SO Antwerben

Master concert: Between the sea and the Bohemian Forest

Conductor Shi-yeon Sung and solo violinist Bomsori Kim.(Bild: Udo Mittelberger)

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra opened the Bregenz Master Concerts season at the Festspielhaus on Sunday.

Antwerp is not only the major port city and fashion metropolis in the Flemish part of Belgium, but also has a strong cultural aura. The city's symphony orchestra has now brought this flair to Bregenz as part of its tour of Slovenia, Germany and Austria. It is a sign of cosmopolitanism not only to entrust the conducting of this tour to a woman from South Korea, namely Shi-yeon Sung, but also to place the solo part of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto in the hands of one of the conductor's compatriots (there were other soloists on the ASO tour), namely the attractive and top-styled Bomsori Kim.

But the concert began with a work by a Belgian. This Dahomey Rhapsody by August de Boeck is very effective and bursting with ideas. It was to remain the most famous composition by the then twenty-eight-year-old de Boeck, just as Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto was and is by far the most frequently performed work by the late Romantic composer, which incidentally annoyed him greatly. The violinist Bomsori Kim developed a full tone on her Guarneri del Jesu and, together with the conductor and the orchestra, found a very calm tempo for the first two movements, which merge into one another. Nevertheless, there was no tiring monotony, as the themes were clearly chiseled out.

The SOA concert also impressed the head of the cultural department, Judith Reichart, and Mayor Michael Ritsch.(Bild: Udo Mittelberger)

The final movement with its Slavic dance theme was energetic. With her highly virtuosic encore from a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe, Bomsori Kim once again made reference to Belgium. But then, with Dvorak's Sixth Symphony, the orchestra really moved into Slavic, or more precisely Bohemian, territory, as this symphony thrives on folk melodies. It was astonishing how the Flemish orchestra and its Korean conductor came quite close to this musical idiom. However, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the expressive worlds of both were more on the powerful and forceful side. In terms of sound and precision, however, the Belgians were convincing across the board, and when they played Engelbert Humperdinck's "Abendsegen" as an encore, with the strings fading away in sparkling pianissimo, you knew once again that you had experienced a first-class ensemble. The audience cheered.