Jennifer Koh

Stuff
By John Button
November 11, 2019
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Double treat from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

REVIEW: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart with Jennifer Koh (violin). Music by Salonen and Schubert. Michael Fowler Centre 8 November.

Again a smaller Friday night audience than the music deserved - those who stayed away missed a double-headed treat.

Composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen was near the end of his distinguished reign as conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic when he composed his 'Violin Concerto' as a farewell. And what an amazing and compelling piece it is. All four movements titillate the ear; from the agitated violin set against a rich dark orchestral landscape in the first movement through to the final "adieu" which, as he suggests, hints at a future.

All sections of the orchestra are treated with the brilliance of a master orchestrator, and the ferocious violin part would daunt many a famous virtuoso.

But not Jennifer Koh. She was completely inside the work, illuminating every page with stunning, seemingly effortless, skill. The orchestra under de Waart was scarcely less impressive; together composer, orchestra, conductor and violinist left us stunned.

Schubert's 'Ninth Symphony - The Great' is a long work that, for all its moments of greatness, does suffer from more repeats than really seem necessary, so only in a really fine performance do we forget the longeurs.

Back in 2016 Orchestra Wellington and Marc Taddei gave us a superb performance, but they did so by removing some of the repeats.

Edo de Waart seemed to have all the repeats, but, in some of his finest conducting during his tenure with the NZSO, and aided by superb playing from the orchestra (far richer in sound, and more thrilling in ensemble than the admirable Orchestra Wellington) he left us in no doubt about Schubert's final symphony.

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