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......