SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Singapore-born guest conductor, Kahchun Wong, opened the December 7 concert with a work, subito con forza (suddenly with force), by the Chinese composer, Unsuk Chin, inspired by Beethoven’s 250 Birthday.
Opening with a single unison note, just as in the Coriolan Overture, she has other quotes of Beethoven sprinkled throughout her homage to the great composer, taking us on an eight-minute aural trek of sudden dynamic surprises and dissonant adventures.
Next, Randall Goosby, a 29-year-old violinist who studied with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho at Juilliard and is the 1922 recipient of an Avery Fisher Award, gave an inspiring performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He brought warmth and passion to the ethnic melodies and dispatched the technical hurdles with great competence. His cadenza in the first movement was particularly stunning. The audience erupted into tumultuous applause after the first movement, something even sophisticated audiences often do because of its breathtaking climax. But this time, the listeners even rose for a standing ovation. Goosby smiled widely, acknowledged their response and put two fingers in the air to indicate that there were two more movements to come.
Although the second movement, Canzonetta, was described in the program notes as similar to a ballet interlude, I hear it as a religious prayer, and it was played with heartfelt emotion.
The third movement suggested Russian dancers and inebriated joviality with its rugged-sounding themes. Once again, a standing ovation and an encore ensued, Louisiana Blues Strut by the African-American composer, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. It was a marked contrast from the Tchaikovsky!
Goosby was born in San Diego to a Korean mother and an African-American father. He grew up in Memphis and made his debut with the Jacksonville Symphony when he was 9 years old. In 2010, he won the Sphinx Concerto Competition. Sphinx is the Detroit-based organization that promotes the study of classical music within Black and Latino communities. This fall, he has begun teaching in the preparatory department of the Juilliard School.
After intermission, the SDSO returned on stage to deliver a colorful rendition of Ravel’s orchestration of Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The multiple movements, each representing the paintings of Moussorgsky’s late friend, Victor Hartmann, showcased the orchestra’s principal players and individual sections. An alto saxophone was also added for The Old Castle and the bass trombonist played the euphonium for Bydlo (the Polish Ox Cart). The children playing in the Tuileries Gardens and calling “Nanny, Nanny” were accurately depicted as was the Ballet of the Chicks as they break out of their shells. The Great Gate of Kiev brought the full weight of the entire orchestra with massive sound in the climactic conclusion of this programmatic work.
Kahchun Wong received his conducting training at the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin and his precise baton technique, use of the left hand only for required expressive signals and subdued stance reflected that training. The San Diego forces responded well to him and his disciplined leadership. He is now the chief conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and principal conductor of the Halle Orchestra in Manchester, England.
The many ethnicities represented in the performers and the selections at this concert attests to the universality of symphonic music and its worldwide appeal.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist from the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.