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...

Please Turn Off Your Phone

After four years, Raphael Severe returns to Hong Kong

Tonight's concert was supposed to be a good one at the City Hall Concert Hall.

The Hong Kong Sinfonietta led by Yip Wing-sie hosted 24-year-old Raphael Severe in a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A, K622. The Frenchman can play a wide range of sounds on his instrument, earthy warbling ones to delicate soft notes. The first two movements were going well until about half way through the third movement --

Rrrrriiiiiiiing!

The orchestra and Severe continued, but

Rrrrrriiiiiing!

The Hong Kong Sinfonietta at City Hall Concert Hall

It was the elderly gentleman right behind me whose phone was not only annoying us nearby, but also the soloist, as we were only sitting a few rows from the stage.

One would expect the audience member with the offending smartphone to immediately try to silence the damned phone but he was completely oblivious to it...

Rrrriiiiing!

It rang several times and then finally stopped.

By this point Severe seemed to have been distracted by the phone and was just trying to focus enough to finish the concerto.

I lost my focus on the music too and it was annoying to say the least!

Nevertheless Severe is quite the prodigy, learning piano, violin and cello before focusing on the piano and clarinet at the age of eight.

He was admitted to the top clarinet class, having skipped eight classes... by 12 he won prizes in five international competitions, including First Prize and Jury's Special Prize at the Tokyo International Competition.

Two years later he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, where he got his bachelor's degree at 16, and masters degree a year later, both with high honours.

No doubt the kid is talented.

Too bad about the phone...

 

Movie Music!

The Hong Kong Sinfonietta performed in the HK City Hall Concert Hall

 Tonight YTSL and I attended a really good concert put on by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta called "Sounds Great! Classical Music in Movies", held at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall.

Originally a guest conductor called Jason Lai, a British-born Chinese was supposed to lead the orchestra, but a few weeks ago YTSL received an email saying resident conductor Yip Wing-sie would be heading the program.

Never mind -- we were keen on the music and enjoyed it very much.

The orchestra looked packed on the stage, squishing everyone and all the instruments in, as there were many percussion instruments and several keyboards including a grand piano!

The concert started with the tingling Also Sprach Zarathustra: Introduction by Richard Strauss, which film goers will recognize as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.



This was followed by Wagner's Die Walkure: Ride of the Valkyries that was used in a scene in Apocalypse Now where the helicopters fly low and start shooting at the Vietnamese below in a village by the water. Yip says this piece of music was perfect for this scene, making it indelible in her mind.



Next on the program was Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A, K622 (second movement), which was used in the film Out of Africa, a very romantic movie.



Tchaikovsky was next with two pieces, one was The Swan Lake, which Yip explained is always used in movies with ballets in them, followed by Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, that has been used in soundtracks from Scrubs to South Park, Spongebob Square Pants and Looney Tunes cartoons.



After the intermission, we reassembled back into the concert hall to hear a rousing rendition of Mozart's Symphony No 25 in G minor, K183 (first movement). When I hear this piece I immediately think of the opening scene in Amadeus, where composer Antonio Salieri is found to have slit his throat. Yip says Mozart is the best composer in the world, which makes the film such a good one because it features his music in there.



Yip then talked about American composer Barber's Adagio for Strings. Originally it was supposed to be for a string quartet, but when it was used in the film Platoon, he adapted it for a string orchestra. Another haunting piece of music for Yip while watching the movie, but she said for those who hadn't, it was romantic piece.

It made me realize that as a conductor, she must listen to the music used in movies much more acutely than the rest of us! And how do composers feel about their music being used in films?



Then who can resist throwing in Johann Strauss Jr's On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314, the music most synonymous with the waltz. The last piece of music was from John Williams, of course Star Wars. Yip explained the orchestra likes playing his works because he composes for all the members to play, in particular percussion, along with harp and piano. So it's not just the audience that likes his music!



Yip encouraged the audience to come back again -- they are performing the same program tomorrow and Sunday!