Kahchun Wong conductor, Truls Mørk cello. Shostakovich, Festive Overture; Elgar, Cello Concerto; Rachmaninov Symphony No.2
This was the Halle’s opening concert of the 25/26 season. The Halle, much more obviously than the BBC Phil in Manchester, has to balance innovation in concerts against the need to balance the books, and this was unashamedly a popular concert – and was responded to very warmly by a packed audience. I perhaps wouldn’t have bothered too much about missing this in other contexts, but I was interested to see what Kahchun Wong made of the Rachmaninov, which seemed to fit his interpretative gifts well.
There was a pre concert session with David Butcher CEO of the Halle interviewing Kahchun Wong. Mr Wong again impressed by his modesty and his gentle collaborative approach, as well as his enthusiasm for the orchestra’s sound, which he described as Germanic but flexible. He said in answer to a question that he hoped to do more Elgar but had kept away from it in his first year, out of respect for Mark Elder. He was similarly keen on doing some concert opera performances in the future – there was then an oddball question about whether he’ll be conducting Gilbert and Sullivan. I am not sure Mr Wong understood the question…..
The Shostakovich Festive Prelude (25th September is Shostakovich’s birthday) was a resounding example of the sound he gets from the orchestra – Kahchun Wong has the knack of choosing tempi that are just right, that allow clear articulation of fast passages. The violins were split to promote maximum clarity and he can somehow bring out some of the underlying accompaniment to the main theme to be clearly heard without over-balancing the overall performance
Rachel Helleur-Simcock has just been appointed as lead cello of the Halle (she’s coming from the Betlin Philharmonic after 16 years there) and 3 weeks before the concert, when the advertised soloist fell ill, she offered to take over. The Elgar concerto isn’t one I’ve heard live in a concert for a long time. This struck me as a quiet and poetic reading with a particularly moderately paced first movement. The third movement was full of poignant regret. Some of the performances I’ve heard have emphasised more the emotion. the loss, even the anger contained in this work and Ms. Helleur-Simcock consistently understated these dimensions – but it’s a perfectly valid way of playing it. I was struck by both the work’s concision and its waywardness – its constantly curving off in unexpected directions. It is a remarkable piece – the ‘cellist did that wonderful growl at the end superbly, where Elgar seemingly says, in his bluff mode, ‘enough of this introspection – I am off to the races’
Rachmaninov 2 is not, as I’ve said above, a particular favourite of mine – I’m not that sweet- toothed…… But this to my mind was as good a performance as I am ever likely to hear in the ultra-sweet-toothed mode (I would have loved to hear Gergiev and the LSO ‘perform it). Mr Wong chose the uncut version of the work to perform, though with no repeats in any movement. He gave an interesting ‘programme’ for the work in the talk beforehand, likening the Symphony to a depiction of the seasons – first movement, Autumn (and you can hear the whirl of dead leaves on occasion), the second, Winter (with perhaps a sleigh ride starting off the movement). Then a very Russian Spring with some cold spells, and fourthly a Summer finale. The Halle sounded, despite a few wobbles, gorgeous – a huge lush string sound, the split violins contributing to that sense of spaciousness, the woodwind deftly weaving around each other, and a strong horn and brass section. It was a homogenous sound, firmly grounded, without being smoothed out too much. Mr Wong lent into the music, and perhaps was a bit too free with some very large rallentandos, particularly at the end. But the strong emotion was tethered by the way in which the subordinate instruments and harmonies, the filigree of woodwind sounds, were brought out by Mr Wong, underpinning the big tunes, and also by the energy and spring he conveyed to the orchestra. A particular shout to the clarinet, horn and cor anglais principals. Maybe it was a bit too pulled-around, a bit too over-the-top, but then the work is so over-the-top anyway, it’s hard to be too bothered by this.
I am hearing Mr Wong perform the Enigma Variations with the Halle next week. That should be fascinating……..
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