Review - Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner), Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra & Jaap van Zweden, 13 October 2017

Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner)

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden (conductor)

Despite the one and half hour long performance was greeted by an enthusiastic reception, Zweden did not appear satisfy as some previous performances like the Mahler fifth. Prior to the orchestra's Beijing tour, this one off account of the composer's spiritual journey on death and transfiguration for the hometown audience felt like a work in progress than a full understanding. The blame was equally shared between the orchestra and also Zweden himself. They have to go back to the drawing board and adjust for a more all rounding results.

After being used to the rich and full bodied playing by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in Tokyo, it took few minutes for my ears to adjust back to the orchestra's colour. Although upper strings played tidily in a beautiful tone, the sound body was slightly thin even for the soft beginning. Same happened to the horns too and sluggish woodwind playing without a clear direction. After the first round of ebb and flow of climatic moments, the violins were more able to shape the lyrical theme. It was confidently answered by a muscular brass fanfare upon another climax. Megan Sterling's flute solo responded beautifully and carried more direction than her colleagues. Further sentimental playing from the strings that gradually built up another crushing climatic point before the music faded away in its leanest sound body.

The strings knew the road map well enough in the Scherzo of the second movement, which had more urgency in its playing and galloped through with great energy. In contrast, the woodwind was not responsive and neither crisp. Brass was slightly polite at the triumphant gallop while upper strings made a raw sound to response emotionally. The horns' duet was supposedly a sublime and majesty passage, but it was the weakest moment of the evening and rough edged along with the harps and strings. The lyrical theme also lost focus and messy among the brass, which lacked smoothness while playing tenderly. Lower strings also needed to play the notes in fuller value to let the line sings more. Direction and confidence regained at recapitulation with the upper strings realised the accelerando with sheer intensity, though woodwind was rather impatient with the tempo.

Zweden seems preferred a rather swift tempo for the lengthy third movement but that sacrificed the space for the music to sing. The sentimental theme which began the movement was not devastating enough. Upper strings somehow lost its focus and gave a rather mechanical rendition than keeping the line flowing. Instead the lower strings was more able to create the colours through the ebb and flow of emotions. Later the woodwind sextet did not really click together as an ensemble and lacked the chemistry. The broad expressive theme then developed into a magnificent climax with sentiments, but the playing again felt vertically progressed and lost energy. A quick ascend to the next climax that felt in hurry than enjoying the big moment. Perhaps Zweden saw the focus was the inner emotions later expressed mysteriously than the triumphant peaks. The tender revolve seems too energetic and not idiomatic with the movement's broad impression. It needs to be more patient and phrased the line longer for a calm and relax closing.

Blazing brass fanfare made a wild and crushing entrance into the fourth movement, responded by an emotional expressive theme on the strings in rich tone. Whereas the strings increasingly employed more rawness in their playing, the woodwind answered subtly alike a walk in the woods. Then a bold chorale theme was majestically rendered responded by a sweet tune on the solo oboe. The muscular fanfare returned again at fortissimo and strings gave a warm and expressive response. Horns' solo line again not beautifully played neither majestic, though another devastating climax became the focus. It became a classic struggle between triumph and melancholy that searched endlessly for a resolve. Harmonically the recapitulation developed into a new sound world and became more confident to overcome the uncertainty. It developed a complex of emotions through brass bombardment against sentimental strings' motive. Sorrow seems prevailed but the finale finally reached a triumphant resolve against an epic struggle in grandeur. No wonder the audience could not hold back their appreciations even it was not a resounding success.