Ningbo Symphony Orchestra Mahler 3

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Concert Review: Ningbo Symphony Orchestra Mahler 3

Sept 20, 2021, Shenzhen Grand Theater 深圳大剧院

Ningbo Symphony Orchestra 宁波交响乐团 - Yu Feng 俞峰 - Zhu Huiling 朱慧玲

Chorus of the Central Conservatory 中央音乐学院合唱团

Shenzhen Senior High School Lily Girls Choir 深圳高级中学百合合唱团

Mahler Symphony No. 3

While the threat of relatively nearby Fujian Province's COVID outbreak is still looming on the horizon, I lucked out on this narrow window (given the many previous cancellations, I am actually surprised that somehow the authorities here allowed these concerts, albeit at diminished capacity). Astonishingly, the second Mahler concert in 5 days!

Years of unprecedented economic growth in China had fueled the quest for cultural prestige, and with it growth of many symphony orchestras. A stone's throw away from China's leading orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, are (at least) the well established Hangzhou and Suzhou Symphony Orchestras and, the youngest, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra (established 2015). Keep in mind that these are all prosperous cities in China's most prosperous region. You may not know Ningbo is the largest port in the world (by tonnage handled) and ripples are still being felt around the world due to the worldwide shipping delays caused by its partial pause during a recent covid outbreak. Let's hope China's impending economic downturn does not impede the artistic growth of these orchestras.

A note on the venue. The SZ Grand Theater is an older (and nice) hall, home to its own medium sized orchestra (which I have never heard), which offers humbler fare than the larger Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (which usually plays in the bigger and acoustically superior Shenzhen Concert Hall). The wood-paneled hall looks rather like HK's City Halls. This is a hall that sounded good when I attended concerts here before, though previously I sat downstairs, not upstairs.

I'd let the cat out of the bag here. Despite a valiant effort, the Ningbo is not quite Shenzhen. It began promisingly enough. The all-important trombones and horns were very good in tutti, and the trumpets were secure. The first oboe's entry was not very good, but she proved excellent later, as did all the wind principals (great clarinet soloist). As the gargantuan first movement unfolded, serious weaknesses manifested themselves. The horns are of supreme importance in this work, and the section sounded well enough when they played loudly in unison. However, when the level dropped to (mezzo) forte and below, they lost expression and became very bland, even tenuous. And then the strings, which were obviously of smaller size and impact than their Shenzhen counterpart. I am not sure whether the acoustics played a part - they sounded uncomfortably grainy when pushed.

The veteran conductor is an important figure in China. He still is head of the Central Conservatory. He moved things steadily on and navigated transitions skillfully, but was not necessarily the most expressive. As an example, the Minuet lacked lilt and the scherzo could have used more fantasy. The two vocal movements could also have been more hushed. The older ladies were in the back and the Girls Choir squeezed onto the front, on both sides. They sang well enough but I missed a Boy's Choir. Best was the Alto, who had great (even regal) poise and sang like an angel. In my opinion she's up there with the best of her western counterparts I have heard. Wunderbar!

I was rather taken aback by the Finale. It was taken at a speed significantly faster than I'd have liked (definitely not Langsam; and I am not even an advocate for ultra slow speed here) and even at the critical beginning it was not hushed enough. It was all symphonically geared towards the brassy climaxes. This was well played but not the Mahler I know; in fact I know of no performance or recording that sounds like this one. But I'd concede that this, one of the greatest Mahler movements, had always upended interpreters.

The orchestra had a hectic schedule for this tour (see the official blog here, in Chinese but with pics). On the 17th, they rehearsed for 10 hours back home. On the 18th, they flew to Guangzhou and rehearsed with the Choirs (the children's choir is local and different from this performance). On the 19th they performed in Guangzhou. On the 20th, they travelled to Shenzhen (less than 3 hours by bus) and gave this concert (surely with rehearsal with the Lily Choir). I am not sure whether they were heading for other nearby cities afterwards. Perhaps the hectic schedule and consecutive night performances took its toll.

In recent concerts, especially those in venues I rarely visit (like here and the Longgang), I wonder how much the hall contributes to the grainy sound (not only of the Ningbo, but also of the China National Opera). To be fair to the Ningbo, I streamed several of their concerts online and tried to determine their sound.

I watched on their official website the 2021 Second Viennese School Concert (Berg Violin Concerto; Schoenberg Five Pieces and Webern Pasagcalia). I also watched the 2020 Beethoven 8th (with excellent introduction of the piece and some players) conducted by the diminutive but very charming Chen Lin 陈琳, former student of Yu Feng and now vice-chair of the Conducting Dept in the Central Conservatory (bio). Both are good performances in virtual concerts, playing to an empty hall. I think I hear some of the deficiencies I heard in this concert. Dry strings and weak horns. I also streamed their excellent pre-pandemic 2019 Shoatakovich 5th under the redoubtable Zhang Gouyong 张国勇 (pupil of the great Gennadi Rozdhestventsky). Now, this was to a full hall and the orchestra sounded just fuller. The concerts I heard were half capacity and perhaps that had affected the sound. Lack of playing time together during the pandemic surely is a factor too. Something to really think about!

Despite their severely challenged production value, the videos manage to show a very young orchestra working hard. All in all, I'd love to hear this orchestra again, under better circumstances. And I sure would like to hear Chen Lin live one day!

I cannot help to air my feeling about mobilizing such big forces during the pandemic. Tours are all about garnishing prestige, especially for second-tier orchestras. Everybody (including the HKPO) does it, and when back home reports are always full of hyperboles lauding the success. I am sure Maestro Yu has a lot of pull in China, but I do feel perhaps he could have done it without such extravagance by selecting a showpiece that does not require soloist and double choirs. One has to use privilege carefully. Shenzhen has a superior orchestra that can deliver all of this without effort. In fact, the SZSO had performed this piece before under its former director Ehwald (my attendance chronicled here; wow, 10 years ago!). It made do with less resources, to even better effect.

Let me not be misunderstood. I am very enthusiastic about the state of the Chinese Orchestra. I follow them closely and root for them. In fact, I am planning on an article on all these interesting regional orchestras and under sung conductors.