Mahler's Resurrection Symphony Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Concert Hall, Hong Kong
Cultural Centre
Reviewed: February 16
Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony is a roller-coaster ride, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra kept a packed audience enthralled last Thursday.
Under the firm baton of Dutch conductor Edo de Waart, the tempo was generally brisk, and the 90-minute performance was structured and clean. There was an occasional aloofness that ran against the passion that's so central in Mahler's music. The balance, too, was problematic. An excess of percussion, especially the gong and the triangle, upset the intricate sectional equilibrium for the orchestral and, later, the choral forces.