Second Concert
The second concert of the Berlin Phil started with a Haydn Symphony. Rattle made the orchestra sounded effortlessly. Again, the control on the orchestra was maximum, yet leaving it with freedom. He literally stopped conducting in the third movement and let the players listening to themselves. The togetherness of the orchestra was well demonstrated.
The second piece was Ades' Asyla. This is modern music. I don't particularly like modern music. Of course, just looking at the percussion is eye-opening experience. There are tins, different types of drums, three pianos (one deliberately set out of tune), some woodwinds not seen before, etc. Over 100 players on the stage, working very hard. I would say it is a very exciting and interesting piece. However, I don't have much incentive to listen to it again.
The Ein Heldeleben by R. Strauss was the climax of the night. The brass and strings were absolutely impeccable. The horns were so strong when it came to the war scene. I could literally feel that the hall was resonating. The strings were giving all they could - one second violin player even broke his strings. He handed the violin to the player behind him for string change and some girls at the back passed a spare string to the front and he managed to change the string within a very short time and then played again. These actions took place seemlessly during the war scene! I wonder how the player managed to listen to his violin for tuning. Terrific!
The encore was just a dance piece by Dvorak, which is a show-off piece for orchestra - not as good as the Sibelius in the previous night.
I know many people (including me) couldn't appreciate the piece by Ades, but I think it is good that Rattle made an effort to show us what an orchestra can do and educate us what good modern music (Ades is only 34) sounds like.
The concert ended at nearly 10:30pm. I have nothing to complain, except that the temperature in the concert hall was unacceptably high. Incidentally, we were walking behind Raphael Hui when we were leaving the concert hall, and I raised my voice and said, "We really need a better concert hall in Western Kowloon!". I think he heard me.
The second piece was Ades' Asyla. This is modern music. I don't particularly like modern music. Of course, just looking at the percussion is eye-opening experience. There are tins, different types of drums, three pianos (one deliberately set out of tune), some woodwinds not seen before, etc. Over 100 players on the stage, working very hard. I would say it is a very exciting and interesting piece. However, I don't have much incentive to listen to it again.
The Ein Heldeleben by R. Strauss was the climax of the night. The brass and strings were absolutely impeccable. The horns were so strong when it came to the war scene. I could literally feel that the hall was resonating. The strings were giving all they could - one second violin player even broke his strings. He handed the violin to the player behind him for string change and some girls at the back passed a spare string to the front and he managed to change the string within a very short time and then played again. These actions took place seemlessly during the war scene! I wonder how the player managed to listen to his violin for tuning. Terrific!
The encore was just a dance piece by Dvorak, which is a show-off piece for orchestra - not as good as the Sibelius in the previous night.
I know many people (including me) couldn't appreciate the piece by Ades, but I think it is good that Rattle made an effort to show us what an orchestra can do and educate us what good modern music (Ades is only 34) sounds like.
The concert ended at nearly 10:30pm. I have nothing to complain, except that the temperature in the concert hall was unacceptably high. Incidentally, we were walking behind Raphael Hui when we were leaving the concert hall, and I raised my voice and said, "We really need a better concert hall in Western Kowloon!". I think he heard me.
posted by Andy at 11/15/2005 09:35:00 AM
4 Comments:
I heard that there is no musical things at western kowloon, don't you think there will have a concert hall?
I think Raphael Hui would push for one. In fact, we should because Hong Kong is an international city.
I think Hong Kong has enough hardware. Afterall western Kowloon is a property project, like the cyberport.
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