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Sam Olluver

Rachel Cheung - A Rising Star

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert Hall, Cultural Centre

Reviewed: January 13

Friday's zippy performance of Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, with  narrative by Kathy Lam, told us two things: first, that the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra   can strut its stuff; and second,  that it was a children's concert.

Unfortunately,  this didn't apply to the rest of the programme. The first half was rescued, to a degree, by  Rachel Cheung's performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No4.  The 14-year-old   is technically assured and  lacked persuasion only in the cadenza's calls for  strength and rhapsodic gesture.

But the orchestral role was completely off beam. Conductor Edo de Waart kept his players firmly in the background through-out, frequently leaving Cheung high and dry to deal with passages that should have been shared.

Mozart's Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio opened the evening,  and was played with kill-joy restraint. The cymbals and drum were made  to sound as though they were playing backstage, leaving the exposed triangle sounding like an unanswered telephone.

Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves paradoxically drew dramatic gestures in artless, two-part passagework,  while allowing anaemia to drain the lush, green-field textures of the outer sections.

Only in John Williams' orchestral suite from Star Wars  did everyone relax. Credited with restoring the symphonic element to film soundtracks, Williams' music  hits the spot.

The suite has a shelf life of about  20 minutes, which is no problem, since that's how long it takes to perform.  That it was played for all it was worth in  the right style just about rescued  the evening.  The two little girls  behind me who suddenly sat still and listened obviously thought so, too.



Rachel Cheung - A Rising Star