A Wonderful Nordic & Slavic Evening

Life is good. Thanks to the HKPO and Andreas Delfs, André Watts, Sarah Harper. Saturday's concert at the Cultural Centre is incredibly good. I can't believe it. But it's true. I came away a happy man again.

The evening's programme started off with a very atmospheric piece. It is difficult to imagine a German composer, an Italian composer, a South American composer or even a Russsian composer writing it. It was from Sibelius, a Finnish composer. And the piece? "The Swan of Tuonela", based upon a a poem in a collection of Finnish epic poetry called Kalevala collected in early 19th century by a scholar from that cold, stark, harsh and forbidding country at the northern tip of Europe, Elias Lönnrot .It recounts the adventures of its handsome and gentle young hero Lemminkäinen in trying to kill the Swan then gliding gracefully down The River of the Dead around the island of Tuonela, home of departed souls. He failed and in the process was himself killed on the riverbank by a poisoned arrow. This is how Sibelius describes the mood of the piece: "Tunela--the Hell in the Finnish mythology--is surrounded by a large river with black waters and a swirling current, on which the Swan of Tuonela floats majestically, singing." There is a cors Anglais solo in the piece, which was excellently rendered by Sarah Harper, who couldn't have said it better. "In having the solo line weave between the cor anglais, cellos and violas, Sibelius makes the piece feel much more like a dialogue between friends than a large orchestral piece.". It has got to be heard to be believed . Here it is.

The next piece was from another Nordic composer Edward Grieg, from Norway at the height of a national revival, his first attempt at composing something big. Prior thereto, he has been composing short songs. It was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16, closely modeled on that by Schumann, which he heard Clara Schumann play whilst he was still a student of Carl Reinecke at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music. The opening theme was announced very forcefully, Beethoven like, with timpani and all at the very beginning of the piece and there was constant dialogue between the piano and the orchestra but there was also a very lyrical second theme, one of the seven, most of which were taken from Norwegian folk songs which Grieg was fond of. Like all concertos, the second movement was a slow lyrical and heart-meltingly beautiful movement, followed by a fast, furious and most forceful third, excellently played by visiting pianist André Watts, whose sound is as big and powerful as his huge body. I really like the way he closes the third, a most powerful ending. Watts's play was completely masculine, his lines clear, his notes crisp and he has complete command of the instrument, which is not surprising for he has been performing for more than 40 years! It tells. He gave us two encores, one probably an etude in which there were successively waves of virtuoso fast fingerworks interspersed with single notes and another short modern piece.

The second half of the programme consists of another piece about a member of the feathered species but this time, a mythical bird. It was a piece by Rimsky-Korsakov's student, Igor Stravinsky. Rimsky-Korsakov was famous for the rich and varied tone color of his music. In Stravinsky's Firebird, he did his teacher honour. Originally, the piece was asked by Diaghilev to be written by Tcherepnin, who turned it down, so Diaghilev then asked Anatol Liadov who promised to do so but never did and eventually the choreography landed on the hands of Stravinksy, who completed it in six months after having been shown the ropes about writing for the ballet at his visit to the Ballets Russes. The piece was premiered in Paris in June 1910 and Stravinsky's name was splashed all over the Parisian newspapers. The ballet itself is about the how the hero Prince Ivan entered the grounds of King Kachtchei, an immortal god, saw all kinds of magical creatures including a Firebird, which he tried to and did catch but was then met by a number of princesses who all joined in to beg him to let her go. He fell in love with one of them and asked for her hand from King Kachtchei, got into a quarrel with him and the king sent his magic creatures to pursue Prince Ivan but he was rescued by the Firebird who bewitched them and King Kachtchei and made them dance the Infernal Dance. After the king awoke, he was bewitched again by the Firebird who told Prince Ivan the secret of Kachtchei's immortality: his soul was protected by a golden egg! Prince Ivan then proceeded to destroy the egg, thereby killing King Kachtchei. Upon his death, the spell he cast on the magical creatures were broken and all joined in a joyful dance to celebrate the recovery of their freedom. The ballet has a number of dance sequences as follows:Le Jardin enchanté de Kachtcheï (The Enchanted Garden of Kachtchei), Apparition de l'Oiseau de feu, poursuivi par Ivan Tsarévitch (Appearance of the Firebird, Pursued by Prince Ivan), Danse de l'Oiseau de feu (Dance of the Firebird), Capture de l'Oiseau de feu par Ivan Tsarévitch (Capture of the Firebird by Prince Ivan), Supplications de l'Oiseau de feu (Supplication of the Firebird), Apparition des treize princesses enchantées (Appearance of the Thirteen Enchanted Princesses), Jeu des princesses avec les pommes d'or (The Princesses' Game with the Golden Apples). Scherzo, Brusque apparition d'Ivan Tsarévitch (Sudden Appearance of Prince Ivan), Khorovode (Ronde) des princesses (Khorovod (Round Dance) of the Princesses), Lever du jour (Daybreak),Ivan Tsarévitch pénètre dans le palais de Kachtcheï (Prince Ivan Penetrates Kachtchei's Palace), Carillon Féerique, apparition des monstres-gardiens de Kachtcheï et capture d'Ivan Tsarévitch (Magic Carillon, Appearance of Kachtchei's Monster Guardians, and Capture of Prince Ivan), Arrivée de Kachtcheï l'Immortel (Arrival of Kachtchei the Immortal), Dialogue de Kachtcheï avec Ivan Tsarévitch (Dialogue of Kachtchei and Prince Ivan), Intercession des princesses (Intercession of the Princesses), their game with the golden apple, Apparition de l'Oiseau de feu (Appearance of the Firebird), Danse de la suite de Kachtcheï, enchantée par l'Oiseau de feu (Dance of Kastchei' Retinue, Enchanted by the Firebird),Danse infernale de tous les sujets de Kachtcheï (Infernal Dance of All Kachtchei's Subjects),Berceuse (L'Oiseau de feu) (Lullaby), Réveil de Kachtcheï (Kachtchei's Awakening),Mort de Kachtcheï (Kachtchei's Death),. Profondes ténèbres (Profound Darkness), It was a piece calling for the use of all kinds of instruments to evoke the magical atmosphere at King Kachtchei's palace. The HKPO under Delfs gave a beautifully executed Firebird and it made me very happy indeed to be able to share in the wonderful experience. Below are some of the excerpts from Stravinsky's first international success. 

It's so good to be in Hong Kong. I am really looking forward to tonight's piano recital by Murray Perahia now. Just can't wait.