After the series of misfortune and disappointment in this year's HK Arts Festival (which I think worth no further mentioning here at all but I'm sure all the other classical music fanatics would know exactly what I mean), I was soon again dismay and shocked by knowing that Hong Kong had failed to secure a concert by the well-known Roger Norrington and his Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known as SWR) here during their Asian tour, that instead included Macau and Shenzhen before going on to perform in the opening concert in Shanghai EXPO, and later to Beijing, Seoul and Japan.
With the glorious history of SWR and its line-up of famous conductors from Carl Schuricht and Hans Knappertsbusch to Sergiu Celibidache and Georges Pretre to the current Principal Conductor Roger Norrington, the orchestra's own trademark sound was secured with a vast repertoire and gigantic discography. All these tempted me to travel during a weekday to experience this "Stuttgart Sound" for the very first time.
The Programme showed the root of the Conductor - with the obvious "England" theme. So, the concert opened with Haydn's Oxford Symphony in D major No. 101 and ended with Elgar's Enigma Variations, while the Prokofiev's Third piano concerto was "enigmatically" performed in between, featuring an 18-year-old ABC pianist Huang Ci.
Before hearing a sound, something spectacular was noted from just the line-up of the orchestral members on stage for the opening classical symphony: The Strings (8/8/4/4/4) was unusually seated, with the first and second violins splitted on each side, sandwiching the cello and viola while the 4 double basses were placed horizontally in a row at the back behind them, just before the timpani, and between 2 horns and 2 trumpets on each sides. What's more bizarre was 2 flutes and 2 oboes standing on the left, behind the first violin while 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons standing on the right and behind the second violin!
Relating to this particular seating plan or not, the Haydn symphony was played wonderfully, with all the sections blended in perfectly. The sound was slim but warm and focused, transparent and clean yet in unison and harmony at every place. I was reminded of the sound of the early-instrument ensemble. Later, I found out that their deliberate lack of vibrato and the obsessively detailed phrasing and delicate dynamic control are the reasons, which Norrington's conducting (without the baton or the podium) was focusing all the way instead of steadily and merely beating time. Also, I found his choices of tempo (on the fast side for all movements) remarkable and the occasional speed change very convincing. He had a very good grasp of the whole framework and feel within each movement, and the resulted execution through the orchestra was exceptional, regardless of the simple and boringly-repeating "clock ticking" in the second movement, the dance-provoking minuet or the exuberant and powerful musical flow in the final. I simply can't think of a better Haydn symphony interpretation than this historically-awared and skillful playing.
However, I found the adoption of such a continuously vibrato-less playing a bit awkward and strange in the Prokofiev's concerto. Even after the expansion of the strings (12/12/6/6/6) and doubling the horns with the addition of 3 trombones, the sound was still a bit too slim to match the "wild and coarse" Russian tone. Besides, there was a carelessly notable slip in the oboe solo in the first movement and some minor tone defect in the horn and trumpet sections. Having said that, since the orchestral role there was just accompaniment, I guess it's still acceptable. What's not acceptable is the soloist's technical accomplishment far exceeding her musicality, together with her lack of expressing suitably the content of the music. Therefore, we witnessed her able and smooth tackling of this challenging music, especially the fast and demanding passages through her nimble and powerful fingers (though occasionally a bit too rushed and ahead of the orchestra), without really having a clear blueprint in mind in view of the structure and direction of the piece. More to it, she failed to enchant the audience emotionally or even sing poetically in the middle slow and endearing movement of variations. Her weaknesses were exemplified further through her choices of two virtuoso and technically dazzling yet musically shallow or empty show-off transcriptions of Gershwin's "Embraceable You" and Mozart's "Turkish March" as her encores. Quite a disappointing playing of this originally attracting and virtuoso concerto. Anyway, I'm now looking forward to Yuja Wang's performance of this same piece with HKPO next month~
After the intermission, a bigger orchestra was finally seen (strings:16/14/12/10/8) on stage for Elgar's Enigma Variations, and their version of it was full of surprises and inspiration. Once again, the vibrato-free pure tone sound of Stuttgart was used, and to my surprise, it still sounded quite effective and emotional even for this piece of very romantic music, for instance the famous Nimrod variation. It's good to listen to such a clean and innocent orchestral sound instead of the highly romanticised Hollywood style with vigorous and continuous vibrato which we're accustomed to nowadays. Also, the tempo used was "unconventional", so that the fast variations were played slower than usual and the slow variations were played a bit faster. It sounded a bit peculiar for those who are familiar with this music at the beginning, but later I was convinced that with this lessened tempo contrast among the variations, the fluency and coherence of the whole music were much enhanced. Furthermore, with this steadier and "medium" speed together with the pure tone of the orchestra, some inner voices, structures and contrapunctal lines which were usually obscured were now shown much clearer, and were expressed even better through Norrington's carefully analytical reading of the music. Regardless of some minor performing errors from the orchestra there, this was an alternative and acceptable yet not very crowd-pleasing version to this well-known piece. I'm sure not everyone would love it, but still no one could deny it either. I myself found this "Stuttgart Sound" experience "ear-opening" and this short trip worthwhile. And I returned home with the tune of the short encore piece of that evening - Walton's Polka from his "Facade" suite - echoing in my ears all the way.
Jan 16, 2010
AVATAR
-"I SEE YOU"-
What's the fuzz and buzz about James Cameron's AVATAR?????
Call me old-fashioned or out-dated as you wish, but I simply don't get it! It's such a huge disappointment to me.
OK, I know it's been 13 years since his last cinematic output - TITANIC.
And even before that, as a writer/director, he never failed to impress the audience, with the blockbusters and masterpieces one after another, including the Abyss, Aliens, Terminator 1&2, and True Lies.
But Am I the only one who feel that he's losing his touch with the latest AVATAR?????
The story is simply simple and highly predictable enough with a well-calculated formula :
( Dances with Wolves + Pocahontas + Surrogates ) x ( Motion-captured CG technology ) to the power of 3D
Have anyone actually seen these 3 movies?
And Motion-Captured CG or 3D technology are mainstream in movie industry nowadays too!
So, there's actually Nothing new or original, at least nothing I've never seen before! (And did anyone feel the intense influence by Hayao Miyazaki's various works on James Cameron's AVATAR????)
People may argue that the special effects and action sequences are spectacular in AVATAR, which I won't disagree, on knowing the time and money they've invested into this movie........
However, since when do people care more about computer generated effects rather than the plots, characters and the acting? (Similarly, I hope in the field of classical music, people won't go for technique over musicality....)
To make it worse, it really bothers me after knowing that AVATAR earned 4 nominations from the Golden Globe, including best director and best picture!!!!!!!!! Keep my fingers crossed to see it miss all. I wish his ex-wife's Hurt Locker would win instead.
Come on!!!!! I would rather see the 3-hour-long yet remarkable Dances with wolves again and again, or the Disney's not-so-good 2D animation of Pocahontas instead of this soul-less AVATAR.
Honestly, Avatar is not boring overall, but it seems to be dragging and not quite entertaining due to its routine execution, mediocre acting, cliche plots, stupid dialogue, inappropriately overuse of voice-over, plus the over-dependency on the virtual visual and visceral stimulation...........(the last half an hour of continuing explosive actions did numb my brain)
In addition the HK$100+ ticket price is actually not worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, to summarize by using the mindless catch-phrase from the movie : "I see you, James Cameron, that you've run out of tricks and you're aiming solely for our pockets now!"
On reviewing the year 2009, the movie industry really sucked the big time.
That may account for the nominations of AVATAR after all, since not many good movies were worthy of seeing over the past year.
I saw very few movies as a result (my personal new low, perhaps), and even fewer that were actually good.
I carefully dodged the bullets of those shitty sequel blockbusters like Transformer 2, Harry Potter and the blah blah blah, New Moon, Wolverine, Night at the Museum 2, Angels and Demons, SAW nth, Fast and the Furious nth, Final Destination nth.......
In my humble yet subjective opinion, the good ones in 2009 which worth mentioning include:
Pixar's UP,
(500) days of Summer,
Slumdog Millionaire,
9 (I meant the 3D-animation), and
"District 9"
All are still sticking to my mind due to their originality, vision, freshness, inspiring and entertaining value at the same time.
And for sheer popcorn entertainment or big laugh, "Hangover", "In Bruges" and "Star Trek" all came up to my mind.
Sorry that I can't compile a top 10 list aimlessly like many religiously did, for there are really just this handful of movies that I dare classify as good and entertaining in the year of 2009.
Wish that around the Award season later this year, some really good movies would appear in HK.
Dec 17, 2009
Edo de Waart's Last Round : Das Lied von der Erde
Das Lied von der Erde
4th December 2009 8pm
Hong Kong Cultural Center Concert Hall
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor - Edo de Waart
Mezzo-soprano - Sasha Cooke
Tenor - Stephen Gould
Programme:
Osvaldo Golijov - Last Round
Gustav Mahler - The Song of the Earth
Not counting the gigantic Symphony No.8, Edo de Waart had finally finished his Mahler cycle earlier this month, ending his long-term dream project with the HKPO since his arrival here as their artistic director seven years ago. So, the concert started suitably, but not coincidentally, with a short piece called "Last Round" by the Argentinean contemporary composer Osvaldo Golijov for a small string orchestra, followed by Mahler's The Song of the Earth after the intermission.
"Last Round" is written as a highly-likable and easy-listening tango music, which is interesting even visually per se, since the orchestra was divided into two equal parts and seated as mirror-images on each side, with the double bass at the back in the center as the dividing junction. The piece started solely with 2 string quartets interacting and intervening with each other not unlike the tango dancers during the dance. However, the right sided quartet was not at all a good counterpart in terms of precision, dynamics and tone control all the way, and so the old saying of "it takes two to tango" unavoidably came to my mind. Things became better in the slower second movement with the whole string section joining in, and the attractive jazzy tango theme played lazily and leisurely. Unfortunately after the Kremerata Baltica's marvelous tango music showcased a week before, I found both de Waart's handling and orchestra's playing somehow boring and not capturing the spirit or even in the right mood at all.
But who cared about that? Many people like me were paying to see Das Lied von der Erde only, right? And "Last Round" was just a considerate gesture by HKPO to wait for the last round of latecomers, perhaps. So, with no further delay, we were treated with a well polished and fully prepared playing there. The orchestra played better and better progressively, especially during the slow movements, after a fairly unfocused start in the first movement. The woodwind family was the main attraction and noticeable hero there, since they played enchantingly and movingly, particularly in giving the appropriate Autumn atmosphere in the Der Einsame in Herbst.
Then in Von der Jugend, though the orchestra sounded a bit too heavy and rushed, Mr. Gould's voice was nevertheless expressive and penetrative, regaining its power after the somehow straining and struggling in the opening movement. Regardless of the sometimes too harsh and too intense Strings, Ms Cooke was at her best in the following movement Von der Schönheit, where she demonstrated vividly her absolute control of her lucid voice in terms of dynamic changes, phrasings and tone colour, giving us a truly beautiful and memorable brief movement. Then Der Trunkene im Frühling was a slight disappointment due to the overall suboptimal execution by the orchestra, while the final lengthy movement was played very satisfactorily but with the sense of longing and yearning missing. I've always expected a more emotional "ewig" instead of this sort of bidding farewell with sheer calm acceptance.
I know it's just a matter of point of view or way of interpretation. Edo de Waart, just as we all know and should expect from, like his reading of Mahler's ninth symphony last season, gave us this Das Lied in a very clean, even straight-forward and plain-spoken way. His Mahler may sound too cold, too calm and too peaceful without a hint of conflict, despair and self-rationalisation. I personally can't find this approach convincing for the final works of Mahler (post-Synphony no.8 to be exact), including this Song of the Earth particularly. I simply felt something's gone missing after the concert...................
4th December 2009 8pm
Hong Kong Cultural Center Concert Hall
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor - Edo de Waart
Mezzo-soprano - Sasha Cooke
Tenor - Stephen Gould
Programme:
Osvaldo Golijov - Last Round
Gustav Mahler - The Song of the Earth
Not counting the gigantic Symphony No.8, Edo de Waart had finally finished his Mahler cycle earlier this month, ending his long-term dream project with the HKPO since his arrival here as their artistic director seven years ago. So, the concert started suitably, but not coincidentally, with a short piece called "Last Round" by the Argentinean contemporary composer Osvaldo Golijov for a small string orchestra, followed by Mahler's The Song of the Earth after the intermission.
"Last Round" is written as a highly-likable and easy-listening tango music, which is interesting even visually per se, since the orchestra was divided into two equal parts and seated as mirror-images on each side, with the double bass at the back in the center as the dividing junction. The piece started solely with 2 string quartets interacting and intervening with each other not unlike the tango dancers during the dance. However, the right sided quartet was not at all a good counterpart in terms of precision, dynamics and tone control all the way, and so the old saying of "it takes two to tango" unavoidably came to my mind. Things became better in the slower second movement with the whole string section joining in, and the attractive jazzy tango theme played lazily and leisurely. Unfortunately after the Kremerata Baltica's marvelous tango music showcased a week before, I found both de Waart's handling and orchestra's playing somehow boring and not capturing the spirit or even in the right mood at all.
But who cared about that? Many people like me were paying to see Das Lied von der Erde only, right? And "Last Round" was just a considerate gesture by HKPO to wait for the last round of latecomers, perhaps. So, with no further delay, we were treated with a well polished and fully prepared playing there. The orchestra played better and better progressively, especially during the slow movements, after a fairly unfocused start in the first movement. The woodwind family was the main attraction and noticeable hero there, since they played enchantingly and movingly, particularly in giving the appropriate Autumn atmosphere in the Der Einsame in Herbst.
Then in Von der Jugend, though the orchestra sounded a bit too heavy and rushed, Mr. Gould's voice was nevertheless expressive and penetrative, regaining its power after the somehow straining and struggling in the opening movement. Regardless of the sometimes too harsh and too intense Strings, Ms Cooke was at her best in the following movement Von der Schönheit, where she demonstrated vividly her absolute control of her lucid voice in terms of dynamic changes, phrasings and tone colour, giving us a truly beautiful and memorable brief movement. Then Der Trunkene im Frühling was a slight disappointment due to the overall suboptimal execution by the orchestra, while the final lengthy movement was played very satisfactorily but with the sense of longing and yearning missing. I've always expected a more emotional "ewig" instead of this sort of bidding farewell with sheer calm acceptance.
I know it's just a matter of point of view or way of interpretation. Edo de Waart, just as we all know and should expect from, like his reading of Mahler's ninth symphony last season, gave us this Das Lied in a very clean, even straight-forward and plain-spoken way. His Mahler may sound too cold, too calm and too peaceful without a hint of conflict, despair and self-rationalisation. I personally can't find this approach convincing for the final works of Mahler (post-Synphony no.8 to be exact), including this Song of the Earth particularly. I simply felt something's gone missing after the concert...................
Nov 29, 2009
Kremerata Baltica in Hong Kong
I am sure there's no classical music lover in Hong Kong who doesn't know Gidon Kremer.
That's why I can't understand why the Cultural Centre concert hall was just half-full earlier this month when he and his Kremerata Baltica gave a concert there.
Even the programme itself (apart from contemporary composer Šerkšnytė, whose name I have to use "copy and paste" function to put it correctly-spelt here) is not that scary or off-putting.
For example, minimalism devotee Arvo Part composed many easy-listening music which are chosen for many films as atmospheric background music, and his Fratres is perhaps one of his most popular and well-known piece that has many versions for different instruments and various ensembles. Its chant-like sacred melody on repetitive chord progressions may sound deceptively easy to play, however, the introductory segment with the rapid series of notes of the "dissected" chords played steadily by solo violin in gradual crescendo might already impose great technical challenge to any well-established violinist, not to mention some very high notes played by overtones and many multiple stops that need to be tackled later on. Besides the solo part, the sustain, the tone colour and dynamics of the Strings are also demanding as well, which need the utmost concentration from the members. However, the technical aspects aside, if played well and appropriately, this music is highly enjoyable and dauntingly beautiful, like what I experienced that evening.
The Fratres led perfectly into the next piece, the Midsummer Song by the relatively unknown contemporary composer I mentioned above. Though very new to me, the music was mostly atmospheric and was quite descriptive of the changes within the day of Summer Solace. It used various special techniques to create many sound effects on the strings, and members seem to be playing individually and separately most of the time to generate these effects. Without Kremer leading in this piece, this young ensemble proved its status and worth in interpreting new compositions. Overall, a very solid and absorbing ensemble playing there.
13 November 2009 (Fri) 8pm
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Programme
Pärt- Fratres for Violin, Strings and Percussion
Šerkšnytė- Midsummer Song for Strings (commissioned work for Kremerata Baltica, 2009)
Schubert- Rondo for Violin and Strings
Piazzolla- Suite Punta del Este
Mozart- Serenata Notturna, K239
That's why I can't understand why the Cultural Centre concert hall was just half-full earlier this month when he and his Kremerata Baltica gave a concert there.
Even the programme itself (apart from contemporary composer Šerkšnytė, whose name I have to use "copy and paste" function to put it correctly-spelt here) is not that scary or off-putting.
For example, minimalism devotee Arvo Part composed many easy-listening music which are chosen for many films as atmospheric background music, and his Fratres is perhaps one of his most popular and well-known piece that has many versions for different instruments and various ensembles. Its chant-like sacred melody on repetitive chord progressions may sound deceptively easy to play, however, the introductory segment with the rapid series of notes of the "dissected" chords played steadily by solo violin in gradual crescendo might already impose great technical challenge to any well-established violinist, not to mention some very high notes played by overtones and many multiple stops that need to be tackled later on. Besides the solo part, the sustain, the tone colour and dynamics of the Strings are also demanding as well, which need the utmost concentration from the members. However, the technical aspects aside, if played well and appropriately, this music is highly enjoyable and dauntingly beautiful, like what I experienced that evening.
The Fratres led perfectly into the next piece, the Midsummer Song by the relatively unknown contemporary composer I mentioned above. Though very new to me, the music was mostly atmospheric and was quite descriptive of the changes within the day of Summer Solace. It used various special techniques to create many sound effects on the strings, and members seem to be playing individually and separately most of the time to generate these effects. Without Kremer leading in this piece, this young ensemble proved its status and worth in interpreting new compositions. Overall, a very solid and absorbing ensemble playing there.
However, when Kremer returned as the soloist in Schubert's Rondo, it seemed like a bit of a let-down after those 2 contemporary pieces. Not that they played badly (in fact, without a conductor, Kremer and the ensemble had no difficulty at all in going in sync even at every tempo changes), but their playing might sound a bit too intense for Schubert's style. Also, it seemed to me that Kremer was doing sight-reading and almost playing "impromptu" in this one. So a minor flaw along the way was forgivable, I guess.......
Luckily, the highlight came after the intermission when they played the Tango music by Piazzolla. The whole audience was aroused and I even heard some "beats" and "motions" generated behind me in the third movement of this Suite. The energy of the ensemble was palpable and their music was infectious. The solo percussionist was having great fun himself there alongside Kremer and it showed in the music they generated.
Finally, and interestingly, they brought us the most famous and formal piece of music in the whole evening - Serenada Notturna by Mozart. Scored similar to a concerto grosso between the strings and a quartet of 2 violins, a viola and a double bass (where Kremer adopted the position of second violin supporting the first violin played by ensemble's concertmaster), they played this piece incredibly well and suitably Mozartian until the final Rondo movement where the quartet members improvised in the style of Jazz propagated by the plucking of double bass, or at one instant even a fragment of Tchaikovsky's concerto by the menacing Kremer! Not a traditional classical concert but definitely a great fun overall, as exemplified by the encore pieces including an extremely beautifully played Oblivion by Piazzolla, followed by the interesting excerpts of Heidrich's Happy Birthday variations......
13 November 2009 (Fri) 8pm
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Programme
Pärt- Fratres for Violin, Strings and Percussion
Šerkšnytė- Midsummer Song for Strings (commissioned work for Kremerata Baltica, 2009)
Schubert- Rondo for Violin and Strings
Piazzolla- Suite Punta del Este
Mozart- Serenata Notturna, K239
Nov 16, 2009
Matthew Trusler's Mendelssohn
Playing on a 1711 Stradivarius with one of Heifetz’s bows and having studied with Ruggiero Ricci, young violinist Matthew Trusler playing the Mendelssohn's violin concerto became the main attraction in this HK sinfonietta concert (at least to me). Little did I know that it was in fact the highlight of the whole evening. Honestly, it was not outstanding already. So it showed how disappointing this concert was.
The concert started with a commissioned new orchestral work by local composer George Lam. I admire and respect these new commissions for local young composers from time to time by HKS (while HKPO have the resources but no guts to do so). "The Queen's Gramophone", as the composer himself explained briefly on stage before its world premiere performance, is his imaginative "recollection" of our Hong Kong in the 1960s. How this young composer can write something about the place he left when he was 10 and about the era before his birth is beyond my understanding. Anyway, the music started with a slow and "lazy" dance melody (partly French and partly Spanish style to me) introduced by the bassoon over the pizzicato bass. The melody then was developed with transformation in terms of rhythm, harmonisation and instrumention, until it was chaotic enough to be recognised in the climax. Afterwards, the clarinet introduced the refreshing and jazzy dance music over the mellow brass, which interestingly have a similar texture of Wong Kar Wai's film music. The music however gradually and slowly died away in the end.
Yip Wing-sie's interpretation and leading was a bit plain and cautious, and the tempo changes were not done well and convincingly. A little more imagination and flexibility would be better for this "soundtrack-like" music. It didn't do the music enough justice, for it could neither stimulate emotion nor image from the audience. The bassoon and clarinet did quite well for their solo passages nevertheless.
In the Mendelssohn's violin concerto, Trusler's violin produced a distinctively sharp and penetrative sound. While many young soloists try to play this piece slower and to drill on the details, Trusler played it in a faster pace and in a straight-forward way as if it's a classical period music. He didn't use the vibrato excessively, and he avoided the temptation to romanticize the 2nd movement like everyone else nowadays. Instead, he concentrated on the momentum and articulation of the music. I found his spiccato especially amazing, and resulted in a red-hot exciting and vibrant final movement. Having said that, some very high notes were not steadily reached, and he even somehow resorted to "cheating" by using slides unnecessarily, which I strongly protested. The orchestra was not helping much either, as it was lagging behind the soloist slightly most of the time. Anyhow, in response to the warm applause of the audience, he jokingly said that he wishes to move here before awarded us the virtuosic scherzo by Kreisler, which sounded very well indeed (though not as Zino):
However, nothing prepared me for the disappointing Beethoven's 8th Symphony after the intermission. The tempo was too fast (I guess no one would stick to Beethoven's "crazy" metronomic indications nowadays for the big modern orchestra!), the "thick" sound too poorly controlled that it's intimidating and even suffocating. All I could experience was the repeated rhythmic strong blows to my head throughout without any harmonic layering or fine orchestral details shown, which were all lost in the forcefully energised propulsion. Maybe I don't understand fully and I can't appreciate them enough, but I thought Beethoven's 8th is one of his "smallest" and "lightest" symphonies until I heard it performed by HKS under Yip Wing-sie that evening........Now I'm beginning to admire and miss their playing of the Pastoral Symphony last month.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta concert
6th Nov 2009 8pm at HK City Hall Concert Hall
Music Director/Conductor: Yip Wing-sie
Violin: Matthew Trusler
Programme:
The concert started with a commissioned new orchestral work by local composer George Lam. I admire and respect these new commissions for local young composers from time to time by HKS (while HKPO have the resources but no guts to do so). "The Queen's Gramophone", as the composer himself explained briefly on stage before its world premiere performance, is his imaginative "recollection" of our Hong Kong in the 1960s. How this young composer can write something about the place he left when he was 10 and about the era before his birth is beyond my understanding. Anyway, the music started with a slow and "lazy" dance melody (partly French and partly Spanish style to me) introduced by the bassoon over the pizzicato bass. The melody then was developed with transformation in terms of rhythm, harmonisation and instrumention, until it was chaotic enough to be recognised in the climax. Afterwards, the clarinet introduced the refreshing and jazzy dance music over the mellow brass, which interestingly have a similar texture of Wong Kar Wai's film music. The music however gradually and slowly died away in the end.
Yip Wing-sie's interpretation and leading was a bit plain and cautious, and the tempo changes were not done well and convincingly. A little more imagination and flexibility would be better for this "soundtrack-like" music. It didn't do the music enough justice, for it could neither stimulate emotion nor image from the audience. The bassoon and clarinet did quite well for their solo passages nevertheless.
In the Mendelssohn's violin concerto, Trusler's violin produced a distinctively sharp and penetrative sound. While many young soloists try to play this piece slower and to drill on the details, Trusler played it in a faster pace and in a straight-forward way as if it's a classical period music. He didn't use the vibrato excessively, and he avoided the temptation to romanticize the 2nd movement like everyone else nowadays. Instead, he concentrated on the momentum and articulation of the music. I found his spiccato especially amazing, and resulted in a red-hot exciting and vibrant final movement. Having said that, some very high notes were not steadily reached, and he even somehow resorted to "cheating" by using slides unnecessarily, which I strongly protested. The orchestra was not helping much either, as it was lagging behind the soloist slightly most of the time. Anyhow, in response to the warm applause of the audience, he jokingly said that he wishes to move here before awarded us the virtuosic scherzo by Kreisler, which sounded very well indeed (though not as Zino):
However, nothing prepared me for the disappointing Beethoven's 8th Symphony after the intermission. The tempo was too fast (I guess no one would stick to Beethoven's "crazy" metronomic indications nowadays for the big modern orchestra!), the "thick" sound too poorly controlled that it's intimidating and even suffocating. All I could experience was the repeated rhythmic strong blows to my head throughout without any harmonic layering or fine orchestral details shown, which were all lost in the forcefully energised propulsion. Maybe I don't understand fully and I can't appreciate them enough, but I thought Beethoven's 8th is one of his "smallest" and "lightest" symphonies until I heard it performed by HKS under Yip Wing-sie that evening........Now I'm beginning to admire and miss their playing of the Pastoral Symphony last month.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta concert
6th Nov 2009 8pm at HK City Hall Concert Hall
Music Director/Conductor: Yip Wing-sie
Violin: Matthew Trusler
Programme:
| George Tsz-kwan Lam | The Queen's Gramophone (world première) |
| Mendelssohn | Violin Concerto in E minor, Op 64 |
| Beethoven | Symphony No 8 in F, Op 93 |
Oct 28, 2009
Rozhdestvensky's Shostakovich with HKPO
If I was allowed to choose only one HKPO concert this new season, without a doubt, it would be the one on the previous Saturday, when the Russian legendary conductor Rozhdestvensky gave us the memorable performance of Shostakovich's symphony no.10 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. I'm glad that I didn't miss it. And I feel pity for the local music lovers who didn't go and witness such a Russian master (who had lived through Stalin's tyranny and could probably understand Shostakovich's music in a deeper level) in transforming our local orchestra and giving an outstanding interpretation of the work here.
Honestly, I was at first a bit hesitant about it and even skeptical about such a 78-year-old Maestro's mental acuity and physical agility in leading an orchestra on stage (a mental picture of the very old Celibidache conducting the Munchner Philharmoniker from a sitting position playing slowly the Beethoven's fifth in HK a long time ago unavoidably spring to my mind). Although Rozhdestvensky was similarly in favour of the slower tempo overall, he obviously has a very clear mind and can conduct efficiently with the minimal limb movements and gestures. Not standing on the conductor's platform on stage and reading carefully the musical score in front of him all the way, he nevertheless showed absolute control of the whole orchestra and the music produced.
Such a well disciplined playing and nicely balanced orchestral sound was already evident from the tutti introduction at the beginning of Beethoven's violin concerto. Slower than what we used to hear, the momentum and tension of the music was never lost or hindered throughout, with the orchestral structure tightly built up and different harmonic parts neatly revealed, which would all be lost or rushed through normally and gone unnoticed in other versions that I've heard live or on CDs. The second movement was so beautifully played by the strings that gave me goose-bumps. Dynamics, articulations and phrasings were all miraculously done that the music was profoundly touching, while the final movement was satisfactorily exciting and exhilarating regardless of its consistently slow tempo.
Sasha Rozhdestvensky, with the slow but intimate accompaniment by his father, leisurely and carefully let his violin's long solo lines unfolded step by step. He produced very sweet and warm singing tone from his expensive violin, not to mention his good foundation of technique. However, some pitch problems were noticeable along the way, and his interpretation was quite plain and straight-forward due to his "self-restraint", so he left his lustre and showmanship in the cadenza (written by Schnittke), which sounds interestingly contemporary yet very difficult to play (and I thought it even comprises some fragments from other famous violin concerto including Brahms and Shostakovich). In view of this slow tempo (almost an hour long of running time), overall he did a decent job in keeping a good flow and holding it all together without much boredom. However, I personally feel that his technique is above his musicality in this concerto, and his encore piece of Bach's gigue proved me quite right. I guess maybe some modern contemporary music would be a better choice for him.
Luckily, the Shostakovich's 10th was the one I was interested. And it not only didn't fail me, it actually exceeded my every expectation. Some people may found Maestro's adoption of an overall slow tempo a bit disappointing, especially in the finale. To me, this approach intensify the pessimistic quality of the piece as the composer wrote after Stalin's death, and I enjoyed and appreciated it. I loved it right from the gloomy introduction by the cello and then the music built up gradually in the first movement. It was tastefully subtle and slow-paced that the effect was even more frightening and intimidating. Then the brief Scherzo was played excellently with enough anger and relentless forceful drive, in which the accented harshly-bowed string sound was particularly impressive to me, not to mention the screaming woodwind and overpowering brass.
In the following Allegretto, the two contrasting dialogue music (one introspective while another the self-confident DSCH motive) inter-played and inter-wined marvelously until interrupted repeatedly by the mellow and dreamy horn solo played excellently by Mark Vines. The finale began slowly and cautiously until gradually gaining momentum and lightening the atmosphere with very good control and build-up. But what I admired most from Maestro's interpretation of this movement was the palpable underlying uncertainty and pessimism within the apparent ecstasy that the music seemed and sounded. The orchestra's playing was top-notch, with a totally upgraded String section and a stably competent woodwinds (Andrew Simon and Kam Shui both excelled in their respective solo passages here). I couldn't help but gave it a standing ovation. Bravo indeed......
This was the best Shostakovich's Symphony no.10 performance I've ever encountered (I'm starting to like this symphony more and more afterwards), and one of the best and memorable concert I've ever experienced. Considering the ticket price as well, it would definitely be the best for value concert ever in Hong Kong that I've ever attended!
Honestly, I was at first a bit hesitant about it and even skeptical about such a 78-year-old Maestro's mental acuity and physical agility in leading an orchestra on stage (a mental picture of the very old Celibidache conducting the Munchner Philharmoniker from a sitting position playing slowly the Beethoven's fifth in HK a long time ago unavoidably spring to my mind). Although Rozhdestvensky was similarly in favour of the slower tempo overall, he obviously has a very clear mind and can conduct efficiently with the minimal limb movements and gestures. Not standing on the conductor's platform on stage and reading carefully the musical score in front of him all the way, he nevertheless showed absolute control of the whole orchestra and the music produced.
Such a well disciplined playing and nicely balanced orchestral sound was already evident from the tutti introduction at the beginning of Beethoven's violin concerto. Slower than what we used to hear, the momentum and tension of the music was never lost or hindered throughout, with the orchestral structure tightly built up and different harmonic parts neatly revealed, which would all be lost or rushed through normally and gone unnoticed in other versions that I've heard live or on CDs. The second movement was so beautifully played by the strings that gave me goose-bumps. Dynamics, articulations and phrasings were all miraculously done that the music was profoundly touching, while the final movement was satisfactorily exciting and exhilarating regardless of its consistently slow tempo.
Sasha Rozhdestvensky, with the slow but intimate accompaniment by his father, leisurely and carefully let his violin's long solo lines unfolded step by step. He produced very sweet and warm singing tone from his expensive violin, not to mention his good foundation of technique. However, some pitch problems were noticeable along the way, and his interpretation was quite plain and straight-forward due to his "self-restraint", so he left his lustre and showmanship in the cadenza (written by Schnittke), which sounds interestingly contemporary yet very difficult to play (and I thought it even comprises some fragments from other famous violin concerto including Brahms and Shostakovich). In view of this slow tempo (almost an hour long of running time), overall he did a decent job in keeping a good flow and holding it all together without much boredom. However, I personally feel that his technique is above his musicality in this concerto, and his encore piece of Bach's gigue proved me quite right. I guess maybe some modern contemporary music would be a better choice for him.
Luckily, the Shostakovich's 10th was the one I was interested. And it not only didn't fail me, it actually exceeded my every expectation. Some people may found Maestro's adoption of an overall slow tempo a bit disappointing, especially in the finale. To me, this approach intensify the pessimistic quality of the piece as the composer wrote after Stalin's death, and I enjoyed and appreciated it. I loved it right from the gloomy introduction by the cello and then the music built up gradually in the first movement. It was tastefully subtle and slow-paced that the effect was even more frightening and intimidating. Then the brief Scherzo was played excellently with enough anger and relentless forceful drive, in which the accented harshly-bowed string sound was particularly impressive to me, not to mention the screaming woodwind and overpowering brass.
In the following Allegretto, the two contrasting dialogue music (one introspective while another the self-confident DSCH motive) inter-played and inter-wined marvelously until interrupted repeatedly by the mellow and dreamy horn solo played excellently by Mark Vines. The finale began slowly and cautiously until gradually gaining momentum and lightening the atmosphere with very good control and build-up. But what I admired most from Maestro's interpretation of this movement was the palpable underlying uncertainty and pessimism within the apparent ecstasy that the music seemed and sounded. The orchestra's playing was top-notch, with a totally upgraded String section and a stably competent woodwinds (Andrew Simon and Kam Shui both excelled in their respective solo passages here). I couldn't help but gave it a standing ovation. Bravo indeed......
This was the best Shostakovich's Symphony no.10 performance I've ever encountered (I'm starting to like this symphony more and more afterwards), and one of the best and memorable concert I've ever experienced. Considering the ticket price as well, it would definitely be the best for value concert ever in Hong Kong that I've ever attended!
Oct 17, 2009
第三十八香港藝術節
我已經預訂了我的HKAF票! 您呢？
談論到來年的香港藝術節，實在叫一班如我的古典音樂愛好者十分失望。
不是我不喜歡Kirov和Gergiev，但這已是他們第三次應HKAF之邀請了。 並且他們以前帶來給我們更佳，更大和更加有趣的俄國歌劇如Queen of the Spades (而這次他們給我們Britten的小型劇作"Turn of the Screw"; 擔任的總共只有6名歌手/演員和只演兩場......)。 其外， 又以音樂會方式選擇性地上演Wagner指環歌劇的其中一幕，這種節目比較起他們之前帶來如馬勒的第二交響曲音樂會時，今次似乎不甚令人滿意足夠吧。 就連Edo de Waart和HKPO也以Bruckner 8作為曲目，似乎還更加有吸引力和更加認真。
英國的愛樂管弦樂團，單獨以最近的往績來說並不算是卓越(有趣的是，不少歲月之前我在倫敦看他們就正是Gergiev棒下演奏包括火鳥的全俄國音樂節目)，但是今次由指揮Dohnanyi帶領就相當令人期待和可能是古典愛樂者的必然之選。
當然，如果你喜歡巴洛克式樂隊的復古和學院派的演出， Rene Jacobs和弗萊堡古樂團就是必須一看的，特别是節目包括了他們的莫札特演繹。 然而， 我仍然深感可惜他們不能帶給我們莫札特的其中一部歌劇...... (還好我們下個月仍然能幸運地看到本地上演的魔笛)
Meta4弦樂四重奏是當代音樂愛好者的一個好選擇，尤其當你在今年早前錯過了Trey Lee那個香港室內樂音樂節中他們的中提琴和大提琴兩位成員的精彩表現，他們確是非常勝任和美妙的室樂音樂家。
超級明星Mikhail Rudy則在鋼琴獨奏會中帶來著名的Pictures at an exhibition及超技的 " Petrushka"，實在有足夠的吸引力，而他的演出總是令人歡欣。 然而，他是這樣一個頻繁訪港的音樂家，這可能減輕了他的叫座力。
同樣，本地超級明星李傳韻與他喜愛的那"炫技的"Paganini隨想曲，相信如果不是他常常在聚光燈之下而開始令人生厭，相信會更得觀眾鍾意。
對我來說， Andreas Scholl的迷人歌聲加上 Karamazov以Lute伴奏，才是使人開眼界的上好另類選擇。 保證是一個非常新鮮和叫人滿足的音樂會。 (可憐竟在平日演出)
如果你喜愛舞蹈和芭蕾，這次也必定令你失望吧。 Mariinsky將給我們一個半古典式芭蕾劇" Don Quixote" ，比起通常和傳統的芭蕾節目，這是套更像熱鬧節日狂歡節的表現。 唯獨好在算是為全家合家歡的節目。 我就寧可看一些由荷蘭國家芭蕾舞團的現代舞蹈。 不僅便宜，更是物超所值。
可能非古典的音樂愛好者會比較愉快和對HKAF滿意，由Cafe de los Maestros演奏的探戈音樂會，Guy Barker的爵士樂音樂會，和尼娜Simone的致敬音樂會，全部都相當有看頭。
但是，我更肯定愛看劇場的人將會更興奮，有一個好劇連連的藝術節，從Sam Mendes導演的莎士比亞劇"暴風雨"， Berkoff'的電影改篇作品"On the Waterfront"， 到中國著名顯要的林兆華打造的"老舍五則"，本地毛俊輝所導的"情話紫釵"起用了星級的演員和製作班底，還有年輕／普及／天才的編劇／導演／女演員黃詠詩的新劇作"香港式離婚"......我想知道劇迷怎麼在這些之中作出選擇呢？!
為免後悔太遲，點擊這裡並且預訂吧！
談論到來年的香港藝術節，實在叫一班如我的古典音樂愛好者十分失望。
不是我不喜歡Kirov和Gergiev，但這已是他們第三次應HKAF之邀請了。 並且他們以前帶來給我們更佳，更大和更加有趣的俄國歌劇如Queen of the Spades (而這次他們給我們Britten的小型劇作"Turn of the Screw"; 擔任的總共只有6名歌手/演員和只演兩場......)。 其外， 又以音樂會方式選擇性地上演Wagner指環歌劇的其中一幕，這種節目比較起他們之前帶來如馬勒的第二交響曲音樂會時，今次似乎不甚令人滿意足夠吧。 就連Edo de Waart和HKPO也以Bruckner 8作為曲目，似乎還更加有吸引力和更加認真。
英國的愛樂管弦樂團，單獨以最近的往績來說並不算是卓越(有趣的是，不少歲月之前我在倫敦看他們就正是Gergiev棒下演奏包括火鳥的全俄國音樂節目)，但是今次由指揮Dohnanyi帶領就相當令人期待和可能是古典愛樂者的必然之選。
當然，如果你喜歡巴洛克式樂隊的復古和學院派的演出， Rene Jacobs和弗萊堡古樂團就是必須一看的，特别是節目包括了他們的莫札特演繹。 然而， 我仍然深感可惜他們不能帶給我們莫札特的其中一部歌劇...... (還好我們下個月仍然能幸運地看到本地上演的魔笛)
Meta4弦樂四重奏是當代音樂愛好者的一個好選擇，尤其當你在今年早前錯過了Trey Lee那個香港室內樂音樂節中他們的中提琴和大提琴兩位成員的精彩表現，他們確是非常勝任和美妙的室樂音樂家。
超級明星Mikhail Rudy則在鋼琴獨奏會中帶來著名的Pictures at an exhibition及超技的 " Petrushka"，實在有足夠的吸引力，而他的演出總是令人歡欣。 然而，他是這樣一個頻繁訪港的音樂家，這可能減輕了他的叫座力。
同樣，本地超級明星李傳韻與他喜愛的那"炫技的"Paganini隨想曲，相信如果不是他常常在聚光燈之下而開始令人生厭，相信會更得觀眾鍾意。
對我來說， Andreas Scholl的迷人歌聲加上 Karamazov以Lute伴奏，才是使人開眼界的上好另類選擇。 保證是一個非常新鮮和叫人滿足的音樂會。 (可憐竟在平日演出)
如果你喜愛舞蹈和芭蕾，這次也必定令你失望吧。 Mariinsky將給我們一個半古典式芭蕾劇" Don Quixote" ，比起通常和傳統的芭蕾節目，這是套更像熱鬧節日狂歡節的表現。 唯獨好在算是為全家合家歡的節目。 我就寧可看一些由荷蘭國家芭蕾舞團的現代舞蹈。 不僅便宜，更是物超所值。
可能非古典的音樂愛好者會比較愉快和對HKAF滿意，由Cafe de los Maestros演奏的探戈音樂會，Guy Barker的爵士樂音樂會，和尼娜Simone的致敬音樂會，全部都相當有看頭。
但是，我更肯定愛看劇場的人將會更興奮，有一個好劇連連的藝術節，從Sam Mendes導演的莎士比亞劇"暴風雨"， Berkoff'的電影改篇作品"On the Waterfront"， 到中國著名顯要的林兆華打造的"老舍五則"，本地毛俊輝所導的"情話紫釵"起用了星級的演員和製作班底，還有年輕／普及／天才的編劇／導演／女演員黃詠詩的新劇作"香港式離婚"......我想知道劇迷怎麼在這些之中作出選擇呢？!
為免後悔太遲，點擊這裡並且預訂吧！
Oct 13, 2009
Freddy Kempf and Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Only a week after Schumann's violin concerto performed by Blacher and HKPO, Schumann's much more popular piano concerto was staged at the same place the past Saturday by Hong Kong Sinfonietta together with virtuosic young pianist Freddy Kempf.
The concert opened with a purely string ensemble piece - a collection of 3 film scores by famous Japanese contemporary composer Takemitsu. This set of three film scores is among the most popular works of the composer and is widely performed around the world nowadays (recently played in Beijing by the Abbado's Lucerne Festival Orchestra). And I think it's a perfect repertoire to kick off this HKS's concert, considering their Japanese guest conductor Hirokami of the evening.
The small string ensemble, with guest concertmaster James Cuddeford (of Grainger Quartet again), showed their precision and intimacy in the playing, while the conductor put most of his energy and stress on the dynamic changes, rhythmic changes and the musical phrasing. The resulted music was lively and infectious, especially the final waltz. However, Hirokami at the same time uncontrollably produced some audibly disturbing breathing sound all the way, mixing together with the fine orchestral sound while conducting.
Luckily, with Freddy Kempf brought onto the stage for Schumann's piano concerto, his breathing sound was somehow lightened and reduced with some self restraint. Right from the start of the first movement of the concerto, it was clear that Kempf was giving us a more inhibited, introverted and a very melancholic playing instead of the schizophrenic Schumann we're familiar with. The main theme was introduced in a much slower pace but full of intense nostalgia and meditation. His playing was very well articulated with exquisite intonation and expressive phrasing, especially marked in the second movement.
Sometimes his tasteful rubato, ritardando and thoughtful tempo change gave the music a further impressive impact and genius touch. What's more astonishing was the orchestra's chamber-like accompaniment, giving the soloist close support and interaction from time to time. Though not quite explosive and dazzling in the final movement, Kempf's virtuosic fingerworks served the finale well and fast enough. Overall, with the emotional contrasts deliberately tuned down, the concerto was successfully executed with Kempf's overpowering musicality shining through and winning over his solid piano technique. That was responded by audience's thunderous applause in recognition, and in return we were treated with a Chopin's equally musicality-over-technique Etude as an encore. (By the way, I think it's the best Schumann piano concerto version I've witnessed live so far. My only complaint would be the problematic French horns, while the clarinet stays as my favourite among the wind instruments that evening.)
The Pastoral by Beethoven in the second half of the concert was painted with very broad stroke overall, missing some fine details in between, more so in the slower second movement. This was in fact visually evident when the bass section of the strings of HKS was much expanded with freelance players after the intermission. While the conductor was concentrating on steadier and tighter tempo control, aiming for a grand or sometimes ecstatic atmosphere, the sense of spontaneity and freshness that this symphony badly required were sacrificed, resulted in somehow uncomfortably exaggerated dynamics, and even unnaturally overwhelming orchestral sound. It sounded like they were playing the Eroica! Nonetheless, the conductor (apart from his annoying heavy breathe sounds) led the orchestra very well, with good syncopation and unity, and his gestures for phrasing and giving cues to each section was done efficiently and accurately. All in all, while the execution was smooth and satisfactory, it lacked the appropriate musical sense, atmosphere and fine details that this great masterpiece demands.
10 October 2009 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
Conductor - Junichi Hirokami
Pianist - Freddy Kempf
Takemitsu - Three film scores
Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor
Beethoven - Symphony no.6 "Pastoral"
The concert opened with a purely string ensemble piece - a collection of 3 film scores by famous Japanese contemporary composer Takemitsu. This set of three film scores is among the most popular works of the composer and is widely performed around the world nowadays (recently played in Beijing by the Abbado's Lucerne Festival Orchestra). And I think it's a perfect repertoire to kick off this HKS's concert, considering their Japanese guest conductor Hirokami of the evening.
The small string ensemble, with guest concertmaster James Cuddeford (of Grainger Quartet again), showed their precision and intimacy in the playing, while the conductor put most of his energy and stress on the dynamic changes, rhythmic changes and the musical phrasing. The resulted music was lively and infectious, especially the final waltz. However, Hirokami at the same time uncontrollably produced some audibly disturbing breathing sound all the way, mixing together with the fine orchestral sound while conducting.
Luckily, with Freddy Kempf brought onto the stage for Schumann's piano concerto, his breathing sound was somehow lightened and reduced with some self restraint. Right from the start of the first movement of the concerto, it was clear that Kempf was giving us a more inhibited, introverted and a very melancholic playing instead of the schizophrenic Schumann we're familiar with. The main theme was introduced in a much slower pace but full of intense nostalgia and meditation. His playing was very well articulated with exquisite intonation and expressive phrasing, especially marked in the second movement.
Sometimes his tasteful rubato, ritardando and thoughtful tempo change gave the music a further impressive impact and genius touch. What's more astonishing was the orchestra's chamber-like accompaniment, giving the soloist close support and interaction from time to time. Though not quite explosive and dazzling in the final movement, Kempf's virtuosic fingerworks served the finale well and fast enough. Overall, with the emotional contrasts deliberately tuned down, the concerto was successfully executed with Kempf's overpowering musicality shining through and winning over his solid piano technique. That was responded by audience's thunderous applause in recognition, and in return we were treated with a Chopin's equally musicality-over-technique Etude as an encore. (By the way, I think it's the best Schumann piano concerto version I've witnessed live so far. My only complaint would be the problematic French horns, while the clarinet stays as my favourite among the wind instruments that evening.)
The Pastoral by Beethoven in the second half of the concert was painted with very broad stroke overall, missing some fine details in between, more so in the slower second movement. This was in fact visually evident when the bass section of the strings of HKS was much expanded with freelance players after the intermission. While the conductor was concentrating on steadier and tighter tempo control, aiming for a grand or sometimes ecstatic atmosphere, the sense of spontaneity and freshness that this symphony badly required were sacrificed, resulted in somehow uncomfortably exaggerated dynamics, and even unnaturally overwhelming orchestral sound. It sounded like they were playing the Eroica! Nonetheless, the conductor (apart from his annoying heavy breathe sounds) led the orchestra very well, with good syncopation and unity, and his gestures for phrasing and giving cues to each section was done efficiently and accurately. All in all, while the execution was smooth and satisfactory, it lacked the appropriate musical sense, atmosphere and fine details that this great masterpiece demands.
10 October 2009 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
Conductor - Junichi Hirokami
Pianist - Freddy Kempf
Takemitsu - Three film scores
Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor
Beethoven - Symphony no.6 "Pastoral"
Oct 9, 2009
(500) Days of Summer
As the tag line of the movie suggests, this is not a love story, but a story about love.
It is a simple story about boy meets girl, but from the perspective of the boy.
What makes it so refreshing and can stand out among others?
1. Non-traditionally, their story is presented in a non-chronological way. So it would jump back and forth between the 500 days of their relationship, with the day stated clearly before each scene.
2. Unconventionally, the boy fantasizes about true love, fate, soul mate and commitment while the girl is realistically pessimistic about those things and does not at all believe in true love. She would rather have fun in casual relationship and sex without caring too much for the future.
3. They don't live happily ever after in the end. Instead, they walk their separate ways.
4. First time movie director Marc Webb's stylish handling and personalised telling of the story. His vision and technique showed his root as the MTV director, which is especially an extra credit in this movie to add the very suitable songs and soundtrack to propel and enhance the story.
5. It's not another formula romantic comedy or usual chick flick. But rather it may be equally appealing to both gender of the audience for the first time.
6. Joseph Gordon Levitt started acting since very young age and his training through sit-com like "Third Rock from the Sun" and various good independent movies makes him a perfect candidate for the lead character Tom in this movie, as he's capable of both good subtle humorous and overtly dramatic performance at the same time. And also it would be the right moment for Zooey Deschanel to shine here as Summer.
However, to me, it's Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter's brilliant story with witty humour and its angle that impressed me most. In fact, the story is very plain and simple, but it has those realistic qualities that we all encountered and experienced in lives. And that's why it touches our hearts and causes resonance.
Male or female, when in love, we all go through the sweet-and-bitter sort of long-awaiting pursuing, the passionate ecstasy when going steady, the guilty pleasure in doing minor stupid things together, and sometimes the heartbreaking fights, the cool down and get-back-together stuffs, and of course unavoidably, the final closure and permanent separation. Some of these were nicely captured and presented innovative in the movie like the expectations/reality split-screen, the park dance sequence, the various old-place bench on the hill scenes, etc......
In the movie, Tom and Summer, though very different in terms of their views about love and commitment, can't help but fall in love, which may well be destined to be a failure. However, through the relationship and their encounter, they influence each other greatly. Tom taught Summer, through his passion in Architecture, to look at things carefully which people normally ignored, while Summer taught him that life is never as well-planned and structured as Architecture, and so people should be adventurous and able to take chances like she is. Besides, towards the end of the movie, Tom learnt to be less hopelessly romantic and trust less in the fate and even quited his job, while Summer began to believe in coincidence and found her true love. We can see even though things don't work out for them, through the 500 days, they affected each other tremendously.
Similarly, I guess we all matures and gets better personally through love and every single relationship. It doesn't matter even it fails at the end. Just like the end of this movie, after the heartbreak comes a bit more wisdom. And after Summer, there comes Autumn!
Oct 4, 2009
Kolja Blacher with HKPO
Kolja Blacher, a former concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and current leader of Abbado's Lucerne Festival Orchestra (which just had a successful visit to Beijing), came back once again to lead our Hong Kong Philharmonic during the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend and brought us a refreshing programme of enchanting and easy-listening music.
Non-traditionally, the concert opened with Mozart's last Symphony "Jupiter". Kolja Blacher led the orchestra as their concertmaster and without a formal conductor. Authentically enough, he used a smaller-size string section (10/8/6/4/2) that was seated in the conventional way (cello in the front near the edge of stage on the right side and double bass at their back).
Kolja Blacher's reading of Mozart concentrated on the momentum and emotional contrast rather than the analytical and structural approach by Haitink during earlier this year's HK Arts Festival. The tempo was on the fast side and the drive was impressive. The strings of the orchestra was much enhanced with more precision, vibrancy and fluency. Their usual harsh and intimidating sound was somehow compensated by the appropriate phrasing and delicate bowing. Also, the dialogue between sections within the strings was wonderfully done and balanced, especially evident during the fugue passages.
However, without the conductor, the wind instruments sometimes failed to sound in perfect unison with the strings (notably the careless bassoon in the first movement). Nevertheless, the French Horns and bassoons deliberately sounded soft enough to blend in meticulously. Beside the slightly unfocused first movement, the overall execution was very satisfactory, including their emotionally charged and brilliantly singing Andante, fast paced yet suitably rhythmic and accented minuet, or the superbly energized and cohesively played finale. Overall a very clean and clear interpretation of the music full of youthful energy and classical style. My only reservation would be the weak double bass and the strangely blended and mostly overwhelming tympani sound throughout.
With the addition of one more flute and two clarinets onto the stage, what followed was the very rarely heard violin concerto - the Schumann's long ignored and forgotten concerto by generations. And honestly, this is understandable, for the concerto is somehow quite "segmented" and "free" in nature, not to mention the imbalance between the soloist and the accompaniment or the substandard orchestral writing. However, it is still infused with the composer's trademark sentimentality and intense emotion noted in the various exceptionally appealing melodies, which were more so in the hands of Kolja Blacher.
His playing, beside being technically efficient (the multiple stops and the rapid runs of double stops all seemed nothing to him), is well-pitched, very clean, extremely passionate and songful, with a wide range of dynamics and expressions, and full of flexibility in tempo. He also looked after some minor details and less prominent dialogues of the piece so to keep the music going (resulted in an especially less stagnant but poignant second movement).
Once again, conducting as the soloist did have a downside, and so beside sacrificing the overall orchestral balance (the winds sounded not strong enough while the bass section seemed a bit too weak), the accompaniment by the orchestra was less than satisfying at times (more problematic in the first movement, and Blacher at one juncture even resorted to stomping of his foot to keep the orchestra in beat). Having said that, in the tricky second movement (most of the time the cello's introductory theme is written in a way not playing in sync to the soloist's and vice versa), the orchestra pulled it off quite well. Richard Bamping deserved an extra credit here for his excellent cello solo playing and his intimate dialogue with Blacher, also for his successful leading through the seamless transition into the final movement, which was played mostly and incredibly well!
Without an encore to respond to the very warm applause by the audience, Blacher returned to the stage after the intermission to join only the strings of HKPO for the final piece of the evening - Tchaikovsky's famous and lovable Serenade for Strings. With a slightly expanded string section this time (especially the bass section), Blacher played and led as the concertmaster, giving us the most wonderful and memorable music of the evening. The ensemble not only sounded less suffocating as usual, but also gave us lustrously warm and very well balanced sound. From the passionate introduction and lively first movement, through enchanting waltz and nostalgic Elegy, to the exhilarating and vivacious finale, they played with very intense focus and delivered with the appropriate emotion and phrasing, convincing tempo changes and dynamics. I simply wish the orchestra's strings could keep on sounding like this throughout the year, preferably with a concertmaster of the calibre as Kolja Blacher......
Non-traditionally, the concert opened with Mozart's last Symphony "Jupiter". Kolja Blacher led the orchestra as their concertmaster and without a formal conductor. Authentically enough, he used a smaller-size string section (10/8/6/4/2) that was seated in the conventional way (cello in the front near the edge of stage on the right side and double bass at their back).
Kolja Blacher's reading of Mozart concentrated on the momentum and emotional contrast rather than the analytical and structural approach by Haitink during earlier this year's HK Arts Festival. The tempo was on the fast side and the drive was impressive. The strings of the orchestra was much enhanced with more precision, vibrancy and fluency. Their usual harsh and intimidating sound was somehow compensated by the appropriate phrasing and delicate bowing. Also, the dialogue between sections within the strings was wonderfully done and balanced, especially evident during the fugue passages.
However, without the conductor, the wind instruments sometimes failed to sound in perfect unison with the strings (notably the careless bassoon in the first movement). Nevertheless, the French Horns and bassoons deliberately sounded soft enough to blend in meticulously. Beside the slightly unfocused first movement, the overall execution was very satisfactory, including their emotionally charged and brilliantly singing Andante, fast paced yet suitably rhythmic and accented minuet, or the superbly energized and cohesively played finale. Overall a very clean and clear interpretation of the music full of youthful energy and classical style. My only reservation would be the weak double bass and the strangely blended and mostly overwhelming tympani sound throughout.
With the addition of one more flute and two clarinets onto the stage, what followed was the very rarely heard violin concerto - the Schumann's long ignored and forgotten concerto by generations. And honestly, this is understandable, for the concerto is somehow quite "segmented" and "free" in nature, not to mention the imbalance between the soloist and the accompaniment or the substandard orchestral writing. However, it is still infused with the composer's trademark sentimentality and intense emotion noted in the various exceptionally appealing melodies, which were more so in the hands of Kolja Blacher.
His playing, beside being technically efficient (the multiple stops and the rapid runs of double stops all seemed nothing to him), is well-pitched, very clean, extremely passionate and songful, with a wide range of dynamics and expressions, and full of flexibility in tempo. He also looked after some minor details and less prominent dialogues of the piece so to keep the music going (resulted in an especially less stagnant but poignant second movement).
Once again, conducting as the soloist did have a downside, and so beside sacrificing the overall orchestral balance (the winds sounded not strong enough while the bass section seemed a bit too weak), the accompaniment by the orchestra was less than satisfying at times (more problematic in the first movement, and Blacher at one juncture even resorted to stomping of his foot to keep the orchestra in beat). Having said that, in the tricky second movement (most of the time the cello's introductory theme is written in a way not playing in sync to the soloist's and vice versa), the orchestra pulled it off quite well. Richard Bamping deserved an extra credit here for his excellent cello solo playing and his intimate dialogue with Blacher, also for his successful leading through the seamless transition into the final movement, which was played mostly and incredibly well!
Without an encore to respond to the very warm applause by the audience, Blacher returned to the stage after the intermission to join only the strings of HKPO for the final piece of the evening - Tchaikovsky's famous and lovable Serenade for Strings. With a slightly expanded string section this time (especially the bass section), Blacher played and led as the concertmaster, giving us the most wonderful and memorable music of the evening. The ensemble not only sounded less suffocating as usual, but also gave us lustrously warm and very well balanced sound. From the passionate introduction and lively first movement, through enchanting waltz and nostalgic Elegy, to the exhilarating and vivacious finale, they played with very intense focus and delivered with the appropriate emotion and phrasing, convincing tempo changes and dynamics. I simply wish the orchestra's strings could keep on sounding like this throughout the year, preferably with a concertmaster of the calibre as Kolja Blacher......
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