Review | Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi’s Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra concerts a delightful combination of flair and fantasy
- Hisaishi led a triptych of Hong Kong premieres from the podium himself, including Ponyo and Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite based on Studio Ghibli movies
- The orchestra generally conquered the musical challenges with aplomb, though Ponyo seemed somewhat under-rehearsed and jarred with the rest of the programme
It is not uncommon for composers to re-orchestrate earlier works to be featured in larger multi-movement pieces, or extract highlights from lengthier pieces to form symphonic suites.
Both adapted forms were on display in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s sold-out Joe Hisaishi concerts, with the Japanese composer, best known for writing soundtracks for Studio Ghibli movies, leading a triptych of Hong Kong premieres from the podium himself.
In the opening Symphony No. 2, each of the three movements emanated from diverse sources but shared a similar theme-and-variation structure. This subtle approach provided an overarching cohesion while showing Hisaishi’s signature minimalist style.
The symphony contained simplistic material purposefully ripe for development, with the composer largely relying on shifting the parameters of rhythm, texture and expressive techniques to achieve variation.
By more obviously addressing the articulation markings in moments of fanfare, the woodwinds were more successful than the strings in revealing slight mutations in the repetition of flourishes.
