Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra – David Atherton, Conductor; Viviane Hagner, Violin. December 7, 2007.

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Seat Stalls F5 (HK$240).

Program – Pure Sibelius (1865 - 1957)

Karelia Suite, Op. 11 (1893)

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104

Finlandia, Op. 26 (1900)

This turned out to be the third of the four concerts Anne & I attended during our week or so in Hong Kong. We again discovered the event late, and were surprised that tickets were available. The auditorium is on the small side, and it was about 80% full (not counting the sections that were left empty). We went with my sister Ling and her husband Wally.

Our seats were in the sixth row, a bit to the left. So we had a good view of the soloist, the conductor, and the orchestra (at least the first violins). Seating upfront actually gives you a limited view of the entire orchestra, but it is also fun to see clearly how the artists approached the performance.

One would expect a pure Sibelius event to be quite depressing, given the reputation of the composer. It wasn't the case this evening, though. Some of that was the programming, and some of that, alas, was how the conductor chose to interpret the music (incorrectly, in my opinion).

Sibelius composed eight pieces based on the Kalevala legends for a pageant; he subsequently destroyed four of the eight pieces, and published three of the pieces as the Karelia Suite, so named for the region where the legends mostly came from. The three pieces are: Intermezzo, Ballade, and Alla Marcia. We have heard other works by Sibelius based on that region also. I couldn't hear the timpani at first, although the balance seemed to improve as the performance went on. Nonetheless, I thought in general the performance didn't sound “Sibelian” enough and didn't quite depict what was described in the program notes. (E.g., there wasn't much bombardment coming across in the Alla Marcia movement.)

Much has been written about Sibelius as a violinist, and today's program notes mentioned that he actually was rejected by the Vienna Philharmonic as a violinist.

Hagner looked much younger than the photos shown in the program. I had never heard of her, and didn't know what to expect. In general, she acquitted herself very well. Technically she was superb, despite the initial jitters. The first movement was a bit disjoint and unfocused, but the third movement was very well done. Her face at times showed more pain than the music, though. She will be playing with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony next year.

The symphony was surprisingly upbeat and relatively simple in structure; there wasn't this continuous moving forward that I have come to expect of Sibelius's work. The four movements are: Allegro molto moderato; Allegretto moderato; Poco vivace; and Allegro molto. The first three were quite short and ended unexpectedly; the fourth movement did have more of a “fanfare” feel to it.

Finlandia is always a crowd pleaser. one of the melodies has been adopted as the tune for the hymn “Be Still my Soul.” Given the sentiment of patriotism the original composition is supposed to incite, one wonders if it is appropriate to adopt the tune that particular way. In any case, it was an exciting conclusion for the evening.

Atherton has an impressive resume, but I didn't find his conducting tonight particularly inspiring. The Hong Kong Philharmonic is adequate, but there is still much to be desired, especially in the area of precision. It may be interesting to put out a “Pure Sibelius” program, but the notes should explain a bit how the different pieces hang together as, say, a representation of the different stages of Sibelius's work.