Ashkenazy Returns to Hong Kong

Ashkenazy returns to Hong Kong with a pastoral-themed concert

The last time I saw Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy perform in Hong Kong was many years ago, a piano recital at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. We sat above the stage so that we could see his fingers on the keyboard, but I can't remember what the program was. I just thought it was amazing that he was still playing so well at his age.

And now he's 80 years old and back, this time conducting the Hong Kong Philharmonic in a program that includes talented violinist Esther Yoo, a Korean-American who is only 23. It's a pity for the second concert on a Saturday night (tonight) that the seats were barely half full, but that meant a quieter audience in general.

The third piece was Beethoven's Symphony no. 6, Pastoral

When Ashkenazy came out, he wore his usual jacket with a white turtleneck shirt underneath. And he just wanted to get the program started with right away, beginning with Russian composer Alexander Glazunov's Chopiniana, a delightful, accessible piece, and the conductor kept the orchestra in military precision.

Next Yoo came out in a bright red sparkly dress to perform Glazunov's Violin Concerto, just over 20 minutes that was definitely a vehicle to show off the violinist's talents, from playing chords to plucking, soft to loud. She had her eyes closed for most of the performance, setting the pace and enjoying herself on stage.

In reading her biography, the Korean-American was born in the US and raised in Europe since the age of six. She picked up the violin when she was four and made her first concert debut at eight. Talk about young talent.

Esther Yoo picked up the violin at the age of four

After the piece was over, Ashkenazy put his baton between his teeth to clap for her and then made an action like playing the violin so he could leave the stage. She performed an encore, saying she was thrilled to be back in Hong Kong.

Finally after an intermission, Ashkenazy was back to conduct Beethoven's Symphony no. 6, Pastoral. It definitely evokes pastoral scenes of idyllic rolling hills, flocks of sheep grazing and young lovers having a budding romance.

The five movements seemed to be compressed into three, as Ashkenazy didn't want to waste time with formalities. The drama began to build in the third movement onwards with the wind section holding their own. And soon it was all over, and the Maestro went around shaking the musicians' hands.

She seems self-assured on stage at the age of 23

Ashkenazy's Pastoral

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

May 25-26

Glazunov Chopiniana

Glazunov Violin Concerto

Beethoven Symphony no. 6, Pastoral

Playing Piano... Again

An upright piano ready to be played and it was a fun hour that whizzed by

The apartment building I live in has a clubhouse with a variety of facilities, such as a swimming pool, gym, classes for baking and making crafts, tai chi and so on.

In order to entice more residents to use the facilities, today was a day to try things out for free and booked in advance, though things like the swimming pool and gym were first come, first served.

Not having played piano for over 20 years, I thought this would be a good chance to see if my fingers still had the magic touch on the ivories and reserved myself a room for an hour.

I printed off some sheet music from the internet and then headed to the clubhouse at the appointed time. I was shown to a small room that had an upright piano and two chairs; a clock was right above the piano so there was no mistaking what time it was.

I got out my first piece, Minuet in G by JS Bach and started playing the right hand, trying to remember how to read sheet music, and then ventured to add the left hand and presto -- I was playing music!

It was very rough at first and immediately after playing at the end, I started the beginning again, hoping it would get better, and sometimes it was, and sometimes it was worse. How did I forget to play that note? Why is my fingering all wrong? I was determined to play it better the next time around.

Soon 30 minutes was over and I was still playing Minuet in G. I moved onto Fur Elise by Beethoven, but it turns out I had the abridged version. That's OK because I managed to play the first part OK, partly because it was arpeggios and easier to follow because there was a lot of repetition.

I used to love playing Fur Elise, channeling the romanticism of Beethoven; but now it didn't seem to hold as much meaning to me as it did as a 15-year-old trying to figure out her way in the world.

So I went back to Minuet in G for the last 15 minutes. It's funny how as a kid practicing piano an hour went by at a snail's pace, and here it whipped by and I was playing non stop to get as much practice in as possible. My fingers weren't doing exactly what I wanted them to do, but not bad for not having touched a piano in over two decades!

It was a good distraction to do something different, and also use my brain in another way.

Classical Music Eye Candy

Wang Yujia wore this dress tonight, the same as when she met the Queen

Tonight was the first of two concerts given by fast-rising star Wang Yujia with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the handover. The concert was sponsored by a health product company, though not all members of the audience got any samples to try.

There were some bigwigs sitting in prime seats -- former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former secretary for justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie, and members of Tung's extended family, as the Tung Foundation was a sponsor.

The orchestra players had settled in, practicing on stage and were about to finish, when Grandpa Tung decided to go up the stairs to the loo. And we actually waited for him to come back and take his seat before the concertmaster came out.

Seriously?

Wang showing off some leg and skin in a concert in LA

If it was any other person, the concert would have started without him/her and they would have to wait at least half an hour to get back in.

But back to the concert. I saw her perform back in May 2007 in Beijing when she was 19 years old and was impressed then so I was curious to see how Wang had developed her musical talent.

From then to now she has gotten some flack for her outfits, though she seems to brush off the critics. She's worn very short dresses, and says she'll get to wearing longer ones when she's 40.

Uh huh.

Tonight she walked out in a florescent lime green dress with a deep V at the back, and lots of intricate cut outs in strategic places, and there was a mini train at the back. It was a pretty amazing feat not to trip on her dress.

But I wish she'd have a stylist help her pick some not so obnoxious clothes... you can be a rebel at the keyboard and look cool too...

For tonight's concert she played Mozart's Piano concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme -- but not from memory. The sheet music was placed on top of the piano and she had no problems playing and flipping pages at the same time.

However, not having memorized the piece seem to have prevented her from fully expressing herself, even though she had fantastic technique in manipulating the piano to get the sounds she wanted.

This piece is Mozart's ninth piano concerto out of 27, and academics consider it to be the first of the composer's outstanding works. It started off light and refreshing, with the piano coming in very soon after the beginning.

But things seemed to drag in the second movement that Wang seemed to play robotically, though things picked up at the end. It seemed like a piece she didn't seem keen to perform and felt like her talents were wasted -- that she was raring to go elsewhere.

She got a rousing applause and came out several times and made very energetic bows with her arm across her heart... then walking carefully back inside. Wang finally did an amazing encore, a riff on a minuet that had a jazzy lilt and technically became more intense towards the end.

Like Lang Lang, she's a show stopper and it was a nice way for her to finish her participation in the concert.

And likewise it seemed Grandpa Tung had had enough for the day; he and members of his entourage left during intermission. Too bad for them because they missed a fantastic performance.

Conductor Jaap van Zweden led the orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica. Originally Beethoven wrote this piece dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, a musical way to pay homage to the leader.

Two years later, though, Napoleon declared himself Emperor, which meant he would consider himself above others. Beethoven was so angry that he apparently ripped his title page in half and threw it on the floor. It was later changed from to Eroica.

The performance overall was so energetic and lively, it was a pleasure to watch van Zweden in action. I sat on the balcony, on the left side of the concert hall and was able to see him making facial expressions, and a closer look at the musicians.

Most commendable were clarinetist John Schertle and flautist Megan Sterling.

What a contrast between the first and second halves of the concert! Glad I stayed to the end!

Yujia Wang Triptych 1 -- Mozart

Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 9 in E flat, K.271, Jeunehomme

Allegro

Andantino

Rondeau: Presto

Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Eroica

Allegro con brio

Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Finale: Allegro molto

Rousing Concert

Showstopper Ning Feng mastering the violin

Just came back from a stimulating concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall with the Hong Kong Philharmonic led by music director Jaap van Zweden.

And who did we (YTSL and I) come to see? The brilliant virtuoso Ning Feng. He's technically flawless and yet flies under the radar when it comes to charisma. Unlike Lang Lang who likes to throw in showmanship, Ning refuses to compete with more drama and instead it's all pure music.

The program started with Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D, op. 61. An interesting fact is that this is Beethoven's only completed violin concerto in 1806, even though he started one a few years earlier in 1790.

While he was writing the concerto, Haydn passed through Bonn and recognized Beethoven's talents, which may have made him so exited that he forgot to finish writing the first concerto.

Nevertheless, we were treated to a fantastic performance thanks to Feng, who walked on stage in his signature black long shirt, this time with a hint of fuchsia on the cuff and edge of the shirt, black slacks and shoes. The Chengdu native didn't have his hair coiffed like Lang Lang or Li Yundi -- Feng is here to entertain us with his music.

His finger work is amazing, making it look so easy. The concert hall fell completely silent when he performed his solo passages, the audience watching him master the violin. He knows exactly how to tease the beautiful sounds out of the instrument without much force or pressure -- it looks so delicate and easy -- after decades of practice.

We enjoyed the concerto so much that it took a while for Feng to finally give us an encore and it was an intricate, energetic piece that again left us in awe.

Hong Kong Philharmonic music director Jaap van Zweden

After a short break van Zweden and the orchestra presented a boisterous interpretation of Shostakovich's Symphoy no. 5 in D minor, op. 47. The orchestra included a piano, celesta or small keyboard, two harps, an extensive percussion section, double bass and doubling contrabassoon.

Shostakovich wrote the piece after his Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District had been criticized in Soviet state media, a hint that the composer was not following Stalin's guidelines of what artists should be doing.

So the composer gave his own retort in this apparently encoded political criticism that some listeners could pick out. The first movement is a classical sonata form that seems orderly, and then transfers into the second movement that is playful but then the slower passages evoke emotion.

The last movement climaxes into victorious sound that fills the entire hall. It's impressive and bold, perhaps Shostakovich's way of feeling triumphant.

Even before the encore, Feng's fans were already lined up outside the concert hall to have items autographed by the violinist. He seems to enjoy coming to Hong Kong, playing at least once a year here -- and we love him too.

Jaap's Shostakovich 5

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

December 13-14, 8pm

Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, op. 61

Shostakovich Symphony no. 5 in D minor, op. 47