Ureuk Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Joonmoo Lee (Ri Jun Mu), conductor
Anna Takeda, violin
Merkin Hall at Kaufmann Music Center, New York, NY
October 6, 2018
Ureuk was a legendary musician of Korean antiquity (sixth century) who invented the kayakum (transliterations vary widely, including kayagum, kayakeum, kayago, gayakum and gayageum), a kind of zither with twelve silk strings, a cousin of the Japanese koto and Chinese guzhen, which made a brief appearance in this concert. I was assigned to review only one concerto—the concert also included Beethoven’s Egmont overture, Op. 84, and Bizet’s Symphony in C, and a concerto for kayakum titled Ong Hye-ya by Han Choi.
The Ureuk Symphony is not a fixed body of musicians, but a collection of students from the three leading New York conservatories, plus a handful of area freelancers. Perhaps this accounted for the balance problems that occurred every time the brass and tympani played, nearly drowning out everything else. I will concede that Merkin Hall is truly not an ideal space for an orchestra anyway.
The concerto was Mendelssohn’s “evergreen” violin concerto in E minor, Op. 64, with Anna Takeda as soloist. This work is so ubiquitous that it becomes easy to overlook its radical features: no opening orchestral tutti exposition before the solo entry, the cadenza at the end of the development section serving as a lead-in to the recapitulation, and all three movements played attaca. A great number of interpretive styles are possible, and Ms. Takeda gave a sweet-toned, elegant, always polished rendition that worked well. I could have wished for more fire at times, but she was always convincing, and in fact, did begin to open up in the fiendishly busy final movement. Her intonation and virtuosity were immaculate in what was an excellent performance.
