The first Encounter with Jaap at 9 ( 首會梵志登於九時)

The Cultural Centre concert hall was filled with the unusual bustle of a great many new feet last night. It was the first Jaap at 9. Instead of starting at 8, the concert started at 9. We were regaled with the sight of the familiar players of the HKPO not in black suit and tie for the men and black dresses or pant suits for the ladies, but the same players in jeans and T-shirts in red, white, blue and black. They were altogether much more relaxed. The concert was introduced by an MC who spoke mainly in Cantonese, sprinkled with a smattering of English. And the music too had been chosen not by our musical director and principal conductor Jaap van Zweden but by the critics and the audience.

For some reason, the music too, followed not the order printed in the Programme Notes but in reverse order. Instead of the concert ending with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, it started with that evergreen of the concert hall all over the world, which was said to have a hidden agenda ie. the composer's acceptance of his own "fate" of being a homosexual, evident in the opening theme. The symphony started with Andante (allegro con anima), then continued in a lyrical , tender and expansive Andante cantabile (con alcuna licenza), followed by the delightful and light-hearted Valse in Allegro moderato and ending in the bright sunshine of the Andante maestoso in Allegro vivace of the final movement which cleared off all the residual nervousness and uncertainties of first movement. It was played with the characteristic verve of van Zweden.

Then we had two short pieces by Brahms: his Hungarian Dance Nos. 5 and 3. Brahms wrote a total of 21 such Hungarian Dances altogether. The No.3, originally written for 4 pianos, was later re-arranged by Brahms himself for the orchestra. It featured the so-called "Tolna Wedding Dance"  which he took from Josef Riszer. But the orchestration of  Hungarian Dance No. 5, based on a theme in the typically forceful, slow and then accelerating rhythms of Czardas by Kéler Béla was done by Martin Schmelling,  Both such pieces were chosen by the critics. I don't know why, it seemed that Brahms had suddenly become a favourite of the orchestra.We just had Brahms last week. Whatever the reason might have been, we had a first by van Zweden: obviously pleased with the reaction of the audience,he gave us an encore one of the Slavonic Dances by Dvorak, another very fast and lively piece, an excellent festive ending to the evening's enjoyment.