Review | Violist turns violin soloist for The Four Seasons by Vivaldi and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires in Hong Kong concert
- Andrew Ling, principal violist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, played the violin like a virtuoso in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Piazzolla work inspired by it
- For most of the concert one would not have known the violin was not his instrument, and the orchestra acquitted themselves well in general
Just how interchangeable are the skills of a viola player and a violinist? In a concert with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong violist Andrew Ling Hin-yau showed he is adept at both by performing as soloist in two works for violin.
Like most viola players, Ling started out on the more popular violin as a child. He received violin coaching from the late Lin Yaoji, former music professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and one of China’s greatest violin teachers, at the Hong Kong music school founded by Yip Wai-hong (who also set up three children’s music ensembles and the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra).
This is probably why, to the delight of the audience, the principal violist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra played the violin like a virtuoso.
The programme comprised two Four Seasons, by Vivaldi and Piazzolla – not the most challenging works in the repertoire, but they still demand a lot from the soloist.
