with Shosty, there were many strands that you could find in his other works. Cheerful as it is, you can find strands that sound like those in many of his grimmest works, like Symphony No. 11 (The Year 1911). I wish one day I could hear this orchestra play a Shosty Symphony!

The second half opened with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, No. 1. Wow! Phew! This was the end-all! Best I’ve heard in my life up to now, whether on records or live! I don’t expect to hear better. Delicate as China Doll, yet grand as anything in loud moments, all the while with incomparable rhythmic elan. I jumped up and yelled Bravo. To me that was almost like the end of the concert!

Then followed the inevitable Johann Strauss. The Kaiser Waltz was grand. Then came the Perpetum Mobile. And the of course the Blue Danube! All were great, but perhaps a bit too Russian Bold. Not the gentle Austrian tuck here and there. Still marvelous though!

First encore was a sliver of what I think is 梁祝, then came the Dawn on Moscow River. The audience went wild. To conclude, some Chinese New Year music was played. The audience went from wild to beserk.

Which was a bit surprising. Attendance was perhaps 50% (balcony not even open) and a lot of them were children, including  toddlers. Some of the noisiest crowd I’ve come across. I complained, but was told the performers did not specify restriction for children under 1.2m, well! But, all’s well that ends well!

The orchestra was magnificent beyond words. Almost full strength, BUT for the strings, which were 10, 10, 8, 6, 4. Consider that chamber strength strings, but as I have come to know from experience of Russian orchestras, they sound considerably fuller than their numbers. To help with the situation, the seating was quite curious (see pic below). The brass and winds all the way to the right, as far away from the violins as possible, so as not to overwhelm them I’d think. The Winds were sensationally expressive. The Brass of course Russian assertive. And the great harp soloist! One fun thing is that the orchestra’s pianist (not the soloist) is an old guy who also played second violin! Another thing that I observed is that there was NO woman in both the Wind and Brass sections!!!! Old world!

The conductor was marvelous! Mindful of every little detail and dynamics, he was also very graceful in his movements, almost like a ballroom dancer! His body spoke music and dance!

My Concert of the Year! No, make that many years! Come back soon, please!