La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra

Last Friday, we attended the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra's debut concert at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre. Led by Korean conductor Myung Whun Chung (the younger brother of the famous violinist Kyung Wha Chung), the Italian orchestra played Rossini's overtures to William Tell, The Italian Girl in Algiers, the Intermezzo from Puccini's Manon Lascaut, Verdi's overture to La Forza del Destino and Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony.

We were late by 5 minutes (that day being the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, we couldn't get a cab to the subway station) and we missed the opening piece. Luckily for us, they decided to play the overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers first. I'm not saying that piece's lousy. Well, to some extent, it really is just full of bubbling good spirits and not too deep, but there are some buoyant good tunes in it as well. But why I'm saying that is because I wouldn't want to miss the William Tell overture for anything.

The William Tell overture has a famous finale that even non-classical music listeners would recognize. I can bet you a considerable sum of money that you would know the tune, although you might not know its name. Curious? Well, go 'you-tube' it! Anyway, the orchestra did a decent job of the overture, the cello ensemble in the first section of the work neat and refined, gradually building up into the 'storm' section, which was a little subdued I think. Then came the lovely woodwind solos in the third section. The cor anglais player and flautist did their parts beautfully, and finally, with the heralding trumpets came the famous 'horse-riding' finale. The famous finale really resembles riding on a horse. So overall, very competent playing, but I did feel that the players were not 100% warmed up at this point. They didn't lose themselves totally in the music, and there was perhaps a little too much care in their playing.

Next came the Puccini and Verdi. I shall not go into this too much, for these are pieces I've never liked very much. Puccini to me is a very soppy composer and this particular Verdi is not one of my favourites - it sounds very much like loose bits patched together.

After the interval came the main course of the evening - Tchaikovsky's dramatic and sonorous 4th symphony. Tchaikovsky's a pretty neurotic guy who has unmatched pessimism and who always thinks his life's extremely screwed-up. So he is one guy who always wears his heart on his sleeve and it shows in his very passionate music. You can always hear him wailing and sighing his heart out. The final 3 of his 6 symphonies are his most famous. In this one, the 'fate' motif, blared out by the brass in the opening bars dominate the work, but thankfully, it is transformed into a theme of triumph in the finale. Chung controlled the structure of the work very well, shaping each phrase, making most of each dramatic moment, yet never overdoing it. He is known as a master of the orchestral sound -- under his baton, no orchestra has a bad sound. That's why he is such a master interpreter of French music, with wonderful recordings made of Berlioz's music.

That evening, the orchestra really livened up with the Tchaikovsky symphony. They had excellent brass and wind players and the work really gave them the opportunity to shine. But overall, I still felt that their paramount concern during this concert was for a beautiful sound and perfection, I didn't really feel the infectious Mediterranean passion until the encore work. After receiving at least 5 curtain calls, Chung shushed the audience and shouted 'Viva Italia!' and they played the finale of the William Tell overture again, to the rapturous delight of the audience. This time, the orchestra really played with their hearts and we definitely felt the passion. I saw a few audience members beating time to the exciting music and more than a dozen persons gave Chung and the orchestra a standing ovation.

Well, not too bad an experience, my first visit to the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre. More to come!