A Magnificent Farewell

I really do not know when I'll be able to hear Edo de Waart again. After having been with us for eight years and transformed the HK Philharmonic from "a regional into a world class orchestra" as Y S Liu, chairman of the orchestra's board of director said at the opening of the concert last Saturday, Edo de Waart made sure that his last concert in HK as the orchestra's Artistic and Chief Conductor would be an unforgettable experience. And he succeeded beyond the bounds of my wildest imagination and that of all my concert buddies.

We had two pieces. The first was Berlioz's La Mort de Cléopâtre and the second was Beethoven's last symphony, the 9th. Hector Berlioz is a master of symphonic poem and orchestral color. The previous week, we had his Don Quixote. This week, he gave us one of his earliest compositions, a piece he composed whilst he was still a student at the Paris Conservatoire and which he submitted as his entry for the Prix de Rome in 1829 and as he said in his memoire, one written "from the heart". Although he did not win the prize, it remained great music, with huge changes in speed and rhythm and sound volume and with parts written for every section of the orchestra and with some bold harmonies to the recitatives in Allegro vivace con impeto for the first récit, Lento cantabile Largo misterioso for the Meditation, and then Allegro assi agitato for the following part, Moderato for the Récit mesuré.  . As the programme note says, he told one of the examiners after their adjudication that it was forceful and extreme because "It's difficult to write soothing music for an Egyptian queen who has been bitten by a poisonous snake and is dying a painful death in an agony of remorse".   The magnificent music was sung for us by Susan Graham, a tall blonde with an ample rounded  soundbox for a body who appeared on the stage in a black dress with an orange band in the middle, with black lace which trailed behind her body like the diaphanous wings of a huge cicada. She did full justice to Berlioz. It was really moving.

But de Waart saved the best for the last. In this piece, the HK Philharmonic was assisted by the excellent Shanghai Opera House Chorus under Vance George, singing the famous chorus for the Ode for Joy. There were other singers too like Lisa Larsson as soprano, Susan Graham as mezzo soprano, Henry Choo as Tenor, Mark Schnaible as Bass Baritone. The No. 9 needs no introduction.  I like every part of the symphony but especially the final movement in which de Waart whipped up waves and waves of sound at an increasingly more exciting pace. I have heard this symphony in the concert hall I do not know how many times. It must count as the best of them all. I am probably not alone in so thinking. Nearly the entire audience on the balcony gave Edo de Waart a standing ovation, and I amongst them. I have been to the Cultural Centre concert hall on more occasions that I can ever remember. But It's the very first time I ever witnessed such a reception. De Waart had to come out I don't how many times, probably 8 to 9 and when he finally took the concert master away, the audience had not yet stopped clappling! I am sure that the whole orchestra must be very very tired after putting in their all into that majestic piece of music.  A really magnficent closing to a tenure of sustained success at the HKPO. I can't think of a more deserving recipient for the never ending rounds of applause.