“Sweeping energy and clarion brilliance” The New York Times

With an international conducting career spanning more than five decades, Bernard Haitink is one of the world’s most celebrated conductors. He has made frequent guest appearances with both the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras and has led many of the world’s top orchestras, including 25 years as Principal Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His immense catalogue of recordings include the complete symphonies of Mahler, Bruckner, Brahms and Schumann.

One of the best orchestras in the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is distinguished by its unique tone colour and artistry. Since the era of legendary Fritz Reiner and Georg Solti, the orchestra has amassed more than 900 recordings and earned 58 Grammy awards – more than any other orchestra in the world. In 2006, Haitink was appointed Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, marking the “ beginning of an historic musical era for the orchestra . . . With Haitink and the CSO, a great musical partnership has been born” (Chicago Tribune).

Haitink and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra promise two exciting evenings of monumental canon. On the first evening, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony is followed by Strauss’s autobiographical Ein Heldenleben. On the second evening, the spotlight falls entirely on Mahler’s Symphony No. 6.

Glorious Traditions and Distinguished Artistry
Finally! The CSO Returns to Hong Kong

by Oliver Chou

There is no doubt that Hong Kong attracts top European and American orchestras. But for two decades there has been one conspicuous absentee: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO).

Hailed by TIME Magazine as “the world’s greatest orchestra”, the CSO is the only top orchestra to have made its Hong Kong debut at the lowly Hong Kong Coliseum over 20 years ago. The 5000-plus audience must have cherished the sight of Sir Georg Solti conducting the formidable band and the sound of the majestic brass section flauting its legendary sound in the 1812 Overture. The ensuing four City Hall concerts too, showcased the orchestra’s dazzling power (via Mahler 5 and Bruckner 7) and classy élan (via Mozart 35 and Schubert 8) that have remained vivid in the memory of those who had the great fortune of being there.

Like the Berlin Philharmonic, which only made its Hong Kong debut in 2005, the CSO’s lengthy absence has been mainly due to finances. It is one of the most expensive ensembles in the industry, and it requires very special reasons to go overseas; one good reason is its historic China debut, including performances at the 2009 Hong Kong Arts Festival.

The CSO is the third top American orchestra to appear at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in the past four years, following the San Francisco Symphony (2006) and the New York Philharmonic (2008). All three have unique styles. The CSO’s distinctive sound prompted Bernard Haitink, the incumbent principal conductor, to say to Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe: “The great thing about the Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago orchestras is that you can tell them apart.” The great Igor Stravinsky, too, called the Chicago sound “the most precise and flexible in the world”.

Oboist Richard Kanter, an old guard with the CSO for more than four decades, describes his orchestra’s sound as “big and commanding, with lots of contrasts, and very accurate”. Personnel changes over the years have not changed this basic trait. “Take the violin section as an example. When I joined the CSO in 1961, it was all Italians and Jews. And now there are many Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. They all have wonderful sound technique, and, if I had my eyes closed and listened to them, I couldn’t tell whether it’s man or woman, western or oriental,” said the veteran, who has been coaching the Asian Youth Orchestra since retiring in 2002.

Classical music aficionados are all too familiar with the legendary CSO sound captured in the pioneering Living Stereo recordings of Strauss’s symphonic poems during the Fritz Reiner era (1953-1962) and the celebrated Mahler cycle on Decca during Solti’s reign (1969-1991). When these glorious traditions team up with Haitink’s equally distinguished artistry in Strauss and Mahler repertoire, it is an amalgamation of two great music traditions.

The 2009 Hong Kong Arts Festival will witness this fabulous team in action. Hearing them perform signature orchestral warhorses such as Strauss’s A Hero’s Life and Mahler’s Sixth, or Tragic, Symphony, is a dream come true. The inclusion of Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, also known as the Jupiter Symphony, before A Hero’s Life at the first concert is equally wonderful. It is an essential part of the organic whole in Haitink’s artistic horizon. “To play only Strauss and Mahler will be the death of the symphony orchestra. An orchestra must know the whole picture of music ... everything in the repertoire comes from Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert,” thus spoke the maestro, who will turn 80 only weeks after the Hong Kong tour.

Haitink is one of the handful of conductors about whom the famously sceptical British music critic Norman Lebrecht wrote positively, praising the Dutchman’s “utter dependability” and describing his performances as “well-crafted and polished” - very apt for the Hong Kong programmes. Haitink and the CSO will perform Mahler’s Sixth Symphony at a 9-day European tour in September 2008, and then Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Strauss’s A Hero’s Life three times at home in December. With such fine-tuning, it is only logical to expect nothing but excellence at the CSO concerts that kick off the 37th Hong Kong Arts Festival next February.

That the CSO come late to Hong Kong and China is one of those ironies in life. A close look at its recent history shows it has had a series of intriguing encounters with Chinese music and musicians since the golden days of Fritz Reiner. As early as 1959, Reiner led the CSO to perform Landscapes by Chou Wen-chung of Columbia University. Two decades later, long after the passing of the great Hungarian maestro, the Chinese-American composer was appointed to head the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music at Columbia. During this time Professor Chou manoeuvred through bureaucratic red tape to bring a few young hopefuls from Beijing to New York, thus launching the spectacular careers of Tan Dun (譚盾) and Chen Yi (陳怡), to name just a few.

There are even more direct ties between the CSO and Chinese musicians. Many have heard about the dramatic launch of Lang Lang’s (郎朗) career after a last-minute stand-in for the ailing André Watts back in 1999. The orchestra that accompanied him in the Tchaikovsky B Minor Concerto was none other than the CSO. 1999 was also the year Taiwan-born violinist Robert Chen (陳慕融) became the orchestra’s concertmaster. Another Taiwan-born section principal is Cynthia Yeh, who leads the impeccable percussion group. It was Chang Li-Kuo (張立國) of Shanghai who was the first Chinese to become the CSO’s associate viola principal back in 1988. He was joined later by violinist Xia Sando (夏三多), who prides herself as being the only Chinese to study with the king of the violin, Jascha Heifetz.

And, it is our own Kenneth Jean (甄健豪), who, as the CSO’s associate conductor, was Solti’s assistant in the maestro’s final years. Jean was concurrently principal guest conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. His Chicago-Hong Kong portfolio has remained the highest achievement for a Hong Kong conductor.

The 2009 CSO Asia tour brings a very happy orchestra to China; it has just secured a “yes” from Italian maestro Riccardo Muti to be the next Music Director. The news cannot come at a better time. Not only is the position filled after an embarrassing two-year vacancy, the accounts are in the black for the first time in three years. The recent performance of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony at Carnegie Hall under Haitink’s direction received some of the highest accolades from the New York critics. “Precise rhythmic articulation, lyrical turns of phrase and overall instrumental excellence, this performance was Class A all the way,” wrote Peter Davis of Musical America.

The CSO’s two Hong Kong concerts may be the most significant music event since the Berlin Philharmonic’s 2005 debut. The CSO’s upper edge lies in maestro Bernard Haitink and Mahler’s Tragic Symphony. A head-to-head comparison of the orchestras will be the performances of Strauss’s A Hero’s Life – matching the readings between Sir Simon Rattle and Haitink, and noting the differences of the famously taxing solo violin passage between the Berlin Philharmonic’s Japanese concertmaster Toru Yasunaga and the CSO’s Taiwanese counterpart Robert Chen.

Grab a ticket, if you are lucky enough to get one.

Oliver Chou is a Hong Kong-based music critic and historian. He is a researcher at the University of Hong Kong, a music columnist with Yazhou Zhoukan and an advisor to RTHK and LCSD.

Editorial note: Correction appended on October 16, 2008.