Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra deliver triumphant back-to-back Hong Kong concerts

The question of what makes an orchestra great is a constant source of discussion in classical music. Distinct, cultivated “bodies of sound” or Klangkörper – to use the German word – are what define the top, tradition-rich ensembles performing today. One of them, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, blessed Hong Kong with back-to-back concerts in the first week of June, featuring four pillars of the classical repertoire. Under the baton of their music director Andris Nelsons, the German ensemble, founded in 1781 and the oldest civic orchestra in existence, flaunted a depth and consensus in sound rarely heard. The Leipzig-based ensemble’s richness was on show right off the bat as they performed the opening allegro of Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto No. 5 in all its heroic pomp, with Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva shaping her regal, cadenza-like opening statements to match the muscularity of the orchestral chords. Avdeeva really came into her own later on, navigating the second movement – “Adagio un poco moto” – and its transformation from gentle to a quasi-march with focus and nimble technique. Nelsons set a hushed scene to capture the “holy calm and devotion” that Beethoven’s student Carl Czerny advised for this movement, guiding the warm, muted strings and spurring Avdeeva to converse with intimacy. The superb transition highlighted Beethoven’s stroke of genius to a tee, the orchestra perfectly shifting its hushed semitone back to the E-flat tonic to set up the “Rondo-Finale”. The jaunty syncopation was a delight, peppered with swelling string interjections. After the interval came a masterclass in performing Robert Schumann with the right blend of transparency and buoyancy. Clearly right in their wheelhouse, the players revelled in both the majestic drama found in the opening of his Symphony No. 1 – or Spring Symphony – and the ensuing bursts of joy that mark the allegro. The cello section’s yearning, impassioned playing stood out in the slow movement, and its conclusion, tenderly crafted by Nelsons, made for a moving and heartfelt larghetto. Combining effervescence with drama, the scherzo and its two trios were intricate precursors to a finale that sparkled with youthful vigour from go to whoa. Avdeeva also opened the orchestra’s second concert, though here as a noticeably more impassioned soloist in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s revered Piano Concerto No. 2. Visibly using the weight of her slight frame to build crescendos and sustain chordal intensity, she blended strength and sensitivity in a thoroughly satisfying performance. Though there were fewer surprises than in the Emperor on the previous evening, Avdeeva’s playing in the adagio was touching over the warmth of a softly muted string bed, and interacted lovingly with the solo clarinet. Nelsons and the “Leipzigers” gave a powerful conclusion to the Hong Kong leg of their tour, channelling the unbridled fury and desolation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. Given Nelsons’ affinity for Shostakovich’s music and his acclaimed recordings and performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra – where he is currently also at the helm – it was no surprise that the performance packed a punch. From poignant reiterations of Shostakovich’s musical signature DSCH (D, E flat, C and H – the equivalent of B in German) to heartfelt expressions of vulnerability and pain squeezed from the strings, the opening moderato was a roller coaster of emotion. Basses and cellos rumbled ominously, the principal clarinet touched with nuanced expression all within the realms of pianissimo, and the powerful central climax was nothing short of crushing. Even more terrifying, however, was the angry and angular allegro, a clear portrayal of Stalin that was underscored by poignant, unrelenting chugs from the lower strings that came seemingly from the bowels of the earth. Quirky and devilish playing marked a brilliantly sardonic allegretto, where the DSCH signature underwent its variety of twisted mutations with some skilled solo violin interjections from the orchestra’s concertmaster. Cheeky clarinets signalled something possibly more flippant to come in an allegro finale that brimmed with sprightly interplay, but as the screams of the composer’s signature escalated in their insistency and the brilliant bell-like brass chorales arrested, the true sense of “triumph” was, certainly in Shostakovich’s world, taken with a grain of salt. “Gewandhausorchester Leipzig”, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Reviewed: June 2 and 3, 2026.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra deliver triumphant back-to-back Hong Kong concerts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The German ensemble performed Beethoven, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich works over two nights at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

The German ensemble performed Beethoven, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich works over two nights at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre