What it’s like rehearsing for a concert with a storm blowing in: how Typhoon Saola dashed Hong Kong composer’s world premiere for a second time
- Covid delayed the premiere of Charles Kwong’s Piano Concerto in 2021. Then pianist Colleen Lee and Hong Kong Sinfonietta were set to premiere it on September 1
- Orchestra and soloist met for a rehearsal knowing Typhoon Saola was likely to scupper the concert, the music uncannily reflecting the gathering storm outside
How does it feel to be rehearsing for a musical world premiere and then discover, halfway through, that the concert is unlikely to happen?
The Hong Kong Sinfonietta, piano soloist Colleen Lee, guest conductor Clemens Schuldt and composer Charles Kwong found themselves in just such a situation last Thursday, the day before the ill-timed Super Typhoon Saola would scupper the first performance of a piano concerto written by Kwong, who had already waited more than two years for this major work to see the light of day.
The 20-minute, single-movement piece was commissioned by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta when Kwong was the orchestra’s “artist associate” in 2020-2022. Its original premiere was supposed to be in 2021, but was cancelled because the Covid-19 pandemic led to a ban on public performances.
By midweek, the possibility of cancellation was already in the air. The predictions on different storm tracking sites had begun to converge, with all of them predicting a direct hit for Hong Kong.
The reason there was still a rehearsal was because of the frustrating uncertainty about the progress of a storm which ultimately spared the city a direct hit while still causing damage and extensive disruption.
I’ve never come across this sort of situation before. This is my first typhoon
There was as yet no indication from the Hong Kong Observatory whether it expected to issue a No 8 storm signal by late afternoon the following day, when the concert was scheduled. The performance was to go ahead if the typhoon signal in force three hours before the 8pm start time was lower than a No 8.
“There is still a chance that the concert will happen. Otherwise, it would be very hard for any of us to focus on the rehearsal! But it certainly feels like 2019 again,” said Kwong, as he entered the concert hall with remarkable cheeriness at 2pm.
Schuldt, music director designate of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec in Canada, had flown in on August 29 specifically to conduct the Sinfonietta concert, which was also to have featured Weber’s Euryanthe Overture and Brahms’ heroic Symphony No 1 in C minor.
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“I’ve never come across this sort of situation before. This is my first typhoon,” he said. “Right now, I haven’t got room in my head to think about anything apart from the music. All I want to do is to work on getting everything perfect.”
“There’s nothing we can do. It’s all up to the sky,” she said, as she took her position at the piano.
When the rehearsal began, it became clear at once that the music was strangely in tune with what was happening outside.
Kwong had explained that he wanted to depict the coming together of two different worlds and how it would lead to clashes as well as convergence.
The Post was only allowed to attend the rehearsal on the understanding that there wasn’t going to be a review. Suffice to say, when piano and orchestra began the piece pussy-footing around each other with trepidation, it felt very much like the nervous anticipation of impending escalation.
The violins provided a great deal of tension in the upper register and the liberal use of portamento added to the general sense of unease. Then the storm broke, with thunderous percussion.
At 3pm came the breaking news that portended a worst-case scenario: the government had called off the start of the new school term on Friday. Later that evening, Kwong would announce on Facebook that the concert was cancelled.
Still, the rehearsal continued, with Schuldt saying to the technicians from the stage: “I don’t know if there’s going to be a concert. But let’s make a recording of us playing, for Charles.”
