Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival 2018: An Evening in Paris. January 17, 2018.

Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Rear Stalls (Seat ZA22, HK$120).

Program

Petite Suite for Piano Four Hands (1889) by Debussy (1862-1918).

     Orion Weiss, Anna Polonsky

Impromptu No. 6, Op. 86 (1904) by Faure (1845-1924).

     Emmanuel Ceysson

String Quartet in F Major (1905) by Ravel (1875-1937).

     Jerusalem Quartet

Fantaisie for Violin and Harp (1907) by Saint-Saens (1835-1921).

     Cho-Liang Lin, Emmanuel Ceysson

Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1916) by Debussy.

     Patrick Gallois, Richard O’Neill, Emmanuel Ceysson

Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet (1906) by Ravel.

     See below.

We had to wake up at around 4 am this morning to catch a flight to Hong Kong from Kunming.  Nonetheless, we felt energetic enough to buy tickets for this concert.  At a senior discount price of HK$120, it was an easy decision.  A great decision, it turned out.

Evidently there had been eight prior HKICMFs before I found about it - not being in Hong Kong generally in January probably contributed to my ignorance.  The artistic director is Cho-Liang Lin; yes, that guy from New York.

After the Executor Director of “Premier Performances” thanked all the sponsors, Lin talked a bit about tonight’s program and the sensuality of French chamber music.  He also mentioned that Ceysson, who would feature prominently in tonight’s program, would not be wearing formal pants as the dry cleaner evidently lost them, which gave the audience a chuckle.

It turns out Ceysson is Metropolitan Opera’s principal harpist, so we had seen him play many times before.  I just never bothered to find out his name.  His playing was clear, and the difficult passages didn’t faze him.  And all from memory, even the chamber music.

The rest of the music sounded fine.  Lin plays on a 1715 Stradivarius (the Titian).

Debussy’s Petite Suite was performed by the husband and wife team of Weiss and Polonsky.  Its movements are En bateau, Cortege, Menuet, and Ballet.  Ravel’s quartet was quite long (30 minutes per Program Notes) and consists of four movements: Allegro moderato; Assez vif – Tres rythme; Tres lent, and Vif et agite.  Members of the Jerusalem Quartet are: Sergei Bresler, Alexander Pavlovsk, Ori Kam, and Kyril Zlotnikov.  There were some rather dramatic pizzicato passages in the second movement.  The Debussy Sonata has Pastorale, Interlude, and Finale as its movements.  The artists who performed Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro were: Emmanuel Ceysson (harp), Cho-Liang Lin (violin), Kitty Cheung Man-yui (violin), Richard O’Neill (viola), Isang Enders (ccello), Patrick Gallois (flute), and Andrew Simon (clarinet.)

At the conclusion of Ravel's Introduction and Allegro.  From left: Isang Enders, Kitty Cheung (blocked by harp), Richard O'Neill, Emmanuel Ceysson (wearing jeans), Cho-Liang Lin, Andrew Simon, and Patrick Gallois.

The program was quite long: over 90 minutes of music.  I managed to stay awake the whole time.

Before our friend David got us interested in the Princeton summer concerts, I was not a great fan of chamber music. I have grown to appreciate it more the last several years.  And if I had known about this festival in advance, I might have postponed our return to NJ for a few days so I could take in a couple more events.  Quite an endorsement …

Even though the attendance was good, I suspect the festival has some level of financial difficulty given the plea made at the beginning of the concert.  Let’s hope they can continue.