SYMPHONY CONCERT REVIEW. Thursday, 15 June 2023. At the Cape Town City Hall.
CPO Conducted by Arjan Tien, soloist Mike Wang. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra. CPYO Conducted by Chad Hendricks, Dvořák Slavonic Dance Op.46 No. 8. ALBERT COMBRINK reviews.
Conductor Chad Hendricks, led the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in an exciting and polished version of the Dvořák Slavonic Dance Op.46 No. 8. Nimble percussion work and a full and resonant double bass sound added depth and layers of interest to and old chestnut that could easily come off as brash.
The CPYO is a project already 20 years old, where young musicians get the chance to study and train with professional orchestral musicians. Hendricks did a splendid job with clear instructions easily communicated.
Astonishing accuracy
When a young soloist tackles a very famous work such as this concerto, it is a huge gamble: audiences know the piece well, and the musically-minded have firm ideas about how it should – and should not – be played. When the soloist is a schoolboy, from Paarl Boys High School, one might approach with some trepidation. Not tonight. The Cape Town audience roared its approval.
Mike Wang played with astonishing clarity and accuracy, and he has the fingers to match the challenge. He played with a solid muscularity that kept him clearly audible through most of the big orchestral climaxes. The first movement was well controlled and the build up to the climaxes felt safe, comfortable and confident. A few more pianissimos would add some more magic, but he pays with a full cantabile sound which is always pleasant on the ear, even at the loud explosions.
In the slow movement where the piano accompanies the exquisite orchestral solos, the patterns could find some more nuance – it felt almost as if these passages were too easy to hold much interest for the soloist. Beautiful orchestral playing did provide treats along the way and Wang has an analytical approach to the thick harmonies which was interesting to hear.
All the adrenaline one could hope for
The third movement took off in a shower of semiquavers, and provided all the adrenaline one could hope for in a Rachmaninoff finale. Occasionally perhaps a bit much, as one or two gear-changes seemed to appear rather suddenly, requiring some quick tempo-adjustment from the conductor, but the orchestra responded in an instant, and – a few tricky transitions aside – raced to a highly exciting climax.
A thrilling performance from an up-and-coming young lion of the keyboard and I can’t wait to hear what revelations the next few years hold for this talented young man.
The audience insisted on an encore, and the Chopin Etude C Sharp Minor, Op. 10 No. 4 was spotless, virtuosic, and hugely impressive, with a dryish approach to pedalling working exceptionally well. In time he will enjoy exploring the nuance in the phrasing to fuller effect.
Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra followed after interval. It was one of the composer’s last works, commissioned as he was in hospital dying of cancer. There is a sense of reverence when dealing with a composer’s last words, and it felt as if it was hard to get the required attention: audience members were walking in and out of the performance during the piece and was as incomprehensible as it was distracting. A slight glitch in string intonation in those wonderful opening bars reflected the bad behaviour of the audience.
Some parts of the Concerto are not conventional melodies, but rather creates shapes and moods, as if he is outlining a melody, before stating it fully. Those shimmering strings are a simple idea which gives birth to a family of themes, and it seemed to take a few minutes for everything and everyone to settle. It was noticeable how conductor Arjan Tien kept the brass volume in check: the strings played passionately, but the acoustics of the City Hall make it easy to bury the violins in an avalanche of brass.
The Game of Pairs created a delicious parade of creatures in pairs – an updated musical Noah’s Ark that builds to a priestly blessing from a shining brass chorale.
A whirlwind steeplechase to the end
The “Elegy” was filled with the eerie night sounds which Bartók so often used in his works. The dark anguish of the movement was well-captured by a desolate Oboe solo, hanging like a hovering soul over the Transylvanian landscape, and the Hungarian folksong exquisitely played by the Viola.
The Interrupted Intermezzo showed off some the impressive percussion section, including Tympany that uses pedals to change pitch while playing. The jeering at Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony was sardonic and to the point, but not overplayed or hammed up.
The finale was whirlwind steeplechase to the end, with well-behaved brass fugues and furiously scampering strings building to an absolutely thrilling ending. One was struck by the sheer melodic inventiveness of this composer, and reminded that he collected and preserved volumes and volumes of folk songs from Hungary and Rumania. The New York City Library was going to publish his book on Folksong until they saw that it was 600 pages long.
How sad then, that Bartók’s final words were: “I am only sorry to have to leave with my bag still full…”
What: Symphony Concert Review, CPO conducted by Arjan Tien, soloist Mike Wang
Reviewer: Albert Combrink
WS
