final concert of the previous year

It was an all-concerto programme the Hsing Hai CO. I estimate that the average age of the soloists to be about twenty. A common problem afflicted most of the performances. In most of the concertos, I'd wished the soloist could either play louder, or have their sounds amplified by the loudspeakers. The microphones, themselves an eyesore to start with, risk hindering the soloists' movements.

I found the soloist for "Hong Mei Sui Xiang Qu" rather restrained. He was technically impeccable, but maybe just too cautious to "get it correct". Nevertheless it was an impressive achievement for him to have performed the concerto despite his relative youth. He played Zigeunerweisen just the previous weekend! The concerto might have sounded better if the volume of the soloist's microphone had been turned up.

I wasn't really paying attention during the flute concerto, so I can say much.

The orchestration sounded a little weird for the erhu solo "Jiang He Shui". I remember the same soloist perform the same piece at a recital last year. I can't remember enough to compare her playing with that last year. But it was definitely more interesting this time round. There seem to be as many different orchestral arrangements as there are recordings for concertos. This arrangement sounded overly melodramatic and "movie-music-like". The soloist also had a habit of glancing at the conductor a little too frequently --- a habit that might have arisen from her experience as a regular orchestra performer. I would have prefered a more introspective and pensive take.

Next up was the yangqin concerto, "Man Xiang Sui Xiang Qu". I had been looking forward to this since I heard about the concert! I was irked by the unstrategic placement of the microphone which was placed right in front of the instrument. It bothered the soloist enough that she had to nudge it forward. Anyway, shouldn't the microphone be placed below the yangqin to capture sound from the soundboard? For reasons I've already mentioned, the acoustics didn't do justice to the soloists. I know that she packs a punch in her playing because I just saw her perform the previous week at the mini-recital, so it is not her fault that she got drowned out by the orchestra like the other soloists. I'd prefer to hear the yangqin arpeggios rise above the orchestra's volume, even when they are only playing a supporting role. I'd love to hear her perform again.

The final piece for the night, "Kong Que Dong Nan Fei", was a pipa-erhu double concerto. It sounded more like a pipa concerto since most of the challenging parts were played on the pipa. This time neither instruments were drowned out by the orchestra. The pipa soloist really shone here. I want to hear it again! It's a pity I still couldn't find the mp3.

I've more to say about English translations of Chinese titles. Maybe I'll leave that for a later post.