In some concerts it is immediately obvious from the first note that you are in the hands of professionals; that you are about to hear musical precision, understand intellectual excellence, fine artistic nuances. Such was Karita Mattila's recital in the lied tradition last night at the Cultural Centre.
Accompanied by fellow Fin, Ville Matvejeff, the much celebrated opera star poured out the delicacies and exigencies of lieder from Brahms, Debussy, Richard Strauss and Alban Berg from within a sparkly shimmer of an silvery evening gown. Each piece performed with such mastery, the audience instantly responded with great admiration and warmth. Indeed, no-one clapped between the pieces in the cycles (unusual for an HK audience) and only one phone went off during the entire performance -must be something of a record!
I thought the opening songs from Alban Berg, taken from the Jugendlieder (such as this one), were challenging -the Shoenberg-esque atonal influences forming an incredible, meandering, early 20th-century landscape through which I thought the Hong Kong audience might not have easily travelled thereby becoming alienated. They were, instead, enraptured by Karita's scandinavian hand upon the tiller and Matvejeff's fearless support.
The Debussy, Brahms and Strauss were, perhaps, a little more to the liking of the mixed audience -I was sat next to two well-behaved school chaps who had obviously been given tickets as part of the 40th Hong Kong Arts Fest's outreach to the next generation. Not sure what they made of it, but they were back in the 2nd half for more from the Finnish soprano. Perhaps they were waiting for her to get her gear off as she did portraying Salome in New York in 2004 (now available on DVD!).
If I had one criticism, it would not have been with the artist, the choice of lieder, the accompaniment or even the eye-blinding showy one-piece dresses, but rather with the venue. The Cultural Centre is best-suited for big orchestral and choral events -there's even a dirty great organ at the back of the hall! But I would have preferred to hear these songs in the intimacy of a much smaller room, as lieder is wont. One can only suppose that such is Mattila's international operatic fame she must always be brought to such a large hall in order to meet demand.
As wonderful as this evening had been, it ended on very high notes indeed with Strauss's Frühlingsfeier (utilizing Heine's poem The Rite of Spring), where Karita's enthralling near-hysterical full throttle finale of "Adonis! Adonis!" teetered on the edge of insanity and could so easily have descended into bizarre spectacle.
Our evening's entertainment, however, began a little earlier with a little light dinner at The Parlour restaurant at Hullett House. Found within 1881 Heritage, the ex-marine police headquarters, first constructed in 1884 and now turned (at no small expense by those cheeky chappies Cheung Kong Holdings) into Tsim Sha Tsui's finest entertainment complex, the meal, ambiance, music, service and even the website were all excellent. And that got us to finking...
The Memsahib and meself've bin togevva naah for nigh-on a quarter sentry, cor-blimey! This might just be the place to host a do to celebrate such an event. Keep your eyes open and your ears peeled for more news nearer the time.
Comments