Yan Huichang dazzles in guest conductor stint with SCO

Every concert needs to be special. That seems to be the credo of Cultural Medallion recipient Yan Huichang, who is the artistic director and principal conductor for life of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO).

- Chang Tou Liang

CONCERT MOZART WITH RODOLFO BARRAEZ AND AUSTIN LARSON Singapore Symphony Orchestra Victoria Concert Hall Nov 22

It is hard to believe, but the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has never performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 In E Flat Major (K. 495) until this concert.

Undoubtedly the most popular and best-known horn concerto in all of classical music, this gaping lacuna had to be filled some time.

Better late than never, one is grateful that SSO's principal French hornist Austin Larson, just appointed to the post last year, did the honours.

He is a supremely confident artist, one whose well-projected and warm tone brought much life and humanity to the music. Sustaining long unbroken lines and perfect intonation all through made the performance an unmitigated pleasure.

The tricky cadenzas in the outer movements were negotiated with ease, while the rapidly repeated notes and quick leaps in the famous hunt-and-chase finale seemed like pure fun. Listeners of a certain vintage who remember British comedian-musician duo Flanders and Swann's comic take on this movement will appreciate its uproarious quality.

Larson's encore of fellow American hornist-composer Gina Gillie's Ditty For Jonathan (2007) was a brief but dazzling show of brass virtuosity.

Having supported the concerto to the hilt, the orchestra was on its own in two of Mozart's most popular symphonies, conducted from memory by SSO's award-winning associate conductor, the young Venezuelan Rodolfo Barraez.