Under Jaap van Zweden, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra plays crystal clear and flawless

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The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) celebrates its 50th anniversary with a tour through Asia and Europe, led by outgoing chief conductor Jaap van Zweden. In Rotterdam on Saturday evening the orchestra seemed to be under high tension: smooth playing, a crystal clear sound and flawless orchestral solos.

This week it was announced that Jaap van Zweden will become chief conductor of a top French orchestra in 2026. He currently holds that role with three other orchestras – Seoul, New York and Hong Kong – but will retire from the last two after this season. Van Zweden was at the helm of Hong Kong for more than ten years.

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Jaap van Zweden:

<strong>Jaap van Zweden</strong> returns to Europe as chief conductor, after ten years in America and Asia. ” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/4JuCoaw7fpm-fDDYay2J1nRhmpU=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data112255751-92a058.jpg”/></p><p>The program booklet of De Doelen stated with some exaggeration that the HKPO was selected by the English music magazine in 2019 <em>Gramophone</em> has been named the best orchestra in the world. In fact, it was voted ‘orchestra of the year’ by readers of that magazine, a recognition that you mainly receive by putting yourself in the spotlight with striking CD recordings. Shortly before that, the orchestra released an acclaimed recording of Richard Wagner’s complete Ring cycle.</p><h2 class=Sharpened

But it was evident on Saturday that Van Zweden has sharpened his orchestra considerably with that undertaking. The opening piece Asterismal Dance by the Hong Kong composer Daniel Lo, written especially for the anniversary tour, bursting with hurried rhythms and short phrases that kept stopping and rushing on again. The orchestra followed Van Zweden closely.

In Rachmaninoff’s Beloved Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, in addition to the warm-hearted playing of the young French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, the fresh clarity in the orchestral sound was striking. The violin motifs in the Seventh variation sounded like electric shocks, and the string upbeat to the wonderfully smooth Eighteenth variation was like a cooling breeze. With his encore, Franz Liszt’s piano arrangement of the Schubert song Der Müller und der BachKantorow stopped time for a moment.

During the highlight of the evening, Gustav Mahlers First Symphony, the HKPO sounded more homogeneous than before the break; a bit less bright but still at least as energetic. With great precision, Van Zweden led his orchestra through a performance in which almost all solos went perfectly and the dynamic palette ranged from deafening (strong brass section!) to whisper-soft.

After an overwhelming climax, the last chord strangely sounded a bit unsatisfactory, almost an understatement, as if something had to come after it. But that also came, after long applause: a spicy final piece in the form of Antonín Dvořák’s Slavic dance no. 8.





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