Work: Aconcagua, Concerto for Bandoneon

Kalmar and Sidorova pair up for a powerful performance of Piazzolla's Aconcagua in Atlanta.

Last Thursday’s concert with the Oslo Philharmonic featured four pieces with little or no connection to each other, other than three of the pieces being either written by Spanish-speaking composers or actually being about Spain. Yet, apart from one piece, it all came together into a rather coherent whole.The concert began with Jacques Ibert’s Bacchanale.

It is bold for an Asian orchestra to tackle a programme of works with a strong and vibrant ethnic character. We got far more than we bargained for in the concert titled “Bravo! Piazzolla” by the Hong Kong Philharmonic on Friday, not only in terms of the generous encores but more so of the quality of performance.