An enthusiastic and appreciative audience was privileged to witness musicianship of the very highest order last Thursday when 27-year-old South Korean violin virtuoso Ye-Eun Choi took to the stage at the Thailand Cultural Centre for the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation's annual "Royal Celebration Concert" in honour of His Majesty the King's 88th birthday.
The exceptionally gifted performer gave an immaculate account of Beethoven's Violin Concerto In D Major, a work considered by most in the violin world to be the ultimate acid test of a soloist's all-round musical/technical credentials.
It was Maltese-Canadian conductor Charles Olivieri-Munroe's second welcome appearance here, having made an impressive impact in his BSO debut earlier in the year. For the second half of the programme he steered the orchestra through a convincing, highly charged account of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.4 In F Minor. To open the concert, Rear Admiral ML Usni Pramoj's succinct, classical style arrangement of HM's Royal Composition No.10, Sweet Words from 1950, served as overture.
This particular evening's proceedings possessed an added gravitas and poignancy as three very experienced visiting musicians, supported by the Japan Foundation, gave their last concert with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra after a full year of invaluable service. Tokyo musicians Nobuo Ono (bassoon), Yuetso Ito (clarinet) and Kanamoto Tsujino Junko (violin) became an integral part of the ensemble and have contributed greatly to many successful concerts over the past 12 months.
Choi's rare talent was discovered by German legend Anne-Sophie Mutter, who dedicated an invaluable mentoring for over a decade to develop a totally assured artist with a powerful, yet at the same time sensitive, expressive sensibility. Expectations were high as Olivieri-Munroe and the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra set the scene superbly for her entrance in the famously expansive opening tutti. Choi then introduced herself with those infamous ascending dominant seventh octaves, at once instantly revealing an impeccable sense of intonation combined with a sweet, penetrating and full-blooded tone -- endearing qualities that were carried throughout the whole 45 minute opus.
What unfolded was a very taut and convincing dialogue between soloist and conductor/orchestra, various entrances neatly negotiated and accompanying dynamics judiciously managed. Beethoven by turns demands searing fortissimos and hushed pianissimos, which on occasion tend towards the almost inaudible -- not least in the haunting, extended developmental passage of deep, exquisitely calm reflection that leads back to the explosive recapitulation.
This transition was executed quite masterfully, paving the way for the first of Choi's mesmerising Kreisler cadenzas, which concludes this colossal allegro ma non troppo movement. Replete with challenging multiple-stopping and lightning speed fingerboard coverage, romantic pyrotechnics are at the heart of these standard additions, and provided her with an ample platform to truly shine in isolation. An often searingly focused timbre cast a spellbinding atmosphere in the auditorium as Choi proceeded to coax a dazzling variety of tone-colours from her fine instrument.
The sublimely contemplative larghetto was no less captivating, with the muted string section preparing a warm texture for the entrance of the ethereal solo part. Woodwind and brass played their role equally well to define clearly the transitions of the delicate structure, and the well co-ordinated tutti pizzicato passage later on was another pleasing sign of the tight, controlled ensemble achieved by Olivieri-Munroe.
And so to the infectious rondo finale, an allegro which finds Beethoven at his most ebullient. An occasionally capricious journey of mood swings, there was a joyous interaction between soloist and orchestra here, alternating episodes of almost rumbustious, playful energy with whispered passages of exalted contentment. The violin ranks, in particular, obviously relished their opportunity to answer with gusto the folk-like theme initially introduced tenderly by Choi herself.
Stellar playing of this quality doesn't come to town every day of the week and the audience, very well aware of this reality, rewarded Choi with a lengthy standing ovation and many a curtain call. She obliged with a delightful filigree encore, introducing Baby Birds by a compatriot contemporary composer, Isang Yun. It is sincerely hoped she will return in the future.
Tchaikovsky once communicated to his brother that he regarded his tumultuous fourth symphony to be his finest work. It certainly contains some of the most memorable material in the orchestral catalogue, and Charles Olivieri-Munroe didn't hold back in unleashing its full dramatic content -- not least in the triumphant finale where he took allegro con fuoco at face value, demanding absolute focus from all sections in order to negotiate some fiendish passage-work at a breakneck tempo.
The work's terrifying opening brass fanfare gave way to an impetuously unfolding first movement full of suitably unsettling angst, the clarinet (here played sublimely by Yuetso Ito) presenting two welcome passages of contrasting calm. To open, the elegiac slow movement principal oboist Damrih Banavitayakit delivered one of the best recognised of all orchestral melodies with a lovely warm, rounded tone, his phrasing echoed perfectly towards the end by bassoonist Nobuo Ono.
The scherzo then featured a quite magical effect of carefully balanced string ensemble pizzicato work, juxtaposed with woodwind choir passages of remarkable clarity, leading swiftly into a most scintillating reading of the euphoric finale. Bravo BSO and Olivieri-Munroe!
