KVT on A Night of Beethoven

Passionate flying fingers and Beethoven at Nha Hat Lon

If you managed to catch young Vietnamese pianist Luu Hong Quang playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 on the weekend you were really lucky. This young man played technically excellently and his rapport with the orchestra was great.

Quang is studying at the Australian International Conservatorium of Music and is the recipient of a number of international recital prizes. It is obvious that his star is on the ascendant and he’ll be heard from a lot in the near future as he tackles the major piano festivals and competitions around the world. He’ll be attempting that difficult rise up the ladder to the upper echelons of being invited to be a soloist with A-list symphony orchestras.

I am still amazed that Vietnamese pianists with their short fingers can challenge the world’s best up and coming and this young man will certainly give them all a run for the money.

Quang’s solo was part of Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO)’s Beethoven Cycle which will conclude in 2011 with the 9th. Next year will see them perform the 4th, 5th and 6th and this weekend was our chance to hear no. 3, Eroica.

The orchestra under the baton of Hidemi Suzuki was adequate to the task and I think it must have been my recent cold affecting my ears that made the brass and woodwinds seem a bit wayward at times. It was a competent Eroica and deserving of the claps it received but still not up to the standard I expect from the VNSO.

The Fidelio Overture, to start the evening, sounded a little lazy and it wasn’t until the beautiful second movement of the piano concerto that I felt the orchestra reached its potential.

I’ll be there on the 26th or 27th of this month when Honna takes the orchestra in hand for Ravel, Debussy and Takemitsu. The VNSO is always worth following because at times it is A list world class.