Jaap van Zweden’s spectacular Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4
& Jing Wang’s lyrical Brahms Violin Concerto
Swire Maestro Series: JAAP｜Brahms & Tchaikovsky (19 & 20 Oct)

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[28 September 2018, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), its Music Director Jaap van Zweden and its Concertmaster Jing Wang proudly present the first programme of the Swire Maestro Series in the season, bringing two 19th century masterpieces - Brahms’s legendary Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s life-affirming Fourth Symphony - on 19 and 20 October at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

"One may find him [Jing Wang] showy, but his technique is rock solid and [also] flexible"
--- South China Morning Post

Brahms’ only Violin Concerto was dedicated to and premiered by his close personal friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. The work presents a more equal collaboration between soloist and orchestra as seen with the lengthy oboe solo in the second movement before the lyrical solo violin takes over. The complicated double stops, broken chords and complex scales led to the concerto being declared “unplayable” and “going against the violin” by critics and violinists alike. The orchestra’s own Concertmaster, Jing Wang, will bring his exquisite technique and interpretative personality to this, “one of the four great German violin concerti”.    

Dedicating to his “best friend” and patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony confronts the question of fate. Tchaikovsky wrote a programme and described the opening motif as “the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness”. Under the leadership of Jaap van Zweden, the audience can experience the bustling energy and joy as fate remains unyielding.

Swire Maestro Series: JAAP｜Brahms & Tchaikovsky will be held on 19 & 20 Oct (Fri & Sat), 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: $580 $480 $380 $280 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Artists
Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full biography]
Over the past decade, conductor Jaap van Zweden has become an international presence on three continents.  The 2018/19 season marks his first as the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. He continues as Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he has held since 2012 - his seventh season with the HK Phil in 2018/19 season, the orchestra’s 45th professional season. He is also the Conductor Laureate of Dallas Symphony Orchestra where he has just completed a ten-year tenure at its helm. Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden was the youngest ever Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He began his conducting career in 1995 and in 2012 was named Musical America's Conductor of the Year.

Jing Wang, violin[full biography]
Critically acclaimed Canadian violinist Jing Wang is one of the most versatile and dynamic violinists of his generation. Since his solo recital debut in Marseilles, France at the age of six, Wang has garnered prizes in top international competitions, including the first prize at the 2007 Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition. In 2003, Wang was awarded the "Young Soloist of the Year" by Les Radios Francophones Publiques, a broadcast network of four countries including France, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium. As a part of the award, Wang’s first CD album including works by Beethoven, Ravel and Gershwin was released in Europe.

SWIRE MAESTRO SERIES: JAAP｜BRAHMS & TCHAIKOVSKY
19 & 20 | 10 | 2018
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$580 $480 $380 $280
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artists

Jaap van Zweden	conductor
Jing Wang	violin

Click the thumbnails to download press photos

Jaap van Zweden Photo Credit: Cheung Chi-wai/HK Phil	Jing Wang	Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Cheung Chi-wai/HK Phil

Programme

BRAHMS	Violin Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY	Symphony no. 4

 

 

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden
Principal Guest Conductor: Yu Long

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as Asia’s foremost classical orchestra. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually.

Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors, has been the orchestra’s Music Director since the 2012/13 concert season, a position he will continue to hold until at least 2022. Maestro van Zweden is the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season.

Yu Long has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor since the 2015/16 season.

Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil has attained new heights of artistic excellence, garnering international critical acclaim.

Following on from the success of the European tour which included a filmed concert from Vienna’s Musikverein, the HK Phil has toured extensively within the mainland China. In 2017, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and with support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the orchestra performed in Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and at the Sydney Opera House.

Jaap, the HK Phil, a superb cast of soloists and a chorus successfully completed an epic four-year journey through Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” in January 2018. The concert performances and live Naxos recordings have been enthusiastically received by audiences and praised by critics at home and abroad. The recording of Götterdämmerung will be released towards the end of 2018.

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Ning Feng and Yuja Wang.

The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions. Its acclaimed education and community engagement programmes in schools, hospital and outdoor space, bring music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.

The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this sponsorship, which is the largest in the orchestra’s history, Swire endeavours to promote artistic excellence, foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong, and to enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities of the world.

Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Hong Kong Government and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, among others, Opera Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Ballet.

Originally called the Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a charitable organisation.


The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.