Review of the Second Violin Concerto of John Borstlap

Sing Tao Daily:

Review of world première of John Borstlap’s Second Violin Concerto on 18 and 19 November 2022 by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, with Jaap van Zweden as conductor and Jing Wang as soloist.

For this evening’s concert Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra presented the world première of John Borstlap’s Second Violin Concerto: ‘Dreamscape Voyage’, inspired by Chinese paintings and poetry. The music in the woodwinds seemed to be an artistic conception of the sounds of wind between the mountains (this made me think of the Miho Art Museum in Japan which I visited a couple of years ago, as if you travelled through a fairytale country). The light sounds of the harp added to the beautiful effect. In playing the main theme on the violin, in harmony or in contrast with the orchestra, soloist Jing Wang created something like the perspective as found in traditional Chinese painting. Heavy or light, or with silences… the music had the rhythm of a poem, and made you sometimes think of Gustav Mahler.

The composer, touched by Chinese poetry, has created a marvellous musical work, and the reception of this new piece was the highlight of the evening.

Source…

Review of the Second Violin Concerto of John Borstlap on Spotify

Review of the Second Violin Concerto of John Borstlap on SoundCloud

Published 2 years ago

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