David Zinman and HKPO

24th January 2009

2000 HKCC


Webern: Passacaglia

Mahler: Symphony no.10 -Adagio

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra





This concert marked my first concert in 2009 and the last one in the Year of the Rat. For whatever reason, the hall was merely half-filled. Yet Zinman and the orchestra has certainly given their full.



Webern was not a composer that I was familiar with, now was the general "second Vienesse school". As with many among the audience, Mahler and Strauss were what I was looking forward to. The Mahler Sym.10 is every bit as gripping as a heart attack, literally angina pectoris. The soaring strings threatens to suffocate one's soul. Special credit must go to the principal Horn, whose marvellous technique and warm tone cradles the moving strings melodies lovingly.



Although the Einletung in Also Sprach Zarathustra could be done with a bit more zest and grandeur (especially the tam-tam..who seems to have bilateral upper limb weakness), the subsequent parts more than compensated in terms of content and emotional impact. Zinman is an effective and direct conductor with clear indications, and the orchestra is happy to follow suit. Solo passages were all brilliantly carried out, yet the strings and woodwind as a whole still have much room for improvement. HKPO does not lack individual soloists, it just needs quite a few more to bring itself further up.



Tonite was also the first time I heard the organ in HKCC, well, rather a disappointment to be frank. I don't really know whether its the player's problem or that of the instrument. The one in the Philharmonie in Berlin certainly sounds much much grander.