Benjamin Schmid in HK

The HKPO may have terminated its concert season. But I have not. Last Saturday, I attended another concert. I rushed to the City Hall from Shamshuipo after a talk on the meaning of life by the HKSHP.  I was just in time to buy a ticket and got in.

I looked at the Programme Notes to get some information on the conductor and violin soloist. Both of them were Israelis. Ariel Zuckermann studied in Stockholm and Munich, was a flautist,  won a number of international prizes and appeared with other world class conductors like Maazel, Barenboim, Mehta and Muti. Benjamin Schmid studied in Salsburg, Vienna and also the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and performed with a number of orchestras like Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Zurich Tonhalle, Vienna Philharmonic etc. But he has also played with the French jazz violinist Stephane Grapelli. He is a very versatile violinist .

The first piece of the evening was Rossini's William Tell Overture. This piece has a very special meaning for me. I first played the galloping theme of this piece under our beloved late HK harmonica performer and promoter Leung Yat Chiu and his brother Leung Po Yee, as part of our school harmonica band more than 40 years ago. It was a tale of the fight of the ordinary folks of a Swiss canton  for freedom against rule by the German Hapburgs. We too had been promised universal suffrage in 1983 under the Basic Law but almost 30 years on, that goal seemed as far from us as ever. The piece began with cellos and basses which played very well, followed by the timpanis to signal the arrival of the coming storm then the woodwind as the actual rain came and finally the trombones and finale calling upon the people to revolt for their freedom, with the famous galloping theme which was done really well, although earlier the winds could have come in with a little less hesitation and more confidence.

The second piece, Beethoven's only Violin Concerto in D major, was the highlight of the evening. The first movement was a bit too loud and not completely co-ordinated. The second movement was much better although again, the winds could have played with slightly more verve and sounded less sleepy. Schmid standing in his formal swallow tail and maintaining a very controlled pose throughout, produced a very smooth silky sound with his violin and appeared to be much better on his A and E strings than on his G, which seemed to lack a bit of force and persuasion. I also wished he could have come down in those parts which required him to strike on both strings and then drag on them at the same time with a little bit more force. Therefore the concerto gave a very civilized and restrained sound and for me a bit too civilized and a little lacking in emotional impact. It failed to touch my heart. 

The surprise of the evening was Shastakovich's No. 9 in E -flat. It was a very lively piece supposed to be devoted to "the celeberation of our Great Victory" viz. the victory of the Russian people under their socialist government against the invasion by German during the second world war. But Stalin was not happy when it premiered under Mravinsky in November 1945 because it did not have a chorus, like Beethoven's and Mahler's No, 9 and no apothesosis and not even a "paltry dedication." It was a very simple, basic piece, almost like a classical Divertimento. The first movement in Allegro started very well. The winds were excellent . The second movement in Moderato and Adagio was also very good, with beautiful co-operation between the woodwinds and the strings and the third in Presto with its lively main theme introduced by the woodwinds and the finale in Allegretto and Allegro was fast, furious and glorious. The tuba and horns were particularly good. Of course, not a little credit should go to the percussions which added tremendously to the rhythm and verve of the music. I am very surprised indeed at the performance of the Sinfonietta under Zuckermann for this piece. Zuckermann was a small thin guy also in a swallow tail. He also seemed a very restrained conductor. This could be seen from the movements of his arms. His elbows were rarely more than 6 iches from his waist, no matter how loud the orchestra. Thus you find his back all hunched up during those passages which he was particularly anxious to get right, with his elbow just two or three inches from his waist and his head all bowed. But overall, there's still a lot to be done to match the standards of the HK Philharmonic. I am quite sure they are all fine musicians. Perhaps lack of rehearsal time and venue may be the reason for their being unable to be performing at their best? But still, the performance of the last piece was completely beyond my expectation. I expected much less co-ordination but I was very pleasantly surprised. The winds in the final piece were excellent.  Overall, a very good performance with just a wee bit of disappointment with the violin concerto.