Review | The Flying Dutchman review: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus/Jaap van Zweden
- Concert performance of Wagner opera with HK Phil chorus and Netherlands Radio Choir a fitting reminder of Dutchman’s work with the orchestra
Under normal circumstances, the Hong Kong Philharmonic could perform The Flying Dutchman without the work’s title reminding listeners that Jaap van Zweden, a jet-setting native of Amsterdam, would soon be on a plane leaving Hong Kong for the last time as the orchestra’s music director.
But then, very little of van Zweden’s tenure – at 12 years, the longest of any music director since the orchestra turned professional in 1974 – has been normal.
For half of his time in Hong Kong, van Zweden was also music director of the New York Philharmonic – the highest-profile timeshare of any HK Phil music director and a confluence that often benefited both parties.
Much repertory, and many high-profile soloists, came to Hong Kong as something of a package deal; new works in particular often fared better in the Phil’s hands, given the orchestra generally had more rehearsal time. But the single factor that changed the Philharmonic’s fortunes completely was van Zweden’s deep dive into the music of Richard Wagner.
From their sheer length to their moment-to-moment orchestral brilliance, Wagner’s works have no equal. Anyone suggesting that the Hong Kong Philharmonic of 2002, or even 2012, could pull off even a single Wagner opera, let alone his epic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, would have invited ridicule.
