Limelight — May 2017

104 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au

OBROADCAST GUIDE

ABC CLASSIC FM & AUSTRALIA'S INDEPENDENT RADIO STATIONS

Broadcast Guide

OntourforthefirsttimeeverinAustralia,

theHongKongPhilharmonicOrchestra

will perform with internationally acclaimed

conductorandMusicDirectorJaapvan

ZwedenandviolinistNingFeng.Partofa

five-city international tour to celebrate the

20thanniversaryoftheestablishmentof

theHongKongSpecialAdministrative

Region, the programme will

feature Mozart’s Violin

Concerto No 4 and Mahler’s

Symphony No 1. Fung

Lam’sQuintessence,awork

commissionedbytheHKPhil

to celebrate the orchestra’s

40th anniversary in 2014, will be

given its Australian premiere.

“I’m honoured thatQuintessence, a work

whichtheHKPhilpremieredduringits

European tour (2015) as well as its Mainland

ChinaTour(2016),willnowbeheardby

audiencesinSeoul,Osaka,Singapore,

MelbourneandSydney,”FungLamsaid.

Soontotakeuphispostasthe

new Music Director of the New York

Philharmonic, Van Zweden toldLimelight,

“ofcourseit’sabigstep.Idon’tthink

thereisanotherorchestramorefamous

than this orchestra, and it was a wonderful

opportunitytomakemusicwiththem.I’m

steppinginbigshoes.It’sveryinspiring

andatthesametimetheresponsibilityis

big...butitisofcourseadream”.

Having worked with Bernstein

and Karajan, Van Zweden has

plenty of Mahler credentials,

butwhatistheHongKong

Philharmonic’s Mahler

tradition? “They had some

tradition – Edo de Waart

didsomeMahlerwiththem.I

brought some tradition with me

because I was able to work with Bernstein

and Haitink. After my violin career, I

started conducting Mahler symphonies.

The European and the Dutch tradition

combining with their tradition is something

I really enjoy. I did some Mahler with the

New York Philharmonic and that was the

same. Although New York has a huge

traditionwithMahler,andHongKonghasa

very short tradition, it’s still a tradition. It’s

wonderfultomeetinthemiddleandsee

how they respond to my tradition. It’s giving

and taking – it’s beautiful”.

“Mahler’s music is full of emotion and his

SymphonyNo1isidealfortouringbeing

relativelyshortandextremelyaccessible,”

saidVanZweden.“NingFengisagreat

violinist and in his hands the Mozart

Violin Concerto will sparkle.” This not a

performancetobemissed.Justine Nguyen

TheHongKongPhilharmonic’sperformance

will be broadcast at 8pm on May 5

Ning Feng is a

great violinist and in

hishandstheMozart

Violin Concerto will

sparkle

Jaap van Zweden

ABC CLASSIC FMOUD FOR THOUGHT AT METROPOLIS

Forover20years,theMetropolis

New Music Festival has introduced

Melbourne audiences to some of

the best Australian and international

contemporary music. In 2017, the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is

inviting some of the world’s biggest

names and most exciting rising stars

ofcontemporarymusictorethinkthe

ways in which ancient instruments

canbeusedincreatinginnovative

musicforourtime.Australianoud

virtuoso Joseph Tawadros will give the

eagerly anticipated world premiere of

hisOudConcertointheFestival’s

firstconcert.Hewillappearwith

MSO2017ComposerinResidence,

Elena Kats-Chernin, harpsichordist

Mahan Esfahani, recorder player

Erik Bosgraaf, and conductor Brett

KellyandtheMSO.Theconcertwill

highlight the fascinating musical

opportunitiestobefoundintheoud,

theharpsichord,andtherecorder.

Joseph Tawadros’ Oud Concerto

willbebroadcastintheMSO’s

Metropolis #2 on May 4 at 7:30pm

Joseph Tawadros

DON’T MISS THE HONG KONG

PHILHARMONIC’SDOWN-UNDERDEBUT

Jaap van Zweden brings Mahler and Mozart on the orchestra’s

first Aussie tour, with a little help from violinist Ning Feng.

Photo © Marco Borggreve