Klassiek Centraal is making another attempt, as in previous years, to provide you with a report each evening on the progress of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. With our general impressions from the past evening, we write a brief review per candidate.
First final evening
First of all, I would like to share my particularly positive impression of the imposed work. This is a work for the general repertoire. Without any doubt. Finnish composer Kimmo Hakola wrote for the commission of the KEW Violin 'Fidl' Op. 99. It is much more than a duty piece that ends up in archives after the competition. This is an inspired composition with lots of bells and whistles, but also with great delicate finesse that is supplemented with everything a thoroughly trained young soloist must master in terms of command of the instrument. Those who are not virtuosic enough will fall by the wayside, but also those who are too technical and less emotional will not get out of the work what is in it. For a jury member, this is indeed ideal to compare and, with knowledge of the matter, even more than in well-known violin concertos, to judge the candidate as objectively as possible. The composer deserves a standing ovation with his composition for the future that you may call 'new music' with all the effects the work is rich in, and yet it can be heard with emotion.
Candidate 1: Luke Hsu (USA, born 24.07.1990)
Self-confidence, that characterizes this oldest of the 12 laureates. His technical prowess is remarkable and you hear it not only in the parts that demand absolute virtuosity, but also in the purity of the tone, barring a few minor bow scratches. The imposed work is purely technical in its execution. He misses the curve of musicality and plays straight through and especially fast. Too fast? The fine details that Kimmo Hakola has hidden in the work remain hidden.
The Violin Concerto in D Op. 35 by Peter Tchaikovsky is performed in a similar manner. Highly technical, enormously fast, which is why the dialogue with the orchestra is missing and that orchestra couldn't care less about following. The countless emotions that a human life undergoes and that Tchaikovsky has the violin tell, apparently pass the violinist by. This laureate has to make do with bravura.
Photo: © Kate Lemmon
Candidate 2: Sylvia Huang (Belgium, born 20.04.1994)
What immediately stands out in the entry of the imposed work is that our compatriot is not so technical, but more musical. She lets the work sing more, although she also plays a few more mistakes. She has understood the story of Fidl well and knows how to tell it to us in a gentle manner with fine accentuations. Sometimes too soft, because this work is full of double and triple fortes and she doesn't really bring those out of her instrument.
Her choice for a concerto fell on the Concerto in a Op. 53 by Antonín Dvořák. Again, it is notable that she is not really physically strong enough to take the orchestra along with her. That orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, pulls back somewhat so as not to drown out the violinist. Sometimes an impossible task for the wind players who have an important role not only in Dvořák's concerto, but also in the imposed work. The Czech with his Slavic/German culturally influenced background you hear throughout the work and Sylvia Huang builds further on the melodies of the composer. She does that very sweetly, fragile and in the solo string (the 'heavy' string of the violin) you get a very warm tone that is more like a viola. Very beautiful, but is all that sweetness enough to convince the jury? She lacks strength and that is a weak point…
Photo: © Belga