INMO YANG & FESTIVAL STRINGS LUCERNE / Review

INMO YANG AND 

FESTIVAL STRINGS LUCERNE 

Esplanade Concert Hall 

Tuesday (12 March 24)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 14 March 2024 with the title "Inmo Yang, Festival Strings Lucerne join forces to make magical music."

Music-lovers of a certain age will remember Singapore’s old 92.4 FM stereo station which regularly broadcasted recordings by Festival Strings Lucerne led by its founder-director Rudolf Baumgartner. Those were the days before period instruments, when string music sounded full, lush and luxuriant, qualities for which the ensemble was renowned. This cherished group is still thriving, now led by Australia-born violinist Daniel Dodds, its music director since 2012. 

Its Esplanade debut was not just about strings, but a chamber orchestra with woodwinds, brass and a sole timpanist. The evening opened with Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1, called “Classical” because its four movements were a 20^th century pastiche of Haydn and Mozart’s 18^th century symphonies. 

Despite not being led by a conductor, immediately apparent was the ensemble’s cohesion, impressing in the fast and tricky outer movements. Its fabled string sound was highlighted in the slow movement, with a graceful melody sung by violins above a gently throbbing accompaniment. The third movement’s Gavotte was taken with much rubato, lending a comedic sense of ungainliness but togetherness was never in doubt. 

Young Korean violinist Inmo Yang, winner of multiple international violin competitions, was guest soloist in Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No.5 in A minor. Cast in one continuous movement lasting some 22 minutes, the work united the best qualities of virtuoso concerto and symphonic poem. Built upon two main themes, this was also a perfect vehicle for Yang’s immaculate technique and grasp of musical drama. 

Photo: AlvieAlive

Combining an innate feel for the lyrical and impeccable intonation, and backed by the orchestra poised on a razor’s age, the performance was a treat from start to finish. As if that were not enough pyrotechnics, Yang’s fearsomely showy solo encores of Nicolo Paganini’s last and first Caprices (Nos.24 and 1 in that order) did the trick. 

Photo: AlvieAlive

The orchestra performed the concert’s second half on its feet. First was the Singapore premiere of living Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon’s Caprice No.4 entitled “Es Muss Sein!” (It Must Be!). Based on Beethoven’s final string quartet (Op.135) which posed the rhetorical question “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?), the 14-minute-long work became a tug-of-war between the two Beethovenian three-note-motifs. It showcased slick string calisthenics and even moments of Mantovaniesque cascading strings, just to name another very famous string ensemble. 

The concert concluded with Mozart’s final symphony, No.41 in C major, nicknamed “Jupiter” after the Roman god because of its breadth and grandeur. The incisive clarity of the booming opening chords was telling, heralding a lithe but not lightweight account of this masterpiece. Tempos were generally swift but never in expense of savouring details, which were many. 

The slow movement’s sleekness mirrored the earlier Prokofiev, while the third movement’s Minuet now reflected refinement and courtliness. The glorious finale, rich with counterpoint, was simply the embodiment of joie de vivre, bringing the concert to an emphatically valedictory close. The encore of Schumann’s Abendlied (Evening Song), sumptuously arranged by Johan Svendsen, was ironically the only all-string work on show. That, too, was a pleasure to behold.