The first Asian orchestra won Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award 2019
A diverse programme showcasing the power of a world-class orchestra
Led by its Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra brings to its Shanghai audience a programme of four pieces which are of drama, intensity and vitality. The programme starts with the famous Prelude and Libestod of Tristan und Isolde, Wagner’s unforgettably ecstatic celebration of love. Hong Kong pianist Rachel Cheung, prize winner in a number of international piano competitions including the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2017, is the featured soloist in Ravel’s colourful and jazzy Piano Concerto in G. Spiraling Dreamscape by Hong Kong emerging composer Chan Kai-young, receiving its world premiere in this concert, is specially commissioned by the orchestra for the occasion. Concluding the concert is Russian composer Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, an enchanting homage to Haydn. The work set out to be as grand as Beethoven’s Ninth but ended up as a light and frivolous expression of simple happiness.
