Thursday 3 June 2004

Concert in Portsmouth yesterday evening. Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted the Philharmonia (Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture, plus Scottish Symphony). Sarah Chang played the Dvorak violin concerto. Chang played with much brio and much passion, and deadly accuracy. I didn't think her violin sounded that great (perhaps she was trying out a spare one?) The E and G strings sounded OK, but the middle range lacked power and sounded a bit rasping on occasions. And the orchestra was allowed to play too loudly, so Chang had to turn up the dial just to be heard, even in quieter passages.
I thought the orchestra was too big for the hall; they just didn't need all those violins, cellos and six double basses, especially for the Mendelssohn ! And I really would have liked the first and second violins to have been divided; as balanced by Ashkenazy, we only really heard the first violins and the cellos. Everything else, stuck away behind, just didn't get a look in. Woodwind was usually swamped. I don't think Ashkenazy is a very good conductor.

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