Midori plays Brahms
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
City Hall Concert Hall
27 June
Last Wednesday's typhoon signal No8 robbed the Hong Kong Philharmonic of rehearsal time, forcing a programme change for this concert. Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements was replaced by his 1919 version of The Firebird Suite, which, we were told, was 'more challenging' and 'more fun'.
Conductor David Atherton found optimum speeds for the details in King Kashchei's infernal romp for the piece to bite, for the Firebird's dance to soar, and for the red-hot brass to stoke a finale in which even louder support from the percussion wouldn't have gone amiss. The quieter connecting movements, however, were too big on melody and colour to plumb their fairytale magic.
