HKPO's Resurrection

I attended the Mahler No.2 by Edo de Waart and the HKPO last night. I didn't have much expectation. I attended the concert because any Mahler Symphony played in Hong Kong is an event for me. Edo de Waart is certainly not my favourite conductor. His conducting style is too feminine. Indeed, I heard a feminine Mahler 2. The opening of the symphony was supposed to be a conflict, but de Waart played it with much reservation. The sound of the violins (particularly the first violin) were weak. May be it is because of the seat that I was in (rear stall again).

The way HKPO played it made the first movement relatively boring. The speed de Waart took for the second movement was faster than usual, even faster than Rattle. That's fine with me. But the problem is he slowed it down towards the end of it. This gave the feeling that it dragged on a little bit.

The third movement was OK, but the strings were just too weak. The alto for the forth movement sang it with passion and everybody was hushed by her pure voice.

The final movement was the best part in the whole concert. And I would probably attribute it to Mahler rather than the conductor or the orchestra. The music was impactful. What interests me was that the CBSO choir was sitting down when singing for the first half of the final movement. They only stood when it reached the final part of the final movement. That's quite unusual. Their singing was superb. I look forward to attending their concert tonight.

All in all, the Mahler 2 by HKPO and Edo de Waart was just mediocre. Having said that, the audience seemed to be quite impressed by it and some people were even giving their standing ovasions for the orchestra. For me, I am glad that people love Mahler's music - his time has surely come!