Jaap van Zweden -The Essential I Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Saturday
Every now and then a performance connects like a breath of fresh air as a reminder that classical music concerts in Hong Kong really are worth turning out for on a Saturday night.
Brahms would have been grateful to conductor Jaap van Zweden, who corrected the image of a stodgy old conservative forced upon the German composer by performances of Symphony No 4 that sounded more like a geriatric pedalling a harmonium than a truly romantic discourse.
Unifying the four movements in van Zweden's account with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra was a feeling of the wind constantly blowing from behind, injecting a sense of purpose both to momentary phrasing and the overall blueprint. A red-blooded, emotionally youthful opening movement was followed by a well-judged tempo for the andante moderato, steering between preciosity and stoicism to maintain a light tread. Shedding its potential to sound pugnacious, the third movement felt aerated throughout. And the finale laid out its set of variations like a swiftly dealt hand of cards, each with distinctive colour and character.
Whoever compiled the programme did the favour of introducing us to Wagenaar's concert overture Cyrano de Bergerac. Written 20 years after the Brahms symphony in 1905, the piece claims more affinity with the opulence of Richard Strauss' symphonic stories in sound; snatches almost have you thinking that Wagenaar borrowed from them in admiration. The orchestra responded to van Zweden's grip on the soul of the piece with an impressively disciplined performance.
The meat in the sandwich was Philip Glass' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, written as a ballet score for the Netherlands Dance Theatre and here receiving its Asian premiere. It was a joyless performance both from the orchestra and soloists, violinist Michael Guttman and cellist Wendy Sutter.