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Stories   >   Fairy sparks to symphonic blaze in Seoul. Bomsori joins Hrusa and the Bamberg Symphony / bachtrack

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Fairy sparks to symphonic blaze in Seoul. Bomsori joins Hrusa and the Bamberg Symphony / bachtrack

Posted: June 3, 2025

bachtrack's SangKwon Lee writes…..At Seoul Arts Center, the Bamberg Symphony under Jakub Hruša delivered a performance that at once honoured tradition and illuminated fresh, contemporary perspectives on the standard repertoire. Their opening work, the overture to Wagner Die Feen (The Fairies), served primarily as a brisk, atmospheric curtain-raiser. Though concise, it carried an undercurrent of drama that foreshadowed the evening’s delicate balance between grand gesture and painstaking clarity, a duality that would surface more fully in the main programme.

The first half centred on Bruch's Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor with Bomsori Kim. This collaboration garnered particular interest because the violinist recently recorded it with Hruša and the Bambergers for a DG release, which has drawn considerable acclaim. Adding historical lustre to the occasion, Kim’s mentor, Professor Young-uck Kim, famously performed the same concerto with this orchestra over half a century ago, creating a neat continuity between past and present.

Right from the outset, one could detect that Hruša’s disciplined yet pliant approach was sharply defined. His tempi were taut, but his phrasing allowed ample space for the orchestra’s rich textural tapestry to glimmer with near-cinematic vividness. In turn, Kim’s projection was notably more assertive than in her previous outings. There was a forthrightness to her bowing that occasionally bordered on brashness, yet this quality underscored the romantic fervour at Bruch’s core. Especially in the Adagio, she wove an elegant, almost prismatic cantilena, capitalising on her instrument’s capacity to articulate colour shadings with singular warmth. By the finale, soloist and orchestra were an integrated force, letting fly a forward drive both electrifying and cohesive, an impression likely to linger for those familiar with this concerto’s storied performance lineage.

It was in the second half, though, that Hruša’s broader interpretative philosophy came into sharper focus, as he led a powerfully structured reading of Beethoven, Symphony no. 7 in A major. While some current “fusion” interpreters might opt for a slightly faster pace in the first movement, Hruša took a more measured route, avoiding any headlong plunge into sheer rhythmic vitality. Instead, he granted each instrumental layer crisp definition, most notably the violins, which subtly softened their volume at times to reveal inner voices and secondary lines that often go unnoticed. By slightly easing the emphasis on the violins where they typically dominate, giving greater density to less-prominent elements, Hruša created an effect that allowed listeners to perceive the work’s larger design more naturally.

In the Allegretto, he steered clear of an overly funereal atmosphere. Adhering closely to Beethoven’s markings and employing nuanced dynamic shifts, Hruša gave the music a heightened three-dimensionality. The gently propulsive ostinato rhythms drew attention not so much to the solemnity of the main theme, but rather to the stratified sonorities that gradually accumulated. This approach took a striking turn in the third and fourth movements, where the character shifted significantly. The Scherzo’s unpredictable accents flashed through the ensemble with dazzling intensity, bridging buoyant strings and vigorous winds in a kinetic dance-like frenzy. By the finale, surging brass and animated strings briefly took over the stage in a burst of exultant heat – a climax made all the more potent by the meticulous groundwork laid in the earlier movements.

Ultimately, this concert confirmed Hruša as a conductor who marries historically informed insight with the robust sonorities of a modern orchestra. Shunning both dogmatic objectivity and indulgent rubato, he preserved Beethoven’s structural clarity while releasing climaxes with genuine force. This balance of transparency and vitality embodies a new interpretive wave – rooted in tradition yet alive to contemporary nuance.


Reviewed at Seoul Arts Center: Concert Hall, Seoul on 1 June 2025
Programme
Wagner, Die Feen (The Fairies): Overture
Bruch, Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor, Op.26
Beethoven, Symphony no. 7 in A major, Op.92
Performers
Bomsori Kim, Violin
Bamberg Symphony
Jakub Hruša, Conductor
 

PHOTO: © Vincero

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