Program
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 by Brahms (1833-1897).
Lontano by Ligeti (1923-2006).
Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 by Dvorak (1841-1904).
Around each time this year Hong Kong hosts a HK Arts Festival. This year's would be the 51st. Whether they counted the pandemic years or not would not detract from the fact that this has been ongoing for a while. I left Hong Kong in 1970, so probably missed the inauguration year of the festival, which I assume would be a relatively modest event.
The Festival officially ended on the 18th, with Bamberg Symphony performing in the Festival Finale. That concert was sold out when I checked into it. For whatever reason, there was going to be another concert the day after the Finale, and tickets were readily available. The actual Finale program had more popular pieces of Brahms (4th Symphony) and Dvorak (New World), but I was sure I would enjoy the less popular symphonies by these composers. And I was right.
Brahms and Dvorak lived around the same time, yet their musical styles were very different. A program that contains work from both composers would provide an interesting contrast, which today's program did.
My experience with Dvorak's Eighth runs hot and cold. I have always attributed that to how well the piece was performed. I have no reason to change my theory, today's performance belongs in the well-performed category.
After performance of Brahms' Symphony. The Usher (doing his job) told me photos were to be taken after the entire concert concludes.
This is taking "miniature score" to the next level.
The conductor acknowledged the soloist in the orchestra. Here the flutist.
Many sections were close to being entirely empty.
Time stamped at 7:12 pm, after the orchestra played an encore. Not sure today's added much to an already exciting program and performance.
The movements in the Brahms' Symphony are: Allegro con brio, Andante, Poco allegretto and Allegro - Un poco sostenuto. For Dvorak: Allegro con brio, Adagio, Allegretto grazioso - Molto vivace, and Allegro ma non troppo.
The Program Notes contains the following quote from Ligeti: "Technically speaking, this is achieved with the aid of polyphonic methods: Fictive harmonies emerge from a complex vocal woven texture; gradual opacity and new crystallisations are the result of discrete alterations in the individual parts. The polyphony in itself is almost imperceptible, but its harmonic effect represents the intrinsic musical action; what is on the page is polyphony, but what is heard is harmony." My best description of the experience was the aural equivalent of watching a lava lamp where the "lave" coalesces and then breaks apart. To make things more interesting, add some tint to the liquid, that would describe a "... credible performance ... requires inextinguishable intensity wed to a mult-faceted presentation of iridescent orchestral colours." Again quoting from the Program Notes.
The program on the 18th had instead Ligeti's "Poeme symphonique for 100 metronomes." That does sound interesting.
Bamberg is a small city in Germany, and Bamberg Symphony evidently does a lot of tours. It was formed in 1946 by former members of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague after the war. It has the honorary title of Bavarian State Philharmonic Orchestra, and receives considerable funding from the Free State of Bavaria.
As to the Czech-born conductor Jakub Hrusa, he will become the music director of the Royal Opera House in London in 2025.
Earlier in the day we had lunch at the Rainbow Restaurant on Lamma Island. The Restaurant provides a ferry service to Central and Tsim Sha Tsui. We took the 2:45 pm ferry and got off right at the Cultural Center. We had enough time for coffee before the concert.
For whatever reason, today's concert was poorly attended. I was talking to the ushers and they had no idea why. Some more expensive sections were completely empty, so one must wonder if HK$980 (priciest) was too much to ask for. Of course the same price tickets were sold out for the prior day's concert.
No comments:
Post a Comment