By Brooklynn Wong
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra, in partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, once again delighted local listeners on November 20.
The orchestra’s visit has become an annual tradition, as they play at the Segerstrom Center. For the second year in a row, their concert included a Vivaldi component.
Where last year they played “The Four Seasons” in its traditional form as well as Max Richter’s reimagined version, this year they stuck with just the traditional, and added new pieces.
The orchestra, composed of about 20 musicians, took to the beautiful Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, dressed in sharp black and red.
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra, all the way from Europe, made its Philharmonic Society debut last year.
Grammy-nominated violinist Daniel Hope is the Music Director of the orchestra, and plays as a soloist. He has been called a virtuoso and has lived a whirlwind life—born in South Africa, then fleeing with his parents to London. There his mother got a job as personal assistant to prolific violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Hope began studying violin himself at age four, and studied at Menuhin’s school in England.
Hope has gone on to make his presence felt all over the world of classical music, and is now internationally recognized for his playing, his directing and his composing.
The show started off with Bach’s “Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor,” with Hope and Willi Zimmermann, concertmaster of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, playing as soloists.
The piece that followed was one that Hope commissioned for the tenth anniversary of Yehudi Menuhin’s death, the beautiful “Unfinished Journey, Op. 77.”
The first half of the concert was rounded out with Mendelssohn’s “Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor,” a beautiful piece with some familiar bits.
Between pieces, Hope gave short interjections and explanations.
Then the second half got off to a rousing start, and jaunted the audience right along through the four familiar movements of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” From the cheery sounds of “Spring,” to the demanding “Summer” and “Fall,” to beautiful and stark “Winter,” the audience was captivated.
The orchestra alternated beautifully between strong and hearty bits all played together, and soft whispers of only Hope playing.
It was a rousing evening of beautiful classical music, played well, that was a treat for the senses.
The Philharmonic Society of Orange County has a full schedule ahead the rest of the year, as they bring in more and more world-class acts. These include two Christmas shows in the near future: a cappella group Voctave presenting “The Spirit of the Season” on December 14, and a jazzy take on the Nutcracker Suite with “Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker” by the Duke Ellington Orchestra on December 15, both in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
See PhilharmonicSociety.org.
