De Waart meets Wang Jian
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
Reviewed: Jan 11
Chen Qigang's contemporary composition Wu Xing (The Five Elements) is an impressive feat of orchestration, in which textures and instrumental tone colours are expertly manipulated to produce five short but exquisite sketches relating to the elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal.
There was no intellectual aloofness in this performance, just the challenge of figuring out how some of the effects were achieved. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's turn under Edo de Waart was one to relish.
Dazzling orchestration isn't the hallmark of Schumann's Symphony No3. Pure joy is, and Schumann spreads it around the five movements with variable buoyancy. Even the pious counterpoint of the fourth movement floats on air, which this performance caught beautifully. Elsewhere, the orchestra generated a wonderful sense of synchronised poise, topped off by tasteful detail in phrasing. Only the first movement disappointed with its emotional restraint.
