Hong Kong Sinfonietta City Hall Concert Hall January 9 Hong Kong's 'little band' belied its audience with the big sound it produced at the Sunday evening concert featuring a local orchestral showpiece and two popular works from the romantic period.
In the capable hands of its music director, Tsung Yeh, who had conducted major orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony and the St Louis Symphony, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta displayed zeal and power with local composer Richard Tsang's Overture for Orchestra.
Premiered in 1985, the youthful work features dazzling brass and percussion in a series of variations. The exciting four-part fugal finale drove the orchestra to a triumphant culmination.
Unlike some modern compositions, the work is rich in tone and the melodic line is fairly approachable.
In Chopin's First Piano Concerto in E minor, the Paris-based pianist Chen Jiang performed to the Hong Kong audience the work that won her recognition in Switzerland. While her mastery over the piece is unquestionable, especially in the big chords in the first and third movements, some of her phrasing and the use of rubato may be idiosyncratic, if not narcissistic, to some ears. Jiang seemed to take an introverted reading of the score and at times sounded rambling on the keyboard.
That individualistic approach may, however, fit quite well with the concert theme: Romancing Clara And George. There were undoubtedly affectionate passages, such as the serene second movement with effective accompaniment by the orchestra, which played a strong supportive (and at times leading) role throughout. The orchestra and the soloist took a dangerously breathtaking pace in the final movement. The effect was a sheer display of bravura and pianism from the 26-year old Shanghai virtuoso.
