Review: Piazzolla: The Years of the Shark

Piazzolla (right) with his son Daniel in New York

 

A week after attending the Hong Kong Philharmonic's tribute to Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola, I went to see a documentary about him as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Called Piazzolla: The Years of the Shark, it uses extensive film and recording footage from the family to reconstruct his life.

Before the movie started, we were supposed to be treated to a musician playing the bandoneon, the accordion-like instrument Piazzolla played, but this was cancelled due to social-distancing. Nevertheless we were told that the bandoneon is not like an accordion in that there is no keyboard, but lots of buttons on each side and you can't see them so you have to know how to play the bandoneon well.

Piazzolla and his bandoneon

It is also quite heavy, which is why many bandoneon players sit down, but Piazzolla preferred to stand. When playing the instrument moving the bellows in and out can result in key changes, playing one note then changing to another which was interesting to learn.

These tips helped us appreciate the film more, particularly watching Piazzolla play -- it's quite heavy and early on in Piazzolla: The Years of the Shark, after he was born, his right leg was disfigured because of polio and it took seven operations to fix it, though not completely; his right leg would forever be thinner and shorter than his left.

After having gone through so much when he was young, his parents decided not to have anymore children, but also his father may have felt Piazzolla learning an instrument would be better for him career-wise. After those operations in 1924, the family moved to New York from Buenos Aires by ship, and his father worked for a barber. 

He bought his eight-year-old son a bandoneon from a pawnshop and Piazzolla learned how to play it and was pretty good at it. He wanted to play JS Bach on the bandoneon as well as his teacher did on the piano.

Piazzolla's teacher Nadia Boulanger

When he was 17-years-old, Piazzolla was itching to perform and have his own orchestra and on his own moved back to Buenos Aires. He played with some bands -- the youngest of the group. Piazzolla had always had dreams of becoming a concert pianist and one time boldly met Arthur Rubenstein, who in turn introduced the young musician to teacher Alberto Ginastera, who taught him composition and the fundamentals of music.

In 1946 Piazzolla started his own band, though later focusing only on compositions, not wanting to play the bandoneon anymore.

It was winning a composing contest in 1951 that awarded him a scholarship to study in Paris under Nadia Boulanger, whose students include Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones and Burt Bacharach.

She looked at the Argentine's scores and said this is not Piazzolla. She asked him what instrument he played and he said the bandoneon and she made him play some tango pieces.

This, she said, was Piazzolla.

He said from then onwards he never stopped playing the bandoneon.

In 1955 Piazzolla returned to Buenos Aires bursting with creativity and created his own style of tango, where the rhythm kept changing, more upbeat and experimenting with different sounds from instruments. 

Daniel did not speak to his father for 10 years

Traditionalists hated him -- even a taxi driver refused to pick him up for what he felt was ruining tango.

His personal life was also full of ups and downs. He married Dede Baralis and had two children, Daniel and Diana. But later on Piazzolla announced to the family he was leaving his wife and met his second love, Laura Escalada.

Needless to say the family was shocked -- his wife Dede sank into deep depression, after having supported her husband's career.

His son Daniel, shown in the film, had a falling out with his father at one point, claiming the music they were making was backwards. That led to a 10-year estrangement. Daniel goes over old tapes, recordings, family movies, as a museum prepares a major exhibition about his father.

Piazzolla perseveres, but not without health issues (smoking a lot and suffered a heart attack). One of the final scenes in the documentary shows him in a tuxedo performing with an orchestra, making his music legitimate in the classical music world, though he had been experimenting with all kinds of musicians and different styles throughout the decades.

Piazzolla is known for revolutionizing the tango

He was so passionate about his music, writing 750 compositions, many of them themed around the tango. In the end he was grateful to his father for giving him the bandoneon, for without it he would not know what he would have done with his life.

Director Daniel Rosenfeld went through a lot of raw material, tapes, recordings, family films, using archival footage to put most of the documentary together. Piazzolla's son Daniel is a vehicle to move from one aspect to another, and sometimes he says things, and other times it's recordings of his father and sometimes it was confusing to follow who is speaking. 

Not once does any subject do a straight-up interview to the camera. It is either narrated or clips are found from actual archival footage, which makes the film flow. And yes there's lots of Piazzolla performing, making it a film filled with music, music and more music.

Piazzolla: The Years of the Shark 

Director: Daniel Rosenfeld

94 minutes 

In Spanish, French and English with English subtitles

 

 

Missing the Music

Yo-Yo Ma performing one of his #songsofcomfort

I can't remember the last time I attended a live classical music concert -- sometime last year, but who the artist was and when it is all a distant memory.

But good news -- from October 1, people can attend live performances, though at half capacity, and a maximum of two seats together, and probably everyone wearing masks.

Back in March, YTSL and I were going to attend a series of concerts during the Hong Kong Arts Festival, but the entire event had to be scrapped at the last minute. And now over six months later we can finally get a dose of culture in our lives.

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Ironically in times like these music is a very good way to comfort others, but with this pandemic we cannot gather.

While musicians like Yo-Yo Ma played pieces of music with the hashtag #songsofcomfort, tried to give some levity to people on social media, German pianist Igor Levit began streaming his performances every night from his home to fans around the world, and violinist Itzak Perlman, who tells a terrible joke and then about a minute of music. Wonder if this is going to be his new act?

Violinist Itzak Perlman tells some corny jokes

In any event, one musician who has flown to Hong Kong and is now counting down the days in hotel quarantine is the young German pianist Alexander Krichel. He is here to perform with the

 

 

Hong Kong Sinfonietta on September 26 -- but there won't be anyone in the audience, though the concert will be recorded.

While stuck in his hotel room, Krichel has been admiring the city from his window in Wan Chai, and reports playing a lot of piano; he brought several books (The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking), but he hasn't touched them at all.

"I don't have to go anywhere or attend appointments. It's my best excuse ever to be with my piano for two weeks. It's amazing," said the 31-year-old, who has recorded a quarantine video diary on Facebook.

"By the third day, I wasn't jet lagged anymore and once I even practiced till 4.30 in the morning. With this

view of Hong Kong, it's very intimate, romantic moment with the piano. It's only us and it's so beautiful."

He added the experience in quarantine has reaffirmed his love for music and his profession.

Alexander Krichel in his hotel room in Hong Kong

Krichel has come up with creative ways to still draw audiences during the pandemic. In May he staged a drive-in piano recital in Iserlohn, Germany, playing to about 200 people in 90 cars. 

As of yesterday Krichel completed his quarantine and celebrated with a visit to the Peak! Too bad we won't get to watch him live after the two weeks of hotel prison he has gone through. 

But hopefully we can catch a concert of two, before the fourth wave hits...

Hong Kong's New Normal

Commuters in Hong Kong for the most part are wearing masks in public areas

The Hong Kong government announced today that civil servants would continue to work from home until February 23, and a lot of companies promptly followed suit.

A colleague has told me his eyes hurt from looking too much at the screen, not just for work, but also binge-watching Netflix. Overheard at dinner tonight a woman was supposed to be working from home, but in the afternoon she started watching a Netflix show. Talk about a drop in productivity.

Art Basel has been cancelled this year, changing to the pork

In the meantime events all over the city have been cancelled -- the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Art Basel, and the Hong Kong Ruby Sevens, not to mention a slew of concerts too.

Hotels are hurting terribly, with hardly any guests checking in. Many staff have to start using their annual leave (it's only February), and if they choose to travel, they are also limited in where they can go with many countries and cities imposing quarantine restrictions on people flying in from Hong Kong.

Nowadays to be able to eat in some restaurants you must first be subjected to a temperature check before being shown to your table, same with the cinema, and most people now just wave to each other instead of shake hands or hug. My office has now instituted temperature checks once you walk through the door; then you can get your daily quota of one mask.

A gorgeous hotel room in the Rosewood, but no one staying

A lot of people are still terrified of catching the virus even though in Hong Kong there are now 56 confirmed cases, over 65,000 worldwide, but the vast majority in Wuhan.

Hot pot restaurants are hurting terribly after a number of people related to a family were infected with the virus after gathering for hot pot during Chinese New Year. Restaurants in general are either doing a decent business or dead quiet. A lot of coffee shops are quiet, as their customers are stuck at home and resorting to instant coffee.

Shops and malls are in a sorry state, with everyone obsessed with buying masks, toilet paper and hand sanitizer -- these things are worth more than any name brand clothing. Priorities are now completely health related, which in a way is a good thing, but the paranoia makes people even more scared.

Hot pot businesses are ruined after a family got infected

Perhaps even worse is a lot of these retail staff are going to be laid off through no fault of their own... where are they going to go? There will be fewer jobs going when the coronavirus crisis finally passes in a few months.

Meanwhile there are discussions if you should attend yoga class, and if you do, do you wear a mask? Or how about going to the gym and running on the treadmill?

If anything most people are saving a lot of money from not going out, though they are going stir-crazy at home with not much to do or like my colleague, glued to Netflix. Perhaps even harder are families and trying to keep young children entertained all day, everyday, every week, and the parents trying to do some work.

How much longer can people and businesses sustain this new normal? 

A Banging Percussion Orchestra

The Li Biao Percussion Group was established in 2005

In an orchestra setting, the percussionists are always in the back. They have big drums and other instruments like xylophones, triangles, a gong, and the occasional bird call.

It's pretty cool they can play a lot of different things, but usually they don't get much "air time" during a concert, which is why my friend YTSL and I chose to listen to a concert only featuring percussion, part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Called From Baroque to Tango, the Li Biao Percussion Group is made of Li, who is originally from Nanjing, and five other musicians four from Germany one from Denmark. They don't seem to come together often, as they all have teaching jobs -- the Dane is based in Rio de Janeiro -- so having them perform together was a treat. Two of them also composed pieces we heard.



Li's specialty seems to be the marimba, as he played that the most, while the other musicians would alternate between marimbas, drums and other intriguing instruments making unique sounds. We heard pieces like Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major, RV93 with marimbas and drums, and even Johannes Sebastian Bach's Italian Concerto, BWV 971. It's different hearing classical music played with the marimba in particular, but Bach seems to match the instrument, with the accompaniment of a harpsichord.

Interesting set up of the instruments! Including a harpsichord

Then there were other pieces like Japanese composer Minoru Miki, who wrote Marimba Spiritual specifically for marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe. It starts off with Li playing a marimba solo and then gradually builds to include drums and ends with an energetic finish.

One arresting piece minus Li was Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood. Five musicians have tuned claves, or short, thick wooden dowels and two of them are constantly playing throughout the 10-minute piece. Meanwhile others chime in and shift their speed.

Reich likes to describe it as "imagine listening to a kaleidoscope. A pattern is established, then shifts as with the click of the kaleidoscope". We were mesmerized by the synchronized beats and how well they played together.

Li had his own solo in Crossover for Snare Drum Solo by Wolfgang Reifeneder, playing four different kinds of music, military, Viennese waltz, pastoral and then "spirited", where Li even got down on his knees and hit his chair legs and anything else around him. It was fun.



The last piece was American composer Russell Peck's Lift-Off! Before they played the piece, Li warned it involved nine drums so it would be very, very loud. It required a lot of stamina to play the drums that long and together in time, rolling like waves, one set of drums very loud, then the next set, then then next, and then back again. It was thrilling to watch and hear!

After each piece, the musicians would point at Li with their marimba or drum sticks, while Li would point back at them, as if to say, "You're da man!" It was quite amusing.

Nevertheless, that was my last concert from the Hong Kong Arts Festival and glad it ended with a bang!

From Baroque to Tango, The Li Biao Percussion Group
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Rudolf Alexander Bauer, Seven Seas

Antonio Vivaldi (arr. Li Biao), Concerto in D Major, RV93
Allegro
Larghetto
Allegro

Steve Reich, Music for Pieces of Wood

George Hamilton Green, Ragtime Suite

Minoru Miki, Marimba Spiritual

Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Li Biao), Italian Concerto, BWV 971
Allegro
Andante
Presto

Wolfgang Reifeneder, Crossover for Snare Drum Solo
Military, traditional
Highly Viennese
Pastoral
Spirited, hilarious

Philipp Jungk, Taklamakan

Astor Piazzolla (arr. Li Biao), Escualo, La Muerte del Angel, Libertango

Russell Peck, Lift-Off!

Jazz from a Classical Pianist

Lively performance tonight by pianist Denis Matsuev and other musicians

Denis Matsuev, 43, is a prodigy pianist, starting his lessons at the keyboard from the age of three. It also probably helped that his mother was a piano teacher and his father a pianist and composer.

When he was 23 years old, he won the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, establishing himself as a classical pianist.

However, ever since he was young, he listened to jazz records his father played at home, and Matsuev's first TV appearance in 1990 on a show called Morning Star, he played his own jazz composition called Paris Memories.

He can easily play both classical and jazz on the piano

"My father used to collect recordings of outstanding jazz musicians. I listened to them all my life as far as I can remember myself, and I always tried to improvise," he recalled in an interview with TASS in 2017.

"I like it, and I do not see any reason why I should renounce this pleasure. And sometimes, I feel like taking it easy and making fun on stage to put smiles on people's faces."

That's what he did tonight, which contrasted with Thursday night when he gave a Tchaikovsky piano recital, and then last night performed with young musicians, both at Hong Kong City Hall.

This evening he still wore his white bow tie and evening coat but let it rip with an energetic jazz show that seamlessly integrated Russian music and instruments.

At the start of the show at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre that was almost full, Matsuev explained that while classical music is his "wife", jazz is his "lover".

He and several musicians played 10 pieces, some as solos, some as a group. It started with an enthusiastic rendition of improvisations on a Theme from Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, followed by an accordion player, Aydar Gaynullin who performed Libertango by Astor Piazzola that had a tango flair.



Then a 12-year-old saxophonist, Sofia Turina came on stage and played Csardas by Vittorio Monti with the group, and a quick 43-second Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. When that piece is played on a sax, it really does sound like a buzzing bee.

Another drummer came out -- a young kid, Daniil Gulevich, who accompanied the group in Fly Away: Variations on Themes from Alexander Borodin and Paul Desmond arranged by Matsuev's double bassist Andrey Ivanov. During his solo, Gulevich couldn't resist and for about 10 minutes was banging away at the drums... cool, but past the five-minute mark we were wondering, when is this going to end? That was the only part that lagged in the concert.

Matsuev also showed off his composition skills with two lovely pieces, Baikal Samba in a tribute to Lake Baikal with a watery theme, and Ballad.

Andrey Gorbachev came out -- no relation to the former Soviet leader -- but this man is a virtuoso on the balalaika, a triangle-shaped guitar that only has three strings. He quickly showed us why he's so good, plucking and strumming the instrument so fast we were completely mesmerized. Then he joined in on variations of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the group that was lots fun, followed by improvisations on a Theme from Peer Gynt Suite. Here's an idea of what they played:



The final piece, Fiesta by Matsuev and Ivanov was definitely festive, and after playing their solo, each musician would leave the stage. In the end it was Ivanov on the double bass with Alexander Zinger on the drums, and then just the drum solo before they all came back on stage to finish the song.

We all clapped loudly, hoping for an encore, but sadly that was the end of the show, that ended as expected at one hour and 50 minutes.

 

Matsuev and Friends Play Jazz
Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Improvisations on a Theme from Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, arranged by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Libertango by Astor Piazzolla

Csardas by Vittorio Monti

Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolia Rimsky-Korsakov

Fly Away: Variations on Themes from Alexander Borodin and Paul Desmond by Andre Ivanov

Baikal Samba and Ballad by Denis Matsuev

Variations on Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov arranged by Denis Matsuev

Improvisations on a Theme from Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg, arranged by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Fiesta by Denis Matsuev and Andrey Ivanov

Jazz that Riffs off Ravel

(left to right) Marco Mezquida, Martin Melendez and Aleix Tobias

Last night was all about classical music, and tonight it was jazz riffing off of the music of Maurice Ravel.

As part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, I attended a concert by the Marco Mezquida Trio entitled Ravel's Dreams, held at the Drama Theatre in the Hong Kong for Performing Arts in Wan Chai.

Last year when I watched a jazz performance at the nearby Arts Centre, the place was barely filled, but this time it was almost full, with ushers encouraging people to sit closer to the stage.

Mezquida is a very talented Spanish pianist -- he is technically as brilliant as someone like Lang Lang and takes his musicality to another level with improvisation on the spot depending on the venue, the audience and how he feels.



Only 31 years old, he is very comfortable experimenting with all aspects of the piano -- even reaching over and playing with the strings inside the instrument. His fellow musicians are very accomplished as well.

Cellist Martin Melendez who was born in Moscow of Cuban parents and lives in Barcelona, playing jazz, Cuban, funk and flamenco. Melendez was soaking in the music, mostly eyes closed and moving to the music as he played, plucked and even strummed his cello.

Aleix Tobias on drums is very deft on percussion and has a range from adding beats to creating new textures with the music and complementing the two other players very well.

At first the audience was timid and didn't know when to clap -- many were Chinese -- but after a while they got the hang of it and enthusiastically clapped after each piece. 

Towards the end, Mezquida performed the Adagio assai from Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major all on his own and we were all mesmerized watching his fingers literally flying all over the keyboard, doing very fast chords and melody all on his own -- the cellist and percussionist took a break, and it wasn't until the very end did they join him.

The last piece they played was their riff of Ravel's Bolero -- so full of energy and the piano and percussion taking turns keeping the signature beat of the piece. The cellist held his instrument like a giant guitar and was strumming it!



By now the audience was so excited they clapped enthusiastically and got an encore. We don't know what it was, but Tobias held a tambourine, Melendez hit/tapped different parts of the cello and Mezquida strummed or plucked the piano strings -- it was completely unconventional music, and it was fun.

The audience clapped loudly again, but alas, the trio only came out to wave goodbye and that their CDs were available outside the venue!

Marco Mezquida Trio - Ravel's Dreams (arranged by Mezquida)
String Quartet in F major
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Adagio assai from Piano Concerto in G major
Bolero

Stellar Classical Music Performance

The audience thoroughly enjoyed tonight's concert in the Cultural Centre

The 47th HK Arts Festival kicked off this evening with a concert by the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.

Alsop is known as one of Leonard Bernstein's best students, and last year was busy performing for his 100th anniversary global celebrations.

Conductor Marin Alsop was a protege of Leonard Bernstein

Not only is she music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, but also principal conductor and music director of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Later this year she will become chief conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra too.

This evening the opening concert was held at the Concert Hall in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and it was shockingly not full -- part of the reason was when booking tickets, there was no way to know where you would be sitting except have a general idea due to the price of your ticket.

My friend YTSL bought the tickets -- HK$720 (US$92) each and that landed us in the nosebleed section! We can only imagine how much it cost to sit closer to the stage. But in terms of acoustics we were happy, though it was disappointing to see large patches of areas where no one was sitting. The organizers will have to think twice about how they have overcharged for this event.

Nevertheless the real reason why YTSL bought these tickets was to see violinist Ning Feng! He seems to have lost some weight which is a good thing.

Ning Feng did not disappoint with Paganini

He definitely did not disappoint, playing Niccolo Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6. His fingers were so deft on the violin neck that it hardly looked like it was a difficult task for him. The audience was completely rapt with his performance that we could only stare and appreciate his technical and artistic flair that was so precise.

Each movement was quite long, but designed to showcase the soloist's violin skills. Needless to say we were blown away.

He played an encore, but I couldn't hear clearly what he was going to play, though it was still spellbinding!

After the intermission we settled into more of Alsop leading the orchestra in Camargo Guanieri's Suite Vila Rica that in part IX Humoristico had a nice latin beat to it, and part X Baiao - Gingando also had a nice rhythm to it.

Alsop leads the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra

This was followed by a long-winded Richard Strauss piece, Der Rosenkavalier Suite. It took a long time to build up to the end that featured a lot of percussion from the triangle to giant drums and snare drums to French horns, flutes, a harp and even keyboard.

Alsop was so thrilled by our response (we made up for the small audience numbers with big claps and shouts of approval) that she got the orchestra to play two encores, both not classical and got us all excitedly clapping at the end.

We hope the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra enjoyed playing here -- they do have another concert tomorrow -- and thank you Ning Feng for the amazing performance!

Marin Alsop with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra
February 21, Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Sergei Prokofiev, Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op 25
Allegro
Intermezzo - Larghetto
Gavotte - Non troppo Allegro
Finale - Molto vivace

Niccolo Paganini, Violin Concerto No 1 in D major, Op 6 (performed with Ning Feng)
Allegro maestoso
Adagio espressivo
Rondo - Allegro spiritoso

Camargo Guarnieri, Suite Vila Rica (exerpts)
I. Entrada - Maestoso
IV. Scherzando
VII. Valsa (Waltz)
VIII. Saudoso (Homesick)
IX. Humoristico (Humorous)
X. Baiao - Gindando (Bahian dance - Swaying)

Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier Suite
Prelude
Presentation of the Silver Rose
Baron Ochs's Waltz
"lst ein Traum"
Waltz

Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The play is a faithful adaptation of the book by Mark Haddon

Just saw the UK's National Theatre production of The Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, based on the book of the same name by Mark Haddon. It was performed at the Academy for Performing Arts to a pretty much full house.

The story is about Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old who is on the autism spectrum, but it is not explicitly explained in the book, nor is it in the play, but the audience quickly discovers he doesn't like people touching him, is exceptional at math and cannot tell a lie.

The stage shows how Christopher's mind works

When the play opens, he discovers his neighbour's dog Wellington has been killed and wants to find out who did it, but no one will tell him the truth. That's when he decides to do some detective work and conduct an investigation, which is how he discovers the truth about his parents.

Meanwhile the set is like looking into the inside of a black box that is a grid showing space and time. There are 896 LED lights on the grid and they help illustrate what is going on in Christopher's mind.

The story is quite intense, not only from the amplified noises that someone with autism may hear, but also the conflicts in the story that at times seem impossible to solve. The "strangers" that Christopher encounter don't understand him, and it shows the challenges in dealing with someone with autism.

For Hong Kong this is important for people to see -- there isn't enough awareness of autism here and this play gives me and many others an idea of what it's like -- that anything can trigger screams and inadvertent assaults that are mistaken for violent acts.

Christopher (right) discovers he can't trust his father (left)

As someone who hasn't read the book, the production wasn't as moving as I had hoped, whereas those who have read the novel are happy to see it pretty faithful to the book. Perhaps it was the jarring lights and sound that made it harder to watch, whereas reading the book, the reader would use his or her imagination to empathize with Christopher.

Nevertheless, it was a very interesting play to watch, one that was very physical and creatively used technology to further enhance the audience's experience in watching the play.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Until March 18

Lyric Theatre, Academy for Performing Arts

Russian Soft Power through Music

Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov at the piano

Tonight I attended a Hong Kong Arts Festival concert by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov" -- a mouthful to pronounce, but a fantastic performance made even better by the fun encore at the end.

The State Orchestra is one of the oldest symphonic ensembles in Russia, formed in 1936 and it was granted the honorary title of "Academic" in 1972, while "Evgeny Svetlanov" was tacked on as he was the longest serving music director for 35 years.

The Russian State Orchestra performed in Hong Kong

And as a soft power initiative, the program featured Russian composers of course -- Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) and Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).

But first Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 in F-sharp minor, Op 1 (1917 version) performed by pianist Denis Matsuev. I sat on the right side of the stage so I was unable to watch him playing at the keys, but he gave a solid performance. The first movement was so exciting for the audience that many couldn't help themselves and clap!

It's the 1917 version, as Rachmaninov had written his first piano concerto when he was 18, but revised it in 1917 as the Bolshevik Revolution was happening.

The music started with a dramatic flourish and overall had a romantic feel, and Matsuev had ample chances to show off his technical skills. Meanwhile the orchestra was robust, in particular the percussion with up to four musicians playing drums, xylophone, triangle and tambourine.

The finish culminated into quite the flourish. Conductor Kristjan Jarvi doesn't like to break too long between movements, going one after the other and before you know it, the piece is over.

Denis Matsuev is considered a Rachmaninov expert

After a very short break Matsuev and Jarvi returned to the stage for Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18 by Rachmaninov. It is considered a piece that helped the composer work his way out of a long episode of depression caused by a disastrous premiere of his First Symphony in 1897.

Apparently the Piano Concerto No 2 helped cure his creative block and restored his confidence, and it was well received. Unlike the first piano concerto, this one starts off very quiet and quickly builds into big chords that signal the tolling of bells.

More fingers flying over the keys continue and at one point Matsuev gets a short break that he uses to wipe his brow. The second movement is recognizable and perhaps a tribute to Tchaikovsky.

At the end a guy two rows in front of me jumped up and clapped and would not sit down until Matsuev returned to give a short encore. It's quite fitting this pianist is performing here -- he is considered a Rachmaninov expert, having collaborated with the Sergei Rachmaninov Foundation established by the composer's grandson. Matsuev was even invited to play on Rachmaninov's piano in his home in Lucerne. Talk about goosebumps.

Kristjan Jarvi is an energetic conductor on stage

Following the intermission, the orchestra reassembled to perform Stravinsky's The Firebird (1945 Suite). Conductor Jarvi practically danced on the podium and it was a lively performance throughout, hardly pausing very long between movements.

The music is meant to complement the ballet The Firebird that has a good-versus-evil plot based on Russian sources. It alternates between heavy percussion clashes and pastoral light melodies.

When the performance was over, the audience was excited and clapping loudly, but many of the orchestra members stood stony faced -- were they told not to show their emotions? It seemed strange for them not to want to at least crack a smile that their performance for the evening was over?

Meanwhile conductor Jarvi was very happy and the orchestra played a fun encore -- was it Strauss? And encouraged the audience to clap along and sing ho ho ho. We clapped some more, but Jarvi put his two hands together and cocked his head as if motioning to want to sleep so that was the end of that.

Roots

Denis Matsuev, piano

Kristjan Jarvi, conductor

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov"

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

Sergei Rachmaninov

Piano Concerto No 1 in F-sharp minor, Op 1 (1917 version)

Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op 18

Igor Stravinsky

The Firebird (1945 Suite)

Polish Jazz in Hong Kong

Maciej Fortuna is a trumpeter, composer, music producer with an MA in Law!

The 46th HK Arts Festival is on and I've only got tickets to two shows! My friend YTSL has to remind me to look through the catalogue and then it's overwhelming...

One of the shows I picked on a whim was the theme of nouveau jazz and I'm glad I did.

What is it about the Polish and jazz? When I was in Beijing I heard Andrzej Jagodzinski and his group do jazzy riffs off of Chopin that was so cool and now this group, Maciej Fortuna Special Quartet in Hong Kong and they were fantastic.


Maciej Fortuna Special Quartet from Fortuna Music on Vimeo.

Held at Shouson Theatre in the Hong Kong Arts Centre, it was a nice intimate space for this kind of performance. There was free seating so I tried to arrive a bit earlier, but there was no problem getting a decent seat -- they were all good.

It turns out the group plays electronica jazz, something I haven't heard before and the sounds were pretty neat. There was a pianist (Andrzej Konieczny), a bassist (Roman Chraniuk), a drummer (Jakub Miarcznski) and the leader, Maciej Fortuna on trumpet.

The Maciej Fortuna Special Quartet

For example the trumpet was attached to a wire that was linked to some switchboard that Fortuna used to create new sounds coming from his instrument that didn't sound much like a trumpet but like an electric guitar.

When the bass was attached to an amp, it also made groovy sounds like a fuzzy plucked electric guitar. And then at times the pianist would go behind the piano and start playing on the second set of drums. One would think it would be too much, but they created so much energy, feeding off each other like a drum duel.

The dynamics between the members was great -- they riffed off of each other, kept the beat going and most importantly enjoyed themselves on stage. The freedom they have to express themselves is what makes jazz so interesting to watch and listen.

Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio plays Chopin with a jazz twist

Towards the end of the 90-minute show, Fortuna explained he had played here before, though some of his band members hadn't, and they enjoyed performing here immensely. He mistakenly said "Here in China" and then said, "I mean Hong Kong". He said the slight was similar to him performing in Iceland and then saying to the audience "In continental Europe..."

We forgave him and clapped loudly enough for them to do an encore. What a blast.

Maciej Fortuna Special Quartet

March 4, 2018

Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre

Super Fun Super Pool

People playing with lights in front of the Bank of China

On Friday evening I finished working out at the gym and on my way home I heard music and saw some glowing lights at Chater Garden, across from the Bank of China Building.

The circular art installation gets people involved

I took a closer look and saw in a circular penned area were colourful discs that changed colours when people stepped on them, and music played in the background.

It turns out it's an interactive art installation called Super Pool by Jen Lewin, an American artist based out of New York.

She is known for combining light, sound and complex engineering to create art installations that use LED lighting.

One of her best known works is called Pool, that uses over 200 LED-lit platforms that change colour according to the pressure and speed changes of the person stepping on it.

The Pool Around The World from Jen Lewin Studio on Vimeo.

For Super Pool, over 100 of the LED-lit pads are used.

The installation is part of the 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival that just kicked off last Thursday and it has since moved on to either Tsim Sha Tsui or Tsing Yi because tonight Super Pool is already gone from Central.

Everyone had fun watching the pads change colour

Nevertheless, I managed to get inside to try out Super Pool myself and it was the perfect playground for kids to run around, while adults were busy taking selfies. Super Pool is even cooler at night with the pads glowing from blue to aquamarine to magenta.

Visitors could play at Super Pool for about half an hour until the next batch of people are allowed in, but really 15 minutes was plenty. Afterwards we were encouraged to Instagram pictures we had taken and add #superpoolhkaf so that it would appear on its own account on a large screen and we could even get our picture printed out for fun.

While most people probably didn't understand the artistic value of the piece, it was definitely enjoyed by a lot of visitors who had fun playing with lights and sound on a Friday night.