Camerata Salzburg
Concert Hall, HK City Hall
Reviewed: October 22
Chamber orchestra Camerata Salzburg gave a lively, refined and cliche-free performance of an all-Mozart programme on Sunday evening at City Hall, as part of a concert series celebrating the composer's 250th birthday.
The K136 Divertimento, an early work for strings that opened the concert, highlighted the chamber orchestra's style - one that combined the leanness of period performance with the human touch of traditional Mozart playing. The string sound was velvety and shimmering, displaying fine legato, brisk articulation and clearly delineated phrases. The musicians' vigorous playing never became boorish, nor did their dynamic contrast ever disrupt the elegance of the piece.
Violin Concerto No5 followed, with Julian Rachlin as soloist. The performance had the lively intimacy of a high-calibre chamber recital. Rachlin's tone occasionally seemed too small to project above the orchestra - perhaps he should have played more imposingly. But his virtuosity in the cadenzas, his fastidious attention to tone colours and shades of emotion in the Adagio, and his endearing, conversational manner in the Rondo all attested to the artistry of this renowned violinist.
