Roberto Abbado's disappointing Beethoven and Brahms

Having stayed away from the DFP Hall for almost 6 months, I ventured to watch a perennial favourite guest conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), Roberto Abbado in a programme entitled "Tales of Triumph" on 1 December. The concert began with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture Op 62, after Heinrich von Collin's play. Abbado and the MPO's account could perhaps have benefited from revealing more of Beethoven’s rougher edges as well as greater drama and turbulence in the tense opening of the overture. However, Abbado's lyrical "con amore" manner of playing the poignant second subject was masterfully conveyed.

Next on the programme was Hindemith's Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter), which was first performed in Berlin in 1934 but was receiving its first Malaysian performance at the DFP in front of an unsophisticated KL audience. The MPO and Abbado delivered the opening “Angelic Concert” with a serene joy and clarity that distinguished its varied polyphonic voices. The hushed interplay between solo woodwinds and pizzicato strings of the second movement (“Entombment”) recollected the sombre and doleful atmosphere which pervades this music. In the final visceral movement (“The Temptation of St Anthony”), Abbado and the MPO got to grips with this music with the stabbing strings, sharp crescendos and the fortissimo outbursts from the brass that propelled the music forward to its Lauda Sion Salvatorem chorale and culminating in the final grand brass-led Alleluia.

After the interval, Abbado and the MPO gave us one of the most enervating performances of Brahms' Symphony No 1 that I had ever heard. The opening introduction (Un poco sostenuto) was ponderous, though Abbado stressed Brahms' espressivo and legato markings. The following Allegro was similarly stolidly played but was devoid of the demonic passion and wild energy that Brahms' contemporary Walter Niemann once described as characterising this opus.

Abbado's lyrical approach worked to better effect in the middle two movements. In the hymn-like second movement (Andante sostenuto), the massed MPO strings did not overwhelm the solace of Simon Emes’ wonderful oboe passages nor the yearning of guest concertmaster Alexander Kagan’s silken violin soli. The pizzicato accompaniment in the third movement provided a gentle backdrop for Gonzalo Esteban's mellifluous clarinet solo.

Only the shortest of breaks was taken between the sunny ending of the third movement and the start of the finale. The dark, searching opening eventually gave way to two marvellously executed stringendo pizzicato passages. Though perfectly played intonation-wise and devoid of split notes, principal hornist Grzegorz Curyla's was a meek account of the glorious and heroic Alphorn solo.

Abbado then took the mellow G-string violin melody (marked Allegro non troppo, ma con brio) at a lugubrious pace, which resulted in a most violent acceleration at bar 94, marked only animato and not molto accelerando. Surely, this accounted for the serious structural disjointedness of Abbado's interpretation of the fourth movement. Despite its grand and fiery conclusive coda, this proved a little too late to save the musical day.

Another Wigglesworth Mahlerian triumph

Universally known and loved since its world premiere in 1844, everyone has their favourite recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Op 64 (with mine being Alfredo Campoli's 1958 superlative version with Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic) and their perfect idea of what this piece should sound like, making musical life very tricky for the 20-year old debutant soloist Grace Clifford with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra under Mark Wigglesworth.

In 2015, we heard Janine Jansen's superb interpretation of the concerto at the DFP Hall. Armed with a good 1859 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, Clifford with the strong support from Wigglesworth and the MPO gave us a more modest account of the evergreen concerto.

Clifford and Wigglesworth adopted a middling tempo for the opening of the first movement (Allegro, molto appassionato), showcasing her wonderfully smooth legato bowing, fine intonation, beautifully modulated vibrato and sweet tone. However, when there was musical opportunity to colour her playing into variegated moods of agitation in the transitioning triplet passages and relaxation in the lyrical second subject, there was a reluctance to move from a generalized expression into a wider palette of colours that is possible and inherent in Mendelssohn's evocative and passionate score. In short, the element of Sturm und Drang was missing, as Clifford played safe and without edge.

Clifford's playing in the cadenza which Mendelssohn innovatively placed before the recapitulation of the first movement, was self-effacing and not individual in nature. Her technique remained secure in the treacherous ascending broken octave scales at the end before a less convincing acceleration (Piu presto, sempre piu presto, presto) towards the end brought her placid interpretation of the movement to a close.

In the tender second movement Andante, Clifford adopted a lovely flowing speed where the lyrical phrases flowed smoothly into one another, making it a beautiful "Lied ohne Worte" for violin and orchestra. However, Clifford downplayed the turbulent central double-stopped development section, which lacked a restless and agitated feeling.

There was some exhilaration in the brilliant finale taken at a fair tempo and endowed with spirit and sensitivity, without reaching the elfin-like character that permeates Mendelssohn's joyful last movement. Wigglesworth kept good control over its delicate balance and the MPO provided unobtrusive and skilful support. Clifford made an unwarranted accelerando towards the end, perhaps trying to stir up frenetic excitement too late in this wonderful concerto. Clifford gave the audience an encore, the Andante from Bach’s Solo Sonata in A minor No 2 BWV1003.

After a brief interval, Wigglesworth gave us a satisfying interpretation of Mahler's Symphony No 1. The dewy opening bars took some time to settle amidst some questionable ensemble in the massed violin harmonics and poorly tuned horn and trumpet calls. As spring awoke, off-stage trumpets were ear catching and a superb flute contribution by Andrew Rehrig evoked birds chirping. After the mysterious calm of spring awakening, the final climax of the movement exploded with considerable force, enforced by festive horns, brilliant trumpets and triangle.

For the second movement Ländler (Kraftig bewegt), Wigglesworth brought out the music’s swagger and rusticity from cellos and double basses at a tremendous lick. Opening earthiness was nicely contrasted with innocence in the gentle Trio section, with well-marked dynamics, halting rubati and cushioned portamenti from the upper MPO strings.

Wolfgang Steike’s double bass solo, though played with great beauty of tone, was too detached in its Frère Jacques tune in the third movement. Wigglesworth coaxed refined beauty from the strings and flute in the hushed major key interlude alternating with vivid playing to illuminate Mahler’s sardonic and klezmer passages.

The finale’s opening screamed out wildly. It was tortured stuff, supported by powerful brass and percussion. The slower passages were given a rich legato and great sense of freedom in the string phrasing. After the well-played fugato string passages led by the violas, the coda once again erupted in tremendous volume and an uplifting tempo. The horn section and one trombone player leapt to their feet as instructed. Wigglesworth conducted with enormous energy to make for a most thrilling climax to this triumphant symphony with the MPO, almost equalling Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos' wonderful interpretation in 2010.

Wigglesworth's magnificent Mahler 9

As far as the mind can remember, we have had three previous performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony at DFP since 1998. Benjamin Zander initially led a heart-wrenching interpretation of this valedictory opus in 2002. In 2011, Claus Peter Flor led a swiftly paced performance which lacked repose, whilst Yoel Gamzou in 2016 did significantly better than Claus Peter Flor.

Mark Wigglesworth's concert of the Ninth had no companion piece like Zander's and Flor's concerts. Often, conductors try to give the audiences more time value for the money by inserting a short companion piece before the Ninth. On this occasion, the superlative quality of the MPO playing and Wigglesworth's vividly characterised interpretation shone through and the shortened time value of the concert was entirely superfluous.

The opening theme in the first Andante comodo movement was taken more languidly than usual in a gorgeously autumnal tone colour, so that when the three massive climaxes appeared later, they felt properly earned. In the slow unfolding and eventual derangement-to-reconciliation of the first movement’s journey, Wigglesworth’s allowance for extreme mood changes might seem unrestrained to some listeners. It felt right, however, the only honest way to reflect the piece’s terrifying revelations of death’s inevitability.

The swiftly paced dance-led second movement, opened with a Ländler with rugged coarseness which embraced its bucolic country roots before transitioning to a wild Scherzo. The third movement, Rondo Burlesque set at a cracking pace was almost carnival-like in its boisterous energies amidst its biting satire.

The final Adagio combined supreme serenity, utmost calm and Zen-like concentration to almost unbearably moving effect. The MPO string sound, alternately whispered and thrillingly saturated, wrung every last drop of emotion from Mahler’s lines, while the solo work from across the orchestra’s sections was superb – guest principal flute Dora Seres' soli deserve a very special mention.

After the last great climax of shattering intensity, string playing of such intense beauty, longing and poignancy faded away and a long silence ensued, which Wigglesworth held for as long as possible. Then the tumultuous applause inevitably broke, as the audience sensed that Wigglesworth and the MPO gave us a most magnificent and monumental account of Mahler’s Ninth.

This was the most peerless concert that I have heard the MPO give in the 2019 season, supplanting the impressive Akiko Suwanai and Alexander Briger concert from this February. On this showing, my guest from USA opined that the MPO and Wigglesworth far outshone the regular orchestra she hears, the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas.

A colourful Ryu Goto and Roberto Abbado concert

One of my favourite conductors who comes regularly to conduct the MPO at the DFP in recent seasons is the distinguished Italian, Roberto Abbado. On previous visits, he had shown his mettle in the central core German, Italian and French repertoire. On this occasion, his concert with the MPO comprised youthful Russian works and Korngold's Violin Concerto.

Abbado opened the concert with a sprightly and transparent reading of Prokofiev’s sunny Classical Symphony in D major Op 25. Adopting a felicitous tempo, the opening Allegro achieved a light and airy texture which bristled with good humour and wit, whilst the central development section was suitably grand. Abbado encouraged real grace in the phrasing of the wonderful lyrical passages in the dreamy second movement (Larghetto) from the MPO violins, whose precision and golden timbre was remarkable.

There were minute ensemble imprecisions in the strings for the third movement Gavotte when Abbado chose to apply some slight touches of rubato at the onset. However, the flute solo from guest principal Dora Seres was stunning in beauty and delivery. Abbado led an excellent performance of the scampering Finale which was full of vibrant energy and good humour.

Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major Op 35 followed the Prokofiev. Making his debut at the DFP, Ryu Goto chose to present Korngold's ultra-Romantic opus which was based on themes from four Hollywood hit movies and premiered in 1947 by Jascha Heifetz. It is natural to be reminded of Heifetz whenever encountering this concerto.

Goto brought his own special measure of artistry to the Korngold Violin Concerto. His was a lyrical performance that was also highly expressive in its own way. Adopting slightly slower tempi than usual, Goto coaxed sweet tones from his 1722 "Jupiter" Stradivarius to evoke the golden era of Hollywood film making during Korngold's time there from 1935 to 1956.

The opening theme of the concerto comes from the Evening Scene from the 1937 film Another Dawn. Goto played this soulfully and sang through Korngold's angular melodies. Abbado and Goto preferred to eschew the myriad changes of speed in this first movement with a slew of ritardandi and accelerandi not broadly heeded, particularly the latter. This resulted in a more somnolent account, with the faster passagework in the movement sounding a touch ponderous.

This quiescent approach from Goto and Abbado conjured up a wistful and mesmerizing atmosphere in the entrancing second movement (Romance), which is based on a theme from the 1936 Oscar-winning film score for Anthony Adverse. The third movement (Finale) based on a theme from the main motif from the 1937 film The Prince and the Pauper was particularly successful as Goto dived into the virtuosic perpetual motion passages with vigour and aplomb.

The second half of the concert combined fun and seriousness. The fun came via Kabalevsky's rarely-played Suite from The Comedians Op 27. I was glad that maestro Abbado introduced this modern tuneful trifle which was written specially for children to the Kuala Lumpur audience who have been generally nurtured with standard orchestral repertoire over the last 21 years.

Abbado adopted sprightly tempi for the opening two movements, the Prologue and Galop, whilst the slower movements like the Waltz and Gavotte were soulfully played. A heavy tread and ominous tone enveloped the Pantomime, whilst Abbado imparted the final Epilogue with an exuberant joyfulness.

Abbado's inspired choice of programming saw the early Shostakovich First Symphony Op 10 close this extremely colourful concert. Abbado drew out the frenetic and sardonic nature of the opening Allegretto - Allegro non troppo movement which had lots of impish contributions from the principal trumpet, bassoon and clarinet. In the second movement (Allegro), he encouraged the pianist Akiko Danis to draw out the comic capers and the forceful interjections, which was a reminder of the composer's earlier days of accompanying silent cinematic films.

Ample sweetly dissonant sounds in the oboe were heard in the slow movement (Lento), augmented by wistfully played violin, cello and oboe solos. The fourth movement finale, with its fanfare-like figures for brass, was technically strong, bringing Abbado and the MPO's performance to a very impressive conclusion.

Tianwa Yang shines in Bruch's Scottish Fantasy

The return visit of the stellar Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang to DFP saw her offering us Bruch's lovely Scottish Fantasy. Previously, the Scottish Fantasy was the poorer musical cousin to the evergreen Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 in concert appearances and on recordings. It was good to see the Scottish Fantasy make a popular return to the concert hall in the modern era, thanks to the persuasive advocacy of celebrated players like Leonidas Kavakos, Joshua Bell, Akiko Suwanai, Ning Feng, Nicola Benedetti, Rachel Barton-Pine and of course, Tianwa Yang.

The 47-year old conductor Olari Elts was at the helm of the MPO for the evening. The opening of the Scottish Fantasy is in the very distant key of E flat minor, marked pianissimo. Elts has a penchant for compressing the extensive dynamic ranges of the score. Instead of the entrance being veiled, sombre and mysterious as per Sir Walter Scott's description of an old bard contemplating a ruined castle and lamenting the glorious times of old, it appeared bright and exposed. This was all corrected when the superb Yang made her subtle entrance, high up the A-string on the superb 1730 Guarneri del Gesu violin which was on loan from The Rin Collection, Singapore. After a magically hushed and swift modulation to B major, Yang truly sang the spirit of the song Auld Rob Morris in the Adagio cantabile section on the warm toned Guarneri, which I had the great privilege of playing at Mr Rin's house in Singapore in December 2011.

In the following Allegro written after the song The Dusty Miller, Yang evoked a spirited and playful fiddler as the MPO provided her with the accompaniment of an open fifth pedal, bringing out the wonderful effect of Scottish bagpipes. The emotional heart of the piece is the third movement, where Yang intoned a prayerful hymn-like and doleful song I’m Down for Lack of Johnny, with a contrasting passionate central section that faded into a very tender conclusion.

The rousing finale, with the familiar ‘Scots Wha Hae’, finished the piece with Yang on electrifying form, with superb multiple stopping, scalic runs of pearly clarity and a soulfully played hymn-like central section. In certain brilliant double-stopped variations, Yang pushed the tempo and caught Elts napping entirely with a substantial resultant time-lag behind the soloist.

Yang duly rewarded the audience for their warm applause with two contrasting encores of Bach's serene Andante from the Solo Sonata No 2 in A minor BWV 1003 and Ysaye's tranquil Malinconia, the second movement from his Solo Sonata Op 27 No 2, which has veiled musical references to the Dies Irae chant.

Before the Bruch, the concert began with a very lame and swift account of the Brahms Academic Festival Overture from Elts. Elts adopted a similar musical modus operandi to the one he had adopted for the Bruch of a constricted dynamic range with little variation of tonal colouring whilst eschewing a potentially vast orchestral palette of colours to choose from. Adopting a hasty tempo, articulation was garbled, distant modulations and transitions were glossed over and the Gaudeamus igitur finale was bereft of its inherent grandeur.

After the interval, Elts contrived to subject Mendelssohn's greatest and most poetic Symphony No 3 (The Scottish) to further musical mutilation. An evocative masterpiece like Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony needs a master conductor who is superb at musical tonal colouring and shading. The opening movement, Andante con moto was way too fast and was closer to Moderato. It was just impossible to imagine the ruins at Holyrood Castle as Mendelssohn's inspiration behind the symphony in Elts' belligerent interpretation.

The next lively movement, Vivace non troppo felt like Prestissimo to me. It was as if Elts was rushing to catch the midnight flight out of KL International Airport. On the third restatement of the famous tune (which was made popular to Malaysian TV audiences as the Dunhill advertisement), the horns and timpani had difficulty coordinating the notes at his frantic tempo and this resulted in utter musical gibberish. The following Adagio was again swiftly played and had neither calmness to its placid opening nor gravitas to its more militant section. The final movement was pretty much the same as what transpired before with a frenzied and cacophonous scramble towards the end. The final coda which Mendelssohn magically transforms to triumph by means of a tierce di picardie had no majesty whatsoever in the closing Allegro maestoso assai section.

At the end of Elts' concert, I had a splitting musical headache from his bludgeoning interpretations. I resolved never to attend another concert by him. However, Tianwa Yang will always be on my to-watch list in Kuala Lumpur especially if she offers us some rarely-played violin concertos like the Wieniawski First or Second or the Vieuxtemps Fourth or Fifth.

Stunning Suwanai and brilliant Briger

The most eagerly awaited concert in 2019 at DFP was that of Akiko Suwanai playing the Brahms Violin Concerto under Alexander Briger. It was held under the auspices of the Japanese Embassy, and Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali were among the honoured guests present at the sold-out concert.

After a brief speech by the Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Dr Makio Miyagawa, maestro Alexander Briger launched the concert with Mozart's Così fan tutte Overture. Opening with a grand and resplendent C major chord, Briger gave a sparkling account of the overture which had fine contrasts between the sinuous and reedy oboe solo by guest principal Bernice Lee and the syncopated and the lyrical sections which followed.

Briger then gave a magnificent account of Haydn's Symphony No 104 for the classically conceived first half of the concert. The opening Adagio was imposing, whilst the following Allegro was suitably commanding and symphonic. The elegant Andante second movement was ideally paced to allow its theme and variations to unfold gracefully and naturally.

The Minuet, taken at dignified pace for the lopsided third beat accent to register, contrasted well with the exquisitely played Trio by the MPO woodwind players. Briger's presentation of the playful folk-like main theme of the Finale contrasted well with the darker moments of the extended development section.

This was big-band Haydn with a very full sound and Briger and the MPO showed it is possible to play Haydn in this grand manner. I was reminded of a similarly sumptuous performance of this symphony which I heard at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Herbert von Karajan in June 1981.

In the Romantic half of the concert post-interval, we heard a stunning account of the Brahms Violin Concerto from Akiko Suwanai and Briger. Unlike the previous swift and soloist-led account of the Brahms by Kolja Blacher at DFP, this interpretation was fully grandiose and symphonic. Conducting the concerto (and the whole concert) from memory, Briger led the MPO on a magnificently played tutti before Suwanai made her powerful entrance, bringing an impressive fervour to the dramatic opening statement.

Briger and Suwanai handled the frequent Brahmsian mood changes and transitions very deftly, slipping inexorably from raw power in the solo line and driving passion from the orchestra into moments of intimacy and lyricism. Suwanai's interpretation of Joachim's mercurial cadenza towards the end of first movement was truly breathtaking, filling the entire concert hall with her unmatched sonority and virtuosity on the iconic 1714 ex-Dolphin Stradivarius violin that once belonged to Jascha Heifetz.

The second movement's opening oboe solo was lovingly-shaped by principal oboist Simon Emes with his typical elegant tone, before Suwanai and the orchestra expounded on the more impassioned central section material. The reprise of the opening oboe at the recapitulation with the high-lying interweaving descant lines from Suwanai was just heavenly.

Taking a tempo that was a touch nimbler than usual, Suwanai imbued the bucolic Hungarian dance infused-finale with high spirits, verve and joy. Briger, working hand in hand with Suwanai, relished the quirky rhythmic drive with its offbeat accents and gypsy flair, which led to a thoroughly enthralling conclusion to one of the very best Brahms Violin Concerto performances that has been heard at the DFP Hall since its opening.

In the concluding piece, Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), Suwanai's interpretation did not however evoke memories of Joshua Bell's superb recent performance in KL. In the opening Moderato section, Suwanai's technique remains irreproachable. Two minor bones of contention were the odd and wide "wobble-vibrato" that Suwanai imparts to two double stops of F and A flat in bars 14 and 22. The "wobble-vibrato" coincidentally also exists on her Philips CD of the same piece.

What seemed to be lacking in her interpretation of the Lento and Un poco piu lento sections, was the element of improvisation. However, Suwanai dispatched the final swift Allegro molto vivace section with its running semiquavers and left-hand pizzicato brilliantly, eliciting warm applause all round. Suwanai proffered the audience a lovely encore in the shape of Bach's calm Andante from the Solo Sonata No 2 in A minor BWV 1003.

Briger and Suwanai are two excellent top-rated artists who graced this wonderful evening. It is my fervent hope that I can attend their concerts again in Kuala Lumpur in the very near future.

Kochanovsky's innovative Mahler concert

Bach and Mahler do not usually fit into a modern classical concert programme together. However, the rising Russian conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky innovatively and ingeniously assembled Mahler's Bach Suite and Fifth Symphony into a most delectable programme with the MPO.

Proceedings for the evening opened with Mahler's Bach Suite (or to give it its long name - the Suite for string orchestra, harpsichord and organ by J.S. Bach). Mahler re-arranged and re-orchestrated the first two movements of his Bach Suite from the Overture as well as the Rondeau and Badinerie from Bach's Orchestral Suite No 2 in B minor BWV 1067.

Since the flute has a prominent part to play in Bach's Second Suite, the guest principal flautist for the evening, Andrew Nicholson, took up a position next to conductor Kochanovsky on the podium. In the opening Overture (Grave), the sustained organ notes often swamped the strings in the balance. However, in the following movement of the Rondeau flanking the Badinerie, very lively playing with sprightly rhythms from the strings and flute lifted the portentous mood of the opening movement.

In the lovely third movement (known as Bach's Air on the G string) from the Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major BWV 1068, Kochanovsky encouraged the MPO strings to paint a very serene mood with wonderfully rich tones. In the last movement of the Gavotte I and II also from the Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major BWV 1068, festive trumpets heralded a triumphant closing of this rarely-played Mahlerian opus.

After a brief interval, we heard Kochanovsky's interpretation of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. More often than not, one can tell how good (or bad) a performance of Mahler's Fifth will be from its opening trumpet call. Here, the MPO's guest principal for the night, Shane Hooton, struck a balance between stridency, edginess and tragedy; but without the accuracy of intonation which Mahler's stratospheric and formidable trumpet part calls for.

Kochanovsky unfolded the first movement with bleak crispness in the tread of a fairly brisk funeral march, in keeping with modern performing traditions. The first movement's darkness was quickly eclipsed by the second movement which emphasized the rugged, almost schizophrenic nature of the score. In keeping with Mahler's explicit instructions, Kochanovsky had the MPO principal hornist, Grzegorz Curyła, play the first horn part for a solo obbligato horn next to himself, accentuating the dialogues between the horn and the strings in the great central bucolic Scherzo third movement.

The MPO strings and harp took centre stage as Kochanovsky unfolded the famous beautiful Adagietto movement (made famous by its use in Visconti's film Death in Venice)) in a romantically gorgeous reading which was full of passion at a reasonable pace.

Kochanovsky's approach to the jolly finale, as Mahler moves from tragedy to triumph, was one of fierce industry, leading to a jubilant and glorious conclusion to a terrific concert, marred only by occasionally poor MPO horn and trumpet playing.

MPO's 21st stellar season concerts for 2019

The MPO 21st season, which for the first time spans a calendar year, promises many special concerts from top conductors and soloists exclusively chosen for 2019. Stellar violinists like Akiko Suwanai in the Brahms Violin Concerto and Sarasate's Gypsy Airs, Tianwa Yang in Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and Ryu Goto in the Korngold Violin Concerto grace the DFP stage.

Rising violinists like Elena Urioste and Grace Clifford entertain us in Bernstein's Serenade, after Plato's Symposium and Mendelssohn's evergreen Violin Concerto respectively.

Perennial favourite conductors like Roberto Abbado, Mark Wigglesworth and Stanislav Kochanovsky also grace the DFP stage this season. Abbado features twice with a Russian programme of Prokofiev, Kabalevsky and Shostakovich as well as some major German fare of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and Brahms' First Symphony.

Kochanovsky brings us an innovative Mahler concert featuring the Bach Suite and dramatic Fifth Symphony as well as an opera in concert, featuring Tchaikovsky's ever popular Queen of Spades after Pushkin's fateful tale.

Wigglesworth offers us a further two Mahler symphonies, the optimistic First and haunting Ninth.

Pianists Llŷr Williams, Tengku Irfan and P'ng Tean Hwa entertain us in concertos by Weber and Ravel. Other maestros that appear with the MPO are Alexander Briger, Rossen Milanov, Jessica Cottis, Olari Elts, Martin Sieghart, Junichi Hirokami, Jessica Gethin, Hans Graf, Jun Märkl, Benjamin Bayl, Jac van Steen, Jane Glover and Dirk Brossé.

The magnificent Klais pipe organ of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas can be heard in two organ recitals (by Evelyn Lim and Gunther Rost) and in a concert which features sparkling organ concertos by Haydn and Handel with acclaimed organist Gunther Rost.

The 2019 MPO anniversary season promises many concerts of varied fare, with great artists in wonderful repertoire. For further information, visit www.mpo.com.my or call (03) 2331 7007.

Ray Chen in a stunning Symphonie Espagnole.

Okko Kamu's concert with the MPO opened with a somnolently paced Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte. At Kamu's restrained and funereal tempo, the MPO were uncomfortable at maintaining Ravel's long melodic lines of the work's recurring theme and the interpretation lacked a consummate dreaminess.

The full-capacity concert hall sparked to life as Ray Chen returned to the DFP to present Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole. Chen's tone had plenty of weight in the opening movement that was full of dark and sultry utterances on passages that were high up the mellow G-string of his superb Kurt Widenhouse violin of 2008. His softer playing in the second subject radiated a hushed intensity which entranced the audience. Chen spun a silky cantabile line for the opening and central sections of the second Scherzando movement, whilst maintaining taut rhythms in the swift linking triplet passages. The MPO, Kamu and Chen established the ideal mood for the Spanish-Moorish influenced habanera rhythms of the Intermezzo third movement.

Chen’s soft dynamics captured a mood of repose and found the emotional heart of the concerto in the lovely Andante which gained an elegiac wistfulness as he ascended to the high D, in a hushed but magical transformation to the tonic major. Chen’s impeccable technique carried off the final Rondo with abundant panache and aplomb as the lightness of his touch on his lovely spiccato bowing, his nimble runs and arpeggios, impeccable broken octaves and laughing trills brought Lalo's magnificent opus to a rousing conclusion.

After tumultuous applause, Chen presented the audience with two encores. The first was the opening movement of Ysaye's Solo Sonata Op 27 No 2 (Obsession), which was dedicated to Ysaye's violinist friend, Jacques Thibaud. Chen's favourite Paganini Caprice No 21, with its singing double-stops and fiendish up-bow staccato was his second coruscating encore.

Kamu and the MPO treated us to a lovely performance of Dvorak's genial Eighth Symphony after the interval. From the melancholic opening tune of the MPO cellos and the lovely flute solo by Dakota Martin, there was subtlety of dynamics and phrasing and drama in the gloriously melodious first movement. Charm characterized the pastoral second movement, with appealing dialogue passages from the principal flute, oboe and clarinet players and a luscious violin solo from Peter Danis.

Kamu caught the third movement's lilting mood and melodic lines impeccably, with the MPO violins coaxing a most alluring portamento and a well-played Trio from the woodwinds of idyllic grace. Almost without a break, an energetic trumpet fanfare heralded the fourth movement. The cellos recollected the material from the first movement, before Kamu built the symphony to a boisterous and exciting conclusion replete with folksy abandon.

Sumptuous Sibelius from Wigglesworth

Two perennial favourite artists at the DFP, Mark Wigglesworth and James Ehnes joined forces to present an eclectic programme of Romantic and modern works with the MPO. Wigglesworth began the Saturday concert with one of Verdi’s finest overtures, La forza del destino, which is frequently performed independently as a concert piece or encore. The MPO strings gave the "fate" motif a restless feel, whilst the "destiny" motif was prominently played with flowing melodic lines.

Alban Berg’s dodecaphonic Violin Concerto of 1935 followed the Verdi Overture. This was only the third performance of the concerto at the DFP Hall in the space of 20 years since the concert hall opened in 1998. The first performance was by Chantal Juillet with the MPO in November 2006, and the second by Frank Peter Zimmermann and the London Symphony Orchestra in May 2007. The modernist slant of the concerto probably resulted in the hall being less full than if the soloist James Ehnes had chosen a piece more central to the core violin concerto repertoire instead.

Written in response to the early death of a close friend's daughter Manon Gropius, the Berg Violin Concerto is in two sections. From the magical ascending open fifths at the beginning of the concerto, Ehnes demonstrated his complete mastery of the concerto's inherent lyricism depicting Manon's life of beauty and innocence in the first section.

Less successful was the unsettling Allegro in the second section, whose vehement and astringent mood contrasts greatly with the lyricism of the first. Despite his impeccable technique and his superb 1715 ex-Marsick Stradivari, Ehnes frequently struggled to be heard here, despite the solo part sometimes being subsumed in the orchestral texture as per Berg’s score. However, the final passage depicting Manon’s death and transfiguration took us into the stratosphere and was quite sublime in its purity and celestial beauty.

For his encores, Ehnes performed the calm and flowing "Largo" from JS Bach’s Solo Sonata No 3 BWV 1005, which contrasted strongly in atmosphere to the Violin Concerto, providing the audience with some welcome relief after the diatonicism of the Berg. After the Largo, Ehnes followed it with a dashingly speedy and nimble Allegro Assai from the same Solo Sonata, clearly delineating Bach's harmonic and melodic structure amidst the rapid string crossings.

After the interval, Wigglesworth gave us a sumptuous interpretation of Sibelius' lush Second Symphony, which was written in balmy Italy. After the Berg, the MPO seemed almost miraculously transformed for the particular lush sonorities of Sibelius. The symphony got a very compelling performance which thrived on luminous textures as well as fluent dynamics and judicious balances between the various orchestral sections.

Wigglesworth set just the right tempo at the start of the symphony, with the ebb and flow in the strings’ opening phrases like the gentlest of sighs. The movement flowed swiftly with gorgeous string tone and a folksy lilt to its woodwind themes with occasional glimpses of brassy excitement.

Some noteworthy playing from the bassoons opened the second movement before giving way to the sprawling strings that painted a barren, forlorn vista, which was interspersed with atmospheric silences and granitic climaxes. The third movement was almost Mendelssohnian in its lightness and energy, interfused with a gorgeous and limpid solo oboe in the Trio.

The finale bursts out of the preceding movement and the MPO string playing reached new heights with a most luxurious and sonorous timbre coupled with splendid brass tone capping a resplendent and triumphant interpretation from Wigglesworth.

Ehnes' excellent violin recital

A reasonably sized audience attended a mid-week violin and piano recital by James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong. Considering the travelling difficulties of getting into Dewan Filharmonik Petronas Kuala Lumpur in the middle of a working weekday, the faithful audience were treated to a superb and eclectic recital by this eminent duo.

Beethoven's earliest violin and piano opus, the Violin Sonata Op 12 No 1 was Ehnes' and Armstrong's first offering. Adopting a bright and lively tempo, the duo's brilliant tone (thanks to Ehnes' lovely 1715 Marsick Stradivarius and Armstrong's Steinway) set Beethoven's opening joyous movement into motion. The duo's balance and "give-and-take" was exemplary and this was maintained into the second movement's theme and variations. This was particularly palpable in the minor variation's large dynamic swells. Ehnes and Armstrong imbued the ensuing final Rondo: Allegro with gruff Beethovenian humour and its characteristic offbeat accents and distant modulations.

Ehnes and Armstrong proffered us Ravel's Second Violin Sonata in G major next. The duo's polished playing was entirely appropriate for one of gentlest opening movements of the Romantic violin sonata repertoire. The modal melodies flowed sweetly, graced by warm and judiciously applied vibrato adding significantly to Ehnes' ethereal and shimmering tone. The middle blues movement took on an insouciant character, with subtly graded rubati and portamenti enhancing its obvious musical homage to Gershwin. The Perpetuum mobile finale was brilliant executed and crisply played.

After the interval, the second half opened with Brahms’ Scherzo from the FAE Sonata, performed pleasingly with a lighter than usual touch reflecting the "joke-like" character of a Scherzo, rather than the heavier approach that duos mostly apply to the piece. To end the recital, Ehnes and Armstrong gave us a wonderfully virtuosic rendition of Corigliano's tonally exciting and rhythmically exacting Violin Sonata of 1962-1963.

For his encores, Ehnes elected for mainly technical wizardry, performing Heifetz’s arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee with stunning spiccato bow strokes that barely lifted off the violin strings. The next two encores were Sarasate's Zapateado Op 23 No 2, played dashingly with pristine artificial harmonics and superb cracking left-hand pizzicati and Wieniawski's Scherzo tarantelle Op 16, performed with a Heifetz-like intensity but with Milstein's fluidity and purity.

Just when the audience thought Ehnes would play a further string of encores like Itzhak Perlman does in recital, he chose to say goodnight with his final encore, the rarely-played and touching Sibelius Berceuse (No 6 of Six Pieces Op 79). What sets Ehnes apart from other modern-day virtuosi is that even in his first three encore pieces, he never overtly showboats his violinistic skills – if anything he is so unassuming that one forgets how fiendishly arduous those pieces are.