Making a Ferrari of HK Phil, and Mozart: music director Jaap van Zweden’s parting thoughts
- Orchestra’s outgoing music director says playing Wagner makes it flexible like a Ferrari. He hopes it gets the new concert hall it deserves
In a final and wide-ranging interview as music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden talked about the importance of adding the “Wagner sound” to the ensemble’s repertoire, his concerns about ultra-young conductors, Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a city, and whether he has sacked anyone.
Q: Does Hong Kong need a great concert hall?
Van Zweden: Hong Kong Philharmonic is an orchestra that deserves a great home. Now the orchestras in Amsterdam, Vienna, New York, they all have great halls.
Why is it so important to have a great hall? Because high-profile international soloists and conductors always like to go to an orchestra which has a marriage with a great hall.
This [concert hall in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre] is not a very bad hall. But we need to be attractive, and a new hall will attract new audiences.
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra [where van Zweden is the new music director] has two great halls. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France [which van Zweden is joining in 2026] has a great new hall.