KVT – Nha Hat Lon Shimmers

Nha Hat Lon shimmers

In such a night as this… an evening at Nha Hat Lon with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. You felt that you were in for something special when solo violinist Tamaki Kawakubo preceded conductor Ong Honna onto the Opera House stage in her shimmering turquoise dress.
And totally shimmering was her playing of Brahms Violin Concerto. Mind you, the absolute shimmering effect was because she was accompanied by the totally professional and totally mellow Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Was ever such gorgeously shimmeringly mesmerizing music heard in Nha Hat Lon?

Did ever such beautiful rapport between soloist, conductor and orchestra occur under the cloud strewn dome?

Was ever such exquisite shivering felt by an audience as the dramatic, long, first movement rose and fell in shimmering, shining waves.

Or such silken tenderness as when the violin continued the oboe’s yearning melody in the haunting adagio.

Or such passion and fire as in the whirling, shimmeringly singing last movement?

And then to be enveloped in a Bach Partita was a shimmering encore tribute to an ecstatic audience.

AND

When the percussionist pounded the first bars of Brahm’s Symphony No 1 over the heads of the orchestra and like deep heart beats through the capacity audience, you instinctively knew that Brahms was going to be exalted.

As it unfolded you realized why Brahms took up to 20 years to perfect this symphony and as it drew to its conclusion you were giving thanks that Brahms was so filled with adoration for Clara Schumann that such a glorious finale resounded and flew above and swept us up in its anthemic waves.

Ong Honna more than deserved the applause from us and the orchestra members.

How satisfying it must be for such a good conductor to be face to face with an orchestra of such calibre!

Such a shimmering night!

“In such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees,
And they did make no noise, in such a night”*
Did we hear music sublime…….

HOW CAN ONE EVER THANK THE JAPANESE ENOUGH FOR THIS MUSICAL EVENT THAT LEFT US EXITING THE OPERA HOUSE TOTALLY SATIATED AND WARMLY SMILING !!

*from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare