In September, Kahchun Wong will take over from Mark Elder as the Hallé’s principal conductor and artistic adviser. The Singapore-born Wong first conducted the Manchester orchestra in February last year, and he has also conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, but this concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was his London debut, and a first chance to discover what it is about his conducting that has convinced the Hallé he should be their next chief.
Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony offered the best opportunity of what Wong might have to offer. His account, superbly played by the BBCSO, was a slow burn, solemn almost somnolent in the opening pages, and only gradually building momentum through the first movement. Though the fiercer edges of the scherzo were rather blunted too, Wong did his best to turn the Largo into a truly tragic statement, making it rather drawn-out in the process, before turning the finale into a manic gallop. Some of the audience thought the performance worth a standing ovation; others, I suspect, were less convinced.
