ReviewHong Kong pianist Colleen Lee dazzles in celebration of Bach keyboard concertos
Colleen Lee and the New Hong Kong Philharmonia played variations of violin and oboe concertos in an energetic and elegant presentation
In the opinion of many, J.S. Bach is the greatest composer bar none. Just one of the manifestations of his pre-eminence was his seamless blend of musical tradition and innovation.
He was remarkably ahead of his time. An inveterate and unapologetic recycler, he still astounds us with his ability to arrange and reuse materials. Bach was never one to let a good tune go to waste – neither his own, nor those of his great contemporaries.
As I well remember from the 1960s Ladybird Books’ series Lives of the Great Composers, the 10-year-old Bach honed his craft by spending the wee hours secretly copying out reams of Pachelbel and Froberger by candlelight.
The four keyboard concertos that were on offer at the July 27 concert by the New Hong Kong Philharmonia (NHKP), ably directed by Harty Tam with soloist Colleen Lee, were examples of how he recycled his own material.
The Keyboard Concerto in D minor is an adaptation of Bach’s violin concerto in the same key; Keyboard Concerto in F minor is also familiar as an oboe concerto in G minor, while Keyboard Concerto in G minor is recognisable to every serious string student as an arrangement of a violin concerto in A minor.
Though described as a baroque ensemble, NHKP played on modern instruments, if only to match the magisterial Steinway Model D on the stage, and were attractively arranged in an acoustically balanced, widely spaced semicircle strangely reminiscent of Covid-era social distancing.