THE HK PHILHARMONIC, Mikhail Rudy, pianist City Hall Concert Hall STEPPING in for the electrifying Carl St. Clair, (the American had to return home because of an illness in the family), resident conductor Wing-sie Yip will have earned brownie points for her conducting.
Truth to tell, though, she was effortlessly upstaged by the pianist of the evening, Mikhail Rudy.
A Tashkent native living in France, he is simply one of the most dynamic young pianists to come our way in years. His recent recordings of Liszt have astonished critics.
Internationally, his concert appearances are sellouts almost everywhere. Hong Kong, predictably, is that gloomy 'almost'.
Little publicity was given to this dashing young artist - and City Hall was only half filled for this gala appearance.
To make it easy on himself, Rudy played two works from his two homelands: concertos by Prokofiev and Ravel. But both were stunning.