Huang Mengla's Scottish Fantasy | South China Morning Post

Reviewed: Jan 18

I cannot remember an evening of more uniformly splendid playing from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. It began with a question: What is Scottish composer James MacMillan's Britannia all about?

The very fibre of English music is ridiculed in a riotous fusion of Elgarian pomp, God Save the Queen and Knees up Mother Brown - with circus clown hooters thrown in for good measure. Celtic beauty sweeps disarmingly in, only to be gradually gnawed to death by the cynicism until all that's left is slapstick percussion. But by now it's disturbing. MacMillan leaves us in the air, staring at a thought-provoking black hole. Brilliant.

While violinist Huang Mengla didn't hit every note perfectly, his reading of Bruch's Scottish Fantasy knew where the heart of the work lay. Suitably reserved in tone and poise, his playful tugs in the scherzo and emotional warmth in the andante sostenuto were beautifully shadowed by the orchestra's responsive accompaniment.

Conductor Edo de Waart steered Elgar's Symphony No1 with faultless modulations in tempi.

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