Violinist brings flair
to islands

Sarah Chang The violinist performs with the Honolulu Symphony, with Samuel Wong conducting the MasterWorks season finale: In concert: 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. and Sunday Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall Tickets: $26 to $69; 20 percent discount for seniors, students and military Call: 792-2000 or order through Ticketmaster, 877-750-4400, or online, www.ticketmaster.com

That sequence comes from Beethoven's most recognizable music: the short phrase that rushes out of the gates to open his dramatic Fifth Symphony.

What makes it so powerful? Scholars have spent their lives searching for answers. Could it describe fate knocking at the door? It very well could be.

For us, that fateful knock signals two important things: the departure of our music director, Samuel Wong, after a nine-year tenure in Hawaii, and the arrival of one of the world's most sought-after violinists, Sarah Chang, for a monumental concert weekend.

Chang will provide her own dramatic flair in Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1. Hawaii has been blessed to welcome her on a few occasions, but I'm especially looking forward to this visit. She's been touring the globe since her debut at age 8. Now, at 25, she has explored the literature of the violin, but keeps astonishing us with new facets of her ever-expanding maturity.

She is intense, powerful and resourceful. It's like the commercial for a stereo that ran years ago: When you hear her play, your hair flies back and windows shatter. But that's not all. Her artistry allows her to switch from fire to sweetness on a dime. She can be imposing, playful, brilliant and dramatic all at once. That's what I'm expecting this weekend.

The Shostakovich concerto is a great platform for all these striking moods. The Russian composer grew up under Stalin, when all artists had to carefully balance their creativity with restrictions imposed by the government. Shostakovich's music is at times solemn, cheerful and rousing, but it's also infused with sadness, irony and rebellion.

Under Communist rule, Soviet composers were encouraged to produce music that was close to the people's roots -- music that was optimistic and that glorified the regime -- or risk censorship.

The concerto, written in 1948, was attacked and questioned, and put on the back burner for a number of years. Perhaps government critics thought the first movement reflected too much anguish or seemed to offer a gloomy outlook, with little hope for salvation. I can imagine Chang closing her eyes and reaching for the eeriest sounds from her precious Guarneri del Gesu violin to create these feelings.

Thankfully, the repressive tension is unleashed in the second movement. That's when you can expect Chang to go wild. The best has yet to come though, with a sorrowful song leading up to a gradually building cadenza. It's as though all the rage is coming through in a relentlessly frenetic finale.

This conclusion is bound to bring the audience to its feet. I could not think of a better way to conclude our MasterWorks season.

It seems like yesterday that I joined the orchestra, just one year after Sam's arrival. Both of us were adjusting to the lifestyle and traditions of the islands. It was all so new, his travels between Asia, New York and Hawaii meant that he had to get reacclimated quickly during his time here.

I hope that the musical flavors of Hawaii have enriched Sam's professional and personal life, and I wish him all the best with his newly founded Global Music Healing Institute in New York City.

For Honolulu music lovers eager to see him again, we'll have the opportunity to host him next year in the role of conductor laureate.

We have an exciting line-up, with Grammy Award-winning guitarist Christopher Parkening opening the season with Rodrigo's beloved "Concierto de Aranjuez."

Have a great summer and see you in the fall!