Take Five: Review of Piano Quintet recital on 17 August 2008

Here is my review of the concert given by Take Five, a piano quintet formed by Singaporean musicians, which appeared in The Straits Times on 20 August 2008.

TAKE FIVE

Lim Yan, piano

with members of the SSO

Esplanade Recital Studio

Sunday, 17 August 2008

The chamber music scene in Singapore is really picking up and opportunities abound for local musicians to make history. Take Five, a quintet formed by pianist Lim Yan with violinists Foo Say Ming and Lim Shue Churn, violist-for-the-evening Chan Yoong Han and cellist Chan Wei Shing, seem to relish doing that.

Their bold ambition is to perform all the piano quintets in the classical canon. Going through the four warhorses (Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak and Franck) one at a time, their third recital also showcased a rarely heard quintet and one by a local composer.

Kelly Tang's six-minute-long Quintet of 1996 is a model of compactness and concentration. Opening like a Second Viennese School product, his bitty motifs peppered the ear with sparks and shards of sound. Melodic interest soon became discernable as an arch-like structure was formed, but it ended as the senses began to pique. This is a work that will repay further visits.

The concert began with the early Dvorak Quintet in A major (Op. 5), written before he became the distinctive voice of Czech nationalism. Its dark-hued tones channelled Wagner, while folk-like rhythms made themselves felt, albeit without the heart-on-sleeve transparency of the mature and familiar Quintet Op. 81, also in the same key. The reading of the angst-filled slow movement and hot-blooded rush that is the scherzo-cum-finale was invigorating, making the work sound greater than initially suggested.

This self-same vehemence and sense of purpose continued well into the second half, where the mighty Brahms F Minor Quintet (Op. 34) awaited. In the first movement's sonata form, white-hot playing on stage was matched only by the intensity etched on the faces of the performers. The quintet could have afforded to relax a little in the slow movement's Andante, instead of sounding tense in parts. Perhaps that was an inevitable lead-up to the Scherzo's unstoppable march to the abyss.

Where silence from the audience would have been much appreciated between movements, the well-filled venue erupted with applause. This altercation may have thrown the strings off-kilter as intonation went awry briefly in the beginning of the finale. The musicians, however, rallied in a hell-for-leather finish that finally brought the house down.

As a much-demanded encore, the quintet reprised the Tang work, proving that repeated listening does make the heart grow fonder.

Singapore National Piano Competition 2007: Piano Artist Category

THE BEGINNING OF ARTISTRY
(5-9 December 2007)

So we have reached the Grand Finals of Singapore’s biennial national competition for pianists and violinists. For many of the young musicians involved, it was an arduous journey, beginning with hours of practice, lessons, and the sheer nerves of playing in front of an audience and a watchful international jury. Some take to this ritual so easily that it becomes second nature. They are the “natural born artists, musicians and entertainers”. For others, the “March to the Scaffold” would seem more appropriate.

Piano Artist Category Quarter-finals: Misses and Hits

At the quarter-finals of the Piano Artist Category, the variability of the participants continued to baffle. There were a number of withdrawals, thus longer tea-breaks for both jury and audience.

One Friday morning was particularly frustrating; having missed the only decent performer, I was subjected to three no-shows, and merely 15 minutes of poor playing. One pianist had little clue as to what she was doing in Granados’ El Amor y la Muerte from Goyescas and plodded through Mozart’s Rondo in A minor (K.511) unimaginatively. Worse was to follow when another offered an aborted attempt at Bach’s Italian Concerto, replete with a hard unyielding sound, mistakes and memory lapses galore. At least she had the decency of committing musicus interruptus in the first movement, walking off stage after three minutes of agony. And this was supposed to be the crème de la crème, the Artist Category?

The Saturday sessions fortunately reaped a better harvest, but there were still awkward moments that smacked of American Idol (or Singapore Idol) desperation. For example, why would any sensible person begin his or her programme with the quicksilver finale of Ravel’s Sonatine? A sure-fire recipe for failure. This same pianist deluged Beethoven’s Tempest Sonata (Op.31 No.2) with over-pedalling, a whirlwind of wrong notes and memory lapses.

There were also some entertaining moments. An undistinguished performance of Chopin’s Ballade No.1 (Op.23) with obligatory raspberry at the end for effect was fully compensated by a wholly outrageous outing of Percy Grainger’s In Dahomey (Cakewalk Smasher). And smash the piano he did! Not Marc-André, but the lobby bar of the Mandarin Oriental could do with more of this kind of thing.

Now for the real performers, and there were several that merited serious attention. Here was the beginning of artistry, the first steps taken by young people who would choose to make music a career, and who would hopefully go on to enliven and enlighten our impoverished, empty souls.

Wang Haijie (No.26)

Opened with a very competent performance of Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C minor, one imbued with a variety of colours and shades. He gave the impression of a very serious artist, and yet one without a single dull moment in his playing. Able to ease into Godowsky’s transcription of Albeniz’s Tango, a reading that was sensitive, somewhat deliberate in tempo but with the inner voices carefully teased out.

Shaun Choo Yung Sheng (No.32)
At 16, the youngest participant in the Artist category but he does not look it. Instead, the demeanor is one of a seasoned virtuoso who seems totally at ease with himself and the music. His Bach-Busoni Chaconne is rock-like in its technical security, yet one filled with fantasy and imagination. A meister of nuance and colour, this playing grabs one on the lapels and proclaims, “Listen! And you shall see!”

Nguyen Nhat Quy (No.36)
In one of the more satisfying recitals, this sensitive young lady brought colour, clarity and feeling in a Bach Prelude and Fugue (BWV.853), reaped a whirlwind in a Rachmaninov Etude-tableau (Op.33 No.5), both works in E flat minor. This surely cannot be a coincidence. The bittersweet and violent elements in Prokofiev’s Sonata No.2 were also brought out in a very accomplished reading of the first movement.

Among the other pianists, Benjamin Lim Tiong Han (No.25) brooded on Liszt’s Ballade No.2 in B minor in between moments of serenity and introspective, and rightly let loose on York Bowen’s Toccata. Sun Miao (No.27) brought a big sound to Granados’ Allegro de Concierto but was less distinguished in her Beethoven sonata.

Having missed the semi-finals of the Piano Artist Category, thanks to a short trip to Hong Kong for The Joy of Music Festival, it was anybody’s guess as to who the finalists were. As it turned out, only one pianist I had heard, Wang Haijie, made it to the Grand Final.

Singapore National Violin Competition 2007: Grand Finals

Singapore Festival Orchestra conductor Chan Tze Law
applauds violin finalists Cao Qi and Lee Shi Mei.

Violin Artist Category Final (13 December 2007)

Having taken an early return flight, I was able to catch the Grand Final of the Violin Artist Category. There were two finalists, a straight play-off between Singapore and the People’s Republic of China. Singapore’s Lee Shi Mei studies in Oberlin, Ohio and had the guts and gumption to participate in both the Violin and Piano Artist Categories. As it was, she was admitted to the semi-finals of both categories. Probably sensing a better chance in the Violin competition (which had far fewer contestants), she dropped out from the Piano competition. Her rival was China’s Cao Qi, a student at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

This is the first year that the finals of both Piano and Violin Artist Categories were held on separate days. As with the past three editions of the competition, concertos were performed with orchestral accompaniment. By this year, the generically-named Competition Orchestra of 2005 had become the Singapore Festival Orchestra, Singapore’s third professional orchestra, led by its founder conductor and music director Chan Tze Law. If the look of this young orchestra seemed familiar, that is because some of its members are SSO musicians: Concertmaster Chan Yoong Han, Principal cellist Yu Jing, violinists Nikolai Koval, and violist Marietta Ku are already Esplanade regulars. More importantly, some of the violin chairs are occupied by former winners of the National Piano & Violin Competition – notably Grace Lee (1st Prize 2001), Ye Lin (1st Prize 2005), Lim Hui (2nd Prize 2003), Loh Jun Hong, Edward Tan and Seah Huan Yuh. Quite an impressive alumni, isn’t it?

Credit must also go to the Maestro, Chan Tze Law, who kept a tight ship throughout, providing the most helpful of accompaniments to the young soloists despite what must have been very limited rehearsal schedules. Let’s see what unfolded over both evenings:

The opening of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto was sensitively shaded by the orchestra, allowing Lee Shi Mei’s solo entry to shine. Despite her slight frame and somewhat stooped demeanor, Lee displayed no shortage of confidence and produced a healthy, robust sound which helped transcend the orchestral textures. Her intonation was not always flawless but she managed to maintain a high voltage throughout. Even in the lovely slow movement, where some latitude in dynamics could have been exercised, she remained highly strung, almost to the point of being on the manic edge. This nervous tension however worked to her advantage in the finale’s romp, where there was fire and passion in bucket-loads. The frisson she generated was from her quite fine technique as well as a certain degree of nerves. No performance should be without an element of walking a tight-rope, and Lee Shi Mei’s commendable showing was evidence of that.

All too often in competitions like these, the orchestra keeps an anonymous profile: play well but stay in the background at all costs. The Singapore Festival Orchestra however believed in a genuine partnership, by exerting itself without fear nor favour whenever the music called for it. There was a concern that the young and overawed soloist might be cowed into submission by overpowering tuttis, as in the case of Paganini’s First Violin Concerto. The opening tutti was very loud, almost overstating its credentials, but Cao Qi was very much up to the task of fending for herself.

She is an altogether more confident personality, with a physical stature to match. Her intonation was more secure and she seemed to coax a brighter and more brilliant sound from her instrument (this has to be a member of the famed Rin Collection, often loaned out to conservatory students). Also displaying more latitude in tempi and dynamics, she was able to shape a more convincing case for this often banal music, culminating with an astonishing degree of control in the fiendish Sauret cadenza.

The give-and-take between Cao and the orchestra was judged perfectly in the droll slow movement, and this set the stage for a most unfettered finale imaginable. This young lady knows how to milk Paganini for best effect, and what is Paganini without the risk, without the wildness? Straddling between high jinks and vulgarity, the showboating came to a head in the passage of thirds in harmonics, something which even troubled the great Salvatore Accardo in his famous DG recording. No such fears for Cao as she and the orchestra raced to a grandstand finish.

My verdict (as were many in the audience) was shared by the violin jury:

1st: Cao Qi (by a furlong)
2nd: Lee Shi Mei

The first prizewinners of the Violin Junior and Intermediate Categories also performed. Jaz Loh Wan Zhen stole the evening with her altogether enthralling performance of William Kroll’s Banjo and Fiddle. She is a portrait of self-assurance, confidence and cuteness (another cute with a capital C!), from an age-group that still does not know the meaning of nerves. The older Davin Ang Kai Jie is more serious, and brought out the feeling and nostalgia of Smetana’s From the Native Country. These are names to watch out for in the future.

Singapore National Piano Competition 2007: Grand Finals

Piano Artist Category Final (14 December 2007)

Just to reminisce, the 2005 final was distinguished by not one but three performances of Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto (!), each performance being less distinguished than the last. To be safe, SS2 was not on the list of fifteen concertos offered to the participants, and this year’s final proved to be a boon with three different concertos played by three very different pianists.

First off was Kwon Cheo Yong, a Korean from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor (K.466). Here is a thoughtful musician, one of much poise and polish who had much to say in his concerto. Uncommonly mature for his age, his reading was one of utmost musicianship, one which blended seamlessly with the orchestra. While this had all the hallmarks of good chamber music, Kwon was also not afraid to exert himself when necessary, running the full gamut of Mozart’s emotional output. His cadenza for the first movement was unusually dramatic, Romantic in spirit and full of surprising harmonic turns, yet dovetailed perfectly into the performance as a whole. (I later found out from Kwon’s teacher Albert Tiu that the cadenza was by no less than Brahms!)

His reading of the slow movement was elegant and graceful, with the turbulent central G minor stylishly handled. The finale was again full of spirit and brio, with yet another totally idiomatic cadenza (this time by Mozart’s student Hummel, thanks again Albert!). It is said that Mozart often exposes the musician (or absence thereof) in a pianist, and this performance revealed Kwon to be a supreme artist in the making. He also reminds this observer of a much more mature Asian pianist whose musicianship has never been in doubt – Dennis Lee. Have we found this year’s winner?

In complete contrast, the performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor (Op.16) that followed by Cheng Shih-Wei from Taiwan, another Yong Siew Toh student, was a smash and grab job. There was little doubt that this young man with funky-looking eyeglasses is a talent, but his was an untamed soul, one whose bestial instincts towards the instrument negated whatever musical vestiges he possessed. His opening cascade of octaves was fast, brilliant and impressive enough but what about beauty of tone or equanimity of temperament? He had little of the latter, as his assault on Grieg was as subtle as a Viking berserking, with little more than two dynamics – faster and louder.

To be fair, Cheng did not undo the orchestra’s rapt and lovely introduction to the slow movement, and he did exhibit enough poetry and expression to show what he was truly capable of. However he was back to the bad habits in the Halling-inspired finale, by racing ahead of all and sundry, with nary a care to proper music-making. If this were to be an imitation of the wayward but phenomenally popular Lang Lang, it was a poor one to be certain. While the Langster is accurate at the very least, Cheng was often messy. The fact that he managed to finish a second ahead of the orchestra in the three final chords (yes, all three chords) also spoke volumes. He neither listens nor anticipates, and for that he should be sentenced to two hundred hours of community chamber music making.

This feast of concertos concluded with the afore-mentioned Wang Haijie, a China-born student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Instead of a tired and badly flogged warhorse, Wang’s sounded like a breath of fresh air. The opening chords were well and accurately punched out and the first cadenza hit no stumbles. Steadiness and sturdiness were his hallmarks, and while no new insights were revealed, his self-assured way was always reassuring. The octave passages were stunning for their desired impact, and he added nuance and a wide range of colours to his already considerable solo part – no mean feat. There were coordination problems with the orchestra at the beginning of the coda but like a true pro he is destined to be, shrugged it off without any fuss or bother.

The second and third movements flew through effortlessly, with no hint of any stress or strain, certainly a good thing. Again Wang’s rock-steady and unflappable technique ruled while others might be frantically clutching for straws. To be sure, the tumultuous applause began even before the last chord finished, signally the close of a highly charged performance.

So which performance won the day? Kwon Cheo Yong’s poise and polish, or Wang Haijie’s endurance and bravado? Mozart and Tchaikovsky were as alike as apples and oranges, but who wins? It was never to be a level playing field has Wang pipped Kwon to the top spot, with the bellicose Cheng a distant third, several parsecs behind. For this listener, it was a dead heat, but I would give the nod to Kwon. For me, it is far more difficult to be convincing in Mozart than in Tchaikovsky. Give me brain over brawn any day.

Clarence Noeh with his teacher, a proud Miss Tay.

Also heard this evening were the first prizewinners of the Piano Junior and Intermediate Categories. Clarence Neoh Kai Yang showed that age was no object as he exercised brilliance and sensitivity in Wang Yu Shi’s Sunflower. Zhang Aidi was more deliberate in the opening of Liszt’s Liebestraum No.3, but rightly let her instincts take flight in the rapturous middle section. Another two for the future, one hazards a smart guess. No first prize was awarded for the Piano Senior Category, and judging by what I heard earlier, was probably the right thing.

Wang Haijie’s triumph marks a distinct landmark for Professor Yu Chun Yee of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, with a hat-trick of First Prizes in this competition to his name. His two previous charges John Chua Gheng Hong (Singapore) and Yao Xiaoyun (China) came up trumps in 2003 and 2005 respectively. How this gentleman, formerly a professor at London’s Royal College of Music, finds these talents, brings them to the Academy, and hones them to near perfection is nothing short of a revelation. Is he Singapore music’s Arsene Wenger? Give the man a medal, and a Tiger!

With two first prizes, the mainland Chinese have dominated this year’s Piano and Violin competitions again. In contrast, there was only one Singaporean to feature in the finals. I do not see this as a bad thing, firstly because the standard of the competition has skyrocketed, and secondly Singapore music education institutions, namely the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and Nanyang Academy, have made the aspirations of foreign talents come true. This is a true testimony of the high standards of our schools and the Singapore system of meritocracy. That surely cannot be a bad thing.

The advent of the Singapore Festival Orchestra under Chan Tze Law, formerly a pick-up orchestra of professional free-lance musicians, is the other heartening development. Their overall high standards and providing musicians with a five-star collaborative experience has raised the bar of this competition, a very worthy institution that we have much to be proud of.

Singapore National Piano Competition 2007: Quarter & Semi Finals / Part One

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

The biennial National Piano and Violin Competition (5 to 15 December 2007), organised by the National Arts Council, has come and gone. As expected, it generated loads of interest among music students and teachers here, not to mention rekindled the unspoken rivalry between our two very successful music education institutions – the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

The number of entries almost equalled that of the previous competition in 2005, with 274 entries in all four age categories (Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Artist). The pianists outnumbered the violinists by 2 to 1. With such figures, one should be mightily heartened. However having attended parts of the quarter- and semi-final rounds of the Piano Competition and witnessed no less than 88 would-be pianists, I am left with mixed feelings.

The reason was this: the standard of playing was wildly variable, and one had to sit through a parade of mediocrities and no-talents before encountering someone with genuine ability to communicate. I was not even on a lookout for future Abigail Sins or Jonathan Shins, overwhelming local talents; even modestly endowed beings were hard to come by.

For example, what possessed one individual to make mincemeat of Bardarszewska’s A Maiden’s Prayer? The maiden in question could have filed for outrage of modesty, such was this wanton assault to the senses. When the young man was stopped and asked to play the fourth piece of his sorry excuse of a programme, he did not know where to begin. So ended his five minutes of infamy, next…

The piano jurors (from L to R):

Mary Wu (Hong Kong), Paul Pollei (USA) and Roberto Plano (Italy)

The tedium continued and it was a great credit to the jury, an august panel of Paul Pollei, Mary Wu and Roberto Plano, that they gave every participant ample time to prove themselves … or hang themselves. They needn’t have, but they did so, with infinite patience and forbearance.

There was also an issue with kids with special needs who performed. Two years ago, the hearing-impaired Azariah Tan distinguished with his plucky and ultimately musical performance of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata. He had since gone on to give a highly credible solo recital and joined the ranks of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. Bravo! This year, I heard two students with learning disabilities perform; they were terrible. They had no iota of musicality and struggled in vain to even register the notes. The poor boy even lost his way getting off the stage, and ironically, received three rounds of applause, more than any other participant. There is a place for these acts of courage too shine (such as the Performers Festival, organised by the Singapore Music Teachers Association), but surely not our national music competition. What were their teachers thinking?

The performers could fall into three classes: good, bad and misguided. The first class, the genuinely good, was desperately in short supply, but it gave me pleasure in naming them. Bearing in mind that I did not hear everyone, here goes:

Piano Junior Category:

Elysia Widjaja (No.16)
Seems very mature for her age. Her Bach Toccata in E minor (BWV.914) was fluid and showed a good understanding of counterpoint. There was genuine cantabile in Schubert’s Impromptu in G flat major, with lots of nuance and colour, and not a note out of place.

Tay Wei Ling (No.22)
Having first spotted her in 2005, I was pleased with her progress. Her Bach Prelude and Fugue in D minor (BWV.851) was confident, with the fugue a model of consistency. She kept a fine musical line throughout the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata in B flat major (K.333). Will further mature with time.

Clarence Neoh Kai Yang (No.30)

Already looks like a veteran performer, the way he is suited to the hilt. Packed a punch to Debussy’s Prélude from Pour le piano, while his Haydn Sonata No.50 in C major was fluent, crisp, and approximated a true interpretation. The slow movement of Grieg’s Sonata in E minor (Op.7) was an unusually inspired choice, with the folksy elements well brought out. Wang Yu Shi’s Sunflowers served as a well-crafted encore. Remember that dictum EGBDF: “Every good boy deserves favour”? Here was a well-deserved First Prize in the Junior category.

Nicole Ong Shu En (No.31)

Cute with a capital C! One of the younger performers, she surprised by bringing so much music out of four dances from Shostakovich’s Dances of the Dolls, when one least expected it. Lots of personality and clarity in Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in D minor (BWV.851), but made her Beethoven Bagatelle (Op.33 No.1) sound a bit too much like Shostakovich. Has a smile to melt hearts.

Jessica Tan Yu Jia (No.33)
Could have had a more beautiful tone and nuance in Mozart’s Sonata in D major (K.576) but was confident and fluent enough. Displayed sensitivity in Schubert’s Impromptu in G flat major, a full range of colours in Debussy’s Jardins sous la pluie and dexterity in the sewing machine drolleries of Shishido’s Toccata.

Erica Ngiam Hian Kim (No.72)
All dolled up to impress, and impress she did in Martinu’s waltz-like The Puppets’ Dance No.5, treating it like a true classic with lots of nice touches. Beethoven’s Sonata in G major (Op.31 No.1) is too big and ambitious a piece for her, but she will no doubt grow into it.

Singapore National Piano Competition 2007: Quarter & Semi Finals / Part Two

Piano Intermediate Category:


Zhang Aidi (No.3)

Began with a totally competent reading of Chopin’s Scherzo No.2, with a variety of colour and much poise. Ravel’s Jeux d’eau further confirmed a superior technique, in a performance that was evocative, gorgeously shaped and full of nuance and imagination. Having missed the balance of her programme, the First Prize awarded to her was deserving based on the strength of these pieces.

Wilford Goh Yu Xiang (No.13)

Very confident young man who was able to generate much sound and fury in Kabalevsky’s Sonata No.3 in F major. Not great music, but a good showcase of a solid technique nonetheless. In Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau, he demonstrated very good pedalling and the colours came through convincingly. Third Prize was his reward.

Deanna Lye Shuyan (No.16)
This close-cropped and lanky young lady meant business, as she ripped through Prokofiev’s Suggestion Diabolique (Op.4 No.4) with ease. Balancing her programme with a very nicely shaded Mozart’s Adagio in B minor (K.540) was a very wise choice, showing a poetic side and certain maturity.


Soh Ser Yee (No.20)

My top choice of the quarter finals. Her view of Mendelssohn’s Andante and Rondo Capriccioso (Op.14) was as close to a dream performance; sheer beauty in the slow introduction and elfin lightness in the ensuing rondo. If only she did not make those Lang Lang-like grimaces and facial expressions. A wholly concert-worthy Granados Allegro de Concierto – full of colour and movement – capped a fine outing. She finished a commendable Second.

A point of note: All four pianists had something (and someone) in common. They all attended the School of Young Talents at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and were taught by Madam Fang Yuan. That lady deserves a big, big award.

There were several other pianists who stood out for reasons other than technical excellence, which were worthy of mention:

One young man had the chutzpah of even attempting Liszt’s La Campanella, blithely non-cognizant of his technical limitations. At least he was entertaining. Preceding him was another young man, who barnstormed skittishly through Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm but got totally exposed in the subtleties of Beethoven’s late Sonata in E minor (Op.90). Nice tries, lads, but do ask your teachers some serious questions.

Singapore National Piano Competition 2007: Quarter & Semi Finals / Part Three

Piano Senior Category

It has been a wry observation that many of the top talents spotted from previous editions of the competition do not go on to progress in subsequent competitions. Many simply disappear from sight. What were the reasons of this attrition? Was it burnout, a lost of interest, a lack of consistent continuing musical education, enlistment into National Slavery (for the guys), or beckoning careers in medicine and law (for those who actually obey their parents), who knows? As it is, the plateau in playing standard as one transcended from the Intermediate to Senior categories was a dramatic one this year. Where were the shining starlets from 2005?

At any rate, there was a feeling that the young pianists are slowly but surely beginning to find themselves, choosing their own programmes (no matter how misguided), and parting company from their teachers. Here were some highlights from the semi-finals:

Shawn Neo Pin Han (No.11)

It was a brave choice to play the first and last movements of Schubert’s final Sonata in B flat major (D.960), which displayed a sound development of its lyrical line but had missed notes and some misguided accents. All these suggest a musical soul who will further develop.

Thomas Ang Yong He (No.15)

His view of Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses got better and better as the notes piled up, seeming to thrive when the music was most outwardly virtuosic. Generated a big sound, which was impressive in large part, but it was telling that his Scarlatti Sonata in B flat major (K.545) sounded aggressive and lacked charm.

Royce Lee Guan Hui (No.18)

A most unusual artist who coordinated his outfit to suit the music. Batik-motifs on his shirt seemed appropriate for Godowsky’s Bromo Volcano and the Sand Sea at Daybreak (Java Suite), which opened with a theatrical wave of the hand and an ocean of sound. Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.13 also suited him to a tee, with a spirited friss that revelled in repeated notes. The opening movement of Schubert’s Sonata in C minor (D.958) was a letdown, being slapdash and mostly unsubtle.

Jin Yujia (No.20)

No stranger to the competition, having shone in the Intermediate category in 2005. Still only thirteen (a baby in an under-18 age-group), she wisely selected shorter works that suited her best. Voices were clearly defined in a Bach Prelude & Fugue, while Mendelsssohn’s Andante and Rondo Capriccioso found a fluidity that moved it along swimmingly. Even more impressive were her Debussy – a very well-shaded Jardins sous la pluie – and an impeccably turned-out Chopin Etude in C sharp minor (Op.10 No.4). This child is going to be a pro.

The relative dearth of talent was borne out by the jury’s final decision. No First Prize was awarded in the Piano Senior category. The quirky Royce Lee was placed Second and Jin Yujia Third. Shawn Neo received an Honourable Mention.

Some thoughts

This year’s competition could have done with fewer poor performances if there had been a pre-screening round. Obvious technically deficient performers should have been eliminated before facing the international panel of judges. The opportunity of impressing the jury with the quality of the participants was lost; in its place the drudgery of viewing a succession of many poor performers.

The only hitches: Who forms the pre-screening panel of judges? Do we rely on local judges or foreign judges? Is technical ability or interpretive prowess being judged? Does a technically perfect but totally soulless performance pass muster? The regulations in place require the recommendation of a teacher, but since when have all teachers been objective about their student’s abilities?

Another quibble about the venue of the piano competition. The AGF Auditorium of Alliance Francaise is saddled with a less than adequate Yamaha grand piano. Its sound is hard and percussive, with the upper registers not always in tune. Coupled with an unsympathetic and dry acoustic, performances were heavy going and often an outright pain. By contrast, the violin competition was held at the spanking and acoustically superior Esplanade Recital Studio, and the ultimate irony was this: the accompanists for the violinists had the luxury of playing on a new Steinway grand!

Nobody said that life as a pianist was fair!

Review of the Keppel Corporation's 40th Anniversary Concert / 19 August 2008

KEPPEL CORPORATION 

40™ ANNIVERSARY CONCERT 

Singapore Symphony Orchestra / LIM YAU 

Esplanade Concert Hall 

Tuesday (19 August 2008)

World premieres of a new symphony are special and rare occasions. For the 40th anniversary of Keppel Corporation, Singaporean composer Ho Chee Kong (above), also professor of composition at the Yong Slew Toh Conservatory, unveiled his 20-minute long Of Passion And Passages, a symphony in three movements. Far from being a quasi-Schoenberg exercise of the avant-garde, his idiom was surprisingly accessible, one in which the vast majority of the capacity house would have readily related to.

Brucknerian brass chords opened the work, pouring forth reassuring strains resembling a John Williams film score. One can easily hear and imagine this music accompanying a seabird's flight over Tanjong Pagar container terminals, skirting the greenery that was Pulau Brani and to the western reaches of Pasir Panjang. Without actually pandering to the lowest common denominator, this very well-crafted showpiece was both eloquent and spoke from the heart.

The slow movement exhibited a Sibelius-like calm, exuding mellowness before the finale's parade of percussion. Representing the dynamism of Singapore's maritime industry, an ethic of "never static, forever pulsating" seemed to permeate the message of the music, all through to its vociferous end.

There is no programmatic agenda to this work, but given the context, one could try and extrapolate what the composer was trying to convey in his use of aurally gratifying harmonies and rhythms – the pride and wealth of a nation. No big surprises if Ho is invited to write music for future National Day Parades.

The Singapore Symphony under Lim Yau's direction responded with immediacy, and this same attention to detail accompanied 16-year-old pianist Abigail Sin (left) in Liszt's Second Piano Concerto. Sin is neither a child but barely an adult, yet she coped admirably in the virtuosic solo part like a seasoned veteran.

Her small frame (barely five feet tall) belied a wellspring of power, and she managed to conquer the work’s many octaves, chords and finally, glissandi. While not every passage went like precision clockwork, her instinctive responses in the more expressive pages were hard to better, among these her sensitive partnership with principal cellist Nella Hunkins’ exquisite solo. This is a work she will gradually but surely grow into.

The balance of the programme featured SSO's favourite warhorses, Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture and Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, also undoubted crowd pleasers.

As an encore, the punningly-titled CanDo Overture (with apologies to Bernstein and Voltaire, and thematically by way of a sprinkling of Moszkowski's sparkling Piano Concerto) by Bernard Tan (left), a long-time director in both SSO and Keppel Corporation, closed the evening on a rhythmic and tuneful high.

The Chetham's Recitals 2007: Part 1

Here are my reviews of the piano recitals given by the faculty of Chetham's Summer School and Festival for Pianists 2007.

These first appeared on the pages of The Flying Inkpot.

18 August, 7.30 pm
MARTINO TIRIMO

Iain Colquhoun (dedicatee of the Mozart-Stevenson Romance),

Martino Tirimo & Ronald Stevenson

The first music to be heard in concert at Chetham’s was also the most heart-rending, the World Premiere of the Romance from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor (K.466) in a 2002 transcription by Ronald Stevenson, a “living legend” among British composers. The timing could not have been more apt, as the day also marked the 55th wedding anniversary of Ronald and Marjorie Stevenson.

The transcription, one very faithful to the original, was highly effective, with the piano solo and orchestral parts blending quite imperceptibly on the keyboard. From its tender opening through the turbulent central G minor episode, the British-Cypriot pianist Martino Tirimo was an ever-sympathetic guide. While not the rich, bass-heavy take that characterised Busoni’s transcription of the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.9, less proved to be more in this case.

The rest of the recital featured two Beethoven sonatas, one each from his “Middle” and “Late” periods. The earlier Sonata in G major (Op.31 No.1) opened with a lightness that suggested one treading on eggshells but soon became possessed with typical Beethovenian brio and vigour. The 2nd movement’s theme and variations, the heartbeat of the work, traversed a diverse range of colours before rounding off with the niceties of the pastoral Rondo - and a final tantrum.

Even better was the Sonata in E major (Op.109), where serenity and angst, nostalgia and a vision into the future come into a heady confluence. Beethoven throwing off the shackles of the Classical era was no better illustrated in the brief but violent 2nd movement. It was in the final Theme and Variations where Tirimo’s vivid portrayal of Beethoven’s humanity came through the strongest. The transformation of the chorale theme, culminating in an ear-shattering and trill-laden climax (surely a musical representation of tinnitus and ultimately deafness), and its eventual re-emergence was powerful to say the least.

What more could be said after this? The encore, a little Schubert Waltz in B major, lovingly crafted, was somewhat of an anticlimax.

18 August, 9.00 pm
PHILIPPE CASSARD

Frenchman Philippe Cassard was the pianist who performed Debussy’s complete piano works over four recitals in a single day at the Esplanade Recital Studio in 2003.

His recital at Chet’s began with some steroid-infused Schubert. A very emphatic and loud long-held G minor octave opened the first Impromptu from the Op.90 set. This set the general tone for the four lyrical pieces that followed. Gone were the love-sick and somewhat effete portraits conjured from his Lieder, and in its place a muscular, athletic Franz for whom no unrequited love or heartbreak could unfaze. There were lyrical moments, as in the familiar G flat and A flat major pieces, but these were overshadowed by the triple-fortes that emphasised each climax. Surely it was Schubert’s vulnerability rather than his machismo that made him such an endearing figure.

Cassard’s outsized unhyphenated Schubert only served to diminish the virtuosic effect of the two Schubert-Liszt transcriptions that followed. Despite Liebesbotschaft sounded busy thanks to Liszt’s additions, the melodic line shone through with much clarity. The octave forest that is the Erlkönig proved a fearsome challenge, but Cassard forded the hurdles manfully in this wild chase that ended with abrupt chords signifying death.

The obligatory Debussy pieces were all water-inspired, beginning with the imposing Le cathedrale engloutie (from Préludes Book 1). The fluid realm occupied by Ondine (Préludes Book 2) and Poissons d’or (Images Book 2) was overwhelming, not so much by sunlight shimmering radiantly on the surface of water but rather by a tropical deluge. As expected, the happy islanders of L’Isle joyeuse were swept away by a tsunami of sound and fury.

Cassard’s encore, however, yielded the most sublime moments of his recital. Debussy’s The Little Shepherd (Children’s Corner Suite) with its wistful syncopated melody (shared by the preceding work, helpfully pointed out by the pianist) was a joy to behold. Again, less became more.

The Chetham's Recitals 2007: Part 2

19 August, 7.00 pm
BERNARD ROBERTS

The English pianist Bernard Roberts strikes one as a friendly, grandfatherly figure (with a tonsure that recalls Franciscan monks of old), and his playing conforms to that congenial image – sincere, hale and hearty, not always note-perfect but ultimately honest-to-goodness musicianship.

In Beethoven’s seventh Sonata in D major (Op.10 No.3), Roberts probed and unearthed the true essence of early Beethoven – emotional turmoil, unease and agitation alternating with moments of calm and repose. The slow movement unfolded like a sermon (rather appropriately) and revealed a darkness of mood that might have influenced Schubert’s Lieder. The jocular Minuet and final Rondo were full of earthy Haydnesque humour, the latter obsessed with a three-note motif, a device that would be applied with poignant effect in Beethoven’s final string quartet. The composer’s humanity again shone through in Roberts’ reading, and one would sooner hear him in this music than the many accurate young pianists who will inevitably speed through it aimlessly.

The second half of the recital was devoted to Schubert’s Three Piano Pieces D.946, sometimes referred to as Impromptus. This is the third time I am hearing these works in the space of a year, the first two being played by a 19 and 16-year-old respectively. All have their merits, but Roberts’ experience counts for everything as he made most of the music’s dynamic shifts - from sunshine to dark clouds and back again, much like the Manchester summer sky. The second piece, for example, alternated between an achingly-beautiful lied-like lyricism and throes of discomfiting gestures. And when one expects a return to the former, a completely new theme is thrown in to complicate matters. For Schubert, there’s no silver lining without dark clouds.

Roberts fully understands what made Schubert tick, his hopes and disappointments, joys and failings. The encore, Schubert’s Moment Musicaux No.2, with its chorale-like subject (Schubert was a choirboy), completed the picture.

19 August, 8.30 pm
MARGARET FINGERHUT

Margaret Fingerhut was the eleventh-hour replacement for the indisposed (or unready?) Yonty Solomon. One would have relished the latter’s delicious offering of Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Chopin’s Third Sonata, but is still grateful for the former’s brave and selfless endeavour of driving up from London and performing despite a persistent and hacking cough.

Fingerhut’s recital programme was inspired by dance, and she spoke briefly about each work before playing. Her Bach Partita No.2 in C minor was unfussy, competent but not without glitches. Omitting repeats in each of the movements was probably a good thing as she seemed ill at ease in the slower dances, with hiccups in the flowing line of the Allemande. Ironically, the fast pieces such as the latter part of the Overture, Rondeaux and Capriccio fared much better.

Next up was Chopin’s weighty Polonaise in F sharp minor Op.44, a rollicking piece that was brought out with much athleticism. The expressive mazurka-like middle section in the major key – a wellspring of song-like charm - was the best part and it was a pity it had to end. The work closed gainfully with a fistful of missed notes in the coda.

The music of Spain – Albeniz’s Cordoba and Seguidilla – was arguably the highlight of the recital. Fingerhut’s dark hued nocturne was evocative and seductive, which gave way to a lively danza, a foretelling of Mompou’s poignant Songs and Dances. The faster piece, with its flourish of ascending chords, was simply brilliant.

Ravel’s La Valse in its punishing solo version completed this taxing programme (for the pianist, less so for the audience), which flew at a frenetic pace from its outset. To maintain this momentum, risks galore were taken and there were inevitable dropped notes. Despite all, voices emerged from some phantom third and fourth hand, which Fingerhut cunningly managed to throw into the fray, bringing her adventure to a thrilling conclusion. Her encore: a wistful dance in three-quarter time by Carlos Guastavino. Just sublime.

The Chetham's Recitals 2007: Part 3

20 August, 1.15 pm
DINA PARAKHINA

A mix-up in timing on my part caused me to miss a sizeable chunk of the recital by the Russian Dina Parakhina – my loss. By the time I hurried to at Whiteley Hall, she was well into Brahms’ Handel Variations (Op.24) Like the archetypal Russian pianist, she has a rock-solid and quite dazzling technique that easily surmounted the multitudes of notes flung at her from the score. There was playfulness in the “music-box” variation and the galumphing build-up to the fugue drew premature applause from the clearly enthused audience. The valedictory fugue itself – a triumph in polyphonic writing and virtuoso playing - capped a performance of the highest order.

More of the same distinguished Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations (Op.42), the Russian composer’s final solo piano work. The manner in which she coloured each variation was admirable, with the magnificent D flat major variation (surely a preparatory study for its famous counterpart in the Paganini Rhapsody) radiating glints of gold. Rachmaninov’s Melodie (Op.3 No.3) - in its florid and far more difficult revision of the original - was a most elegant and wonderful way to end the recital.

20 August, 7.00 pm
RADOSLAV KVAPIL

Radoslav Kvapil could be hailed the patron saint of Czech piano music. Nobody, not even Rudolf Firkusny or Andras Schiff (despite being a Hungarian), has done more to further the piano music of Vorisek, Smetana, Dvorak, Suk, Janacek, Martinu and company. However, his recital of Dvorak’s eight Poetic Tone Pictures and a selection of Smetana’s Czech Dances – 14 pieces in all – could be accused of being too much of a good thing.

Imagine sitting through an evening of Dvorak’s complete Slavonic Dances or Grieg’s Lyric Pieces. A pleasant aural experience to be certain, but one could do with more variety. Despite this, Dvorak’s efforts can be delightful at turns, and with Kvapil’s imaginative playing, even ravishing. At the Old Castle has melancholy and a quiet elegance that looks ahead to Janacek. The folksy Toying, Peasant’s Ballade, Reverie, Furiant and Serenade were all variants of Slavonic Dances. My least favourite piece, At a Hero’s Grave, a requiem cast in solemn C minor, was thick with chords and tended to go on for a bit.

When there are titles like Stamp Dance, Stepping Round, Hopping Dance and Neighbour’s Dance, there had better be some degree of variation applied to these Smetana pieces. Fortunately, Kvapil is the consummate master and specialist. The first had bagpipe effects, Bartokian octaves and chords, building up to a wild verbunkos (recruiting dance) of some kind. Grainger would have appreciated the clog-dance of the second, while the third was the very fast Slavonic dance in the best Dvorakian mould. What about the neighbour? She sounded like a very sultry and nubile maiden indeed.

Encore time. After all that, Janacek’s A Blown Away Leaf (On the Overgrown Path) was very much a breath of fresh air.

20 August, 8.30 pm
NORIKO OGAWA & PETER DONOHOE, 2 Pianos

The two powerhouse pianists are without their usual 4-hands 2-pianos partners this evening. Noriko Ogawa (away from Kathryn Stott) and Peter Donohoe (sans Martin Roscoe) would seem an odd couple, a “Beauty and a Beast” if you like, but they are surprisingly well matched. Ogawa’s stunning black and white striped evening gown (with black bow and matching stockings) with Donohoe’s all black attire certainly made an impression.

In Debussy’s En blanc et noir (In White and Black, most apt indeed), they evinced a wide range of colours while maintaining a limpid line in the music throughout. The second movement, a requiem for French War dead began with untainted simplicity, and the pulse quickened with the quote from A Mighty Fortress is Our Lord (ironically a symbol of Teutonic aggression) before resolving with the tolling of bells.

Mozart’s popular Sonata in D major (K.448) was a model of precision and muscularity, yet in its prestidigitations, there was a fleet-fingered lightness. The slow movement unfolded ever so lovingly that the insouciant lilt of the Rondo that followed came as a surprise. There was also an unexpected jazziness to the playing that added a spring to the step before the inevitable climaxes. A very satisfying performance overall.

Then came the Second Suite (Op.17) by Rachmaninov, one of the three adrenaline-inducing rushes that came post-depression (the other two being the Second Piano Concerto and Cello Sonata). The duo encountered coordination problems in the opening Alla marcia, with some measures going off kilter while trying hard not to sound percussive or militant. Things improved in the vertiginous Waltz and the smouldering Romance, while the final Tarantella erupted inexorably with volcanic energy. Rachmaninov’s tunes are to die for and the duo milked them for their worth.

This performance, greeted with vociferous acclaim, showed why Rachmaninov is ever so popular: he gives listeners more musical orgasms than any other composer. Two encores – Debussy’s En bateau (Petite Suite) and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.6 – sent the audience racing to the bar happy.

The Chetham's Recitals 2007: Part 4

21 August, 8.30 pm
LEON MCCAWLEY

In 1993, Leon McCawley became the first British pianist to get a sniff at the Leeds International Piano Competition since Ian Hobson’s triumph in 1981 - placing second after Ricardo Castro. There have been no Brits coming close ever since. In recent years, McCawley has performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic (those lucky people), but not with the Singapore Symphony. That should soon change.

His recital began with a very clean and crystal clear reading of Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor (K.475), which sounded so austere as to be almost modern. There is a profusion of ideas introduced but he seemed to lose me in its narrative (what was Mozart trying to convey?), so this already-elusive work continues to elude me. No such problems in Beethoven’s Sonata quasi una Fantasia in E flat major (Op.27 No.1), which shone brightly like the nascent morning sun. The hymn tune of the slow movement was beautifully carved out and on its return amid the final movement’s busy country-dance, it appeared with the gratefulness of a long lost friend.

McCawley’s piece de resistance was Schumann’s Fantasy in C major (Op.17). His performance had everything – passion, nostalgia (especially in the Beethoven quotation), lots of technique to burn, and a gorgeous luminous sound, evident in the rapturous first movement. The march of the League of David went forth unimpeded and those horrendous octave leaps at the end posed little trouble. His sense of rubato was excellent in the slow and ruminating finale, bringing a slow but sure boil to the glorious climax – not once but twice. A more spiritual close to the great work could not have been desired.

His two encores were both by Schumann, a perfectly conceived Widmung (in Liszt’s transcription) and the vertigo-inducing Traumes Wirren (from Fantasiestücke, Op.12). Ronald Stevenson said he had not witnessed such pianism for fifty years, since the days of Mark Hambourg. Who am I to question that assessment?

22 August, 8.30 pm
GRAHAM SCOTT

Graham Scott will assume the post of Head of Keyboard at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music in a fortnight, succeeding the late (and desperately unfortunate) Mark Ray. His unusual but strangely well-balanced recital marked a welcome return (he was an old boy of Chet’s) from his four years at the Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Mozart’s Sonata in F major (K.533 / 494) opens with one of the most simple and beguiling lines of melody possible, and his touch was just perfect. The rest of the first movement tends to over-elaborate on the spare thematic material but Scott prevented it from sounding like too much of an exercise. The contemplative slow movement incorporates a fragment from the preceding movement, which gave the work a sense of unity. The chirpy Rondo finale, played sotto voce from beginning to end, came across with the delicacy of a music box fantasy, rounding up an enjoyable reading.

Then the gloves came off for Earl Wild’s Grand Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, surely a work that deserves a place in the pantheon of great opera transcriptions for the piano, together with the likes of Liszt’s Reminiscences de Don Juan, Norma Fantasy and Grainger’s Ramble on Der Rosenkavalier. It is in effect a half hour’s medley of hit tunes opening with Jasbo Brown Blues, serving as a kind of Promenade (à la Mussorgsky) between each song.

This fantasy also showcased Wild’s encyclopaedic knowledge of piano literature, with hints and snatches of tricks and special effects from countless other composer-pianists. For example, Summertime gave the illusion of three hands performing (Thalberg’s favourite device), with the left singing the melody, the right gilding the lily and the thumbs adding further textures. Who could resist a chuckle with the quote from Tristan that led from There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ for New York to Lawd I’m On My Way? I almost fell off the chair with a laughing fit. Or what about the Ivesian tone clusters with both forearms in I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’?

Scott’s totally enthralling excursion fully realised all of Wild’s wiles, and his encore of Gershwin’s bluesy Second Prélude also confirmed that impression. Bravo!

The Chetham's Recitals 2007: Part 5

23 August, 8.30 pm
VANESSA LATARCHE

Vanessa Latarche seems like one of those generous, big-hearted personalities who lights up the places wherever she goes and her recital – originally announced as a selection of J.S.Bach works – affirmed it. Midway through, she announced that she had initially harboured notions of having a leisurely time at Chet’s, with a spot of shopping and “sitting in the garden” to boot. Was she ever so mistaken!

Her Bach – a selection of five Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier – was simply a joy to behold. Far from the dry, didactic Bach some might be accustomed to, her approach was one filled with imagination and varied tone colours. The dirge-like B flat minor Prelude (Book 1) was taken at a moderately fast clip without sacrificing the underlying pathos, and the ensuing five-part fugue was a model of clarity and beauty. The C sharp major Prelude from the same book exhibited a quicksilver staccato technique, although one might have missed Glenn Gould casting a naughty wink in the tongue-in-cheek fugue that followed. I could go on…

She added Mendelssohn’s Prelude and Fugue in E minor (Op.35 No.1), a grandiose extrapolation of what old Johann Sebastian might have written had he been a Victorian. Surging waves of arpeggios may have almost submerged the typically Mendelssohnian melody in the Prelude, but the fugue was a gradual but unstoppable force that culminated in the musical equivalent of the Albert Monument. Closing on a resplendent E major chord, and wonderfully crafted by Latarche, this could not have been by anyone else but Mendelssohn.

Her Chopin – the Third Ballade and Waltz in G flat major (Op.70 No.1, as the obligatory encore) – were tasteful and unmannered. The inner voices in the Ballade were the perfect foil to the courtly grace in the waltz’s middle section. Chopin as poet and patrician were more than well served.

24 August, 8.30 pm
MURRAY MCLACHLAN & KATHRYN PAGE, 2 Pianos

On the final evening of Chetham’s Summer School, Artistic Director Murray McLachlan and his stunning platinum-blonde Twiggy-figured other half Kathryn Page performed a rather unique 2-piano recital commemorating the Edvard Grieg Centenary.

McLachlan likened Grieg’s elaborations on Mozart’s solo piano music to “teenagers let loose in a National Trust heritage house”. I shan’t be so uncharitable but add that what Grieg did was not too dissimilar to Godowsky’s treatment of Chopin, except that two pianists instead of one share the spoils. In the reworking of the Fantasia (K.475) and Sonata in C minor (K.457), Page (on Piano I) played the original straight while McLachlan (Piano II) was responsible for the doodlings, which included added harmonies, tremolos, octave doublings and contrapuntal figures.

Purists will baulk at these high calorie confections that turned pure Mozart into dense Brahms but I was pleasantly amused. The Fantasia, which sounded austere in Leon McCawley’s hands three nights before, had become positively warm and fuzzy, while the Sonata with its transfigured sonorities soon became so cloying and morass-like that they soon tired the ear. At any rate, McLachlan and Page’s tight ensemble fit like hand and glove. No big surprise here.

Grieg’s original offerings took the form of two Caprices (Op.37), character pieces of much charm. The first is the swifter of the two while the second a swirling waltz reminiscent of his Lyric Pieces.

Scottish composer Callum Kenmuir’s Rhapsody on Themes of Grieg was a work submitted to a competition that required the completion of Grieg’s Second Piano Concerto in B minor. He did not win, presumably because his conflation of a bunch of isolated fragments sounded more like “Rachmaninov by way of the Warsaw Concerto” (McLachlan’s helpful description, again). The beginning of the opening theme with its octave leap is more similar to Harold Arlen’s Over the Rainbow, but after that it was more vintage Grieg, replete with vigorous country dances, quotes of the three note motif from the only piano concerto (Op.16) and a rumbling Lisztian cadenza to complete the tribute.

Highly entertaining this may be – and the McLachlans delivered with great panache and aplomb – but no way does this supercede the A minor masterpiece. Kenmuir, a popular composer and bandleader, certainly knew how to out-Grieg Grieg. The encore was delightfully wicked: the Mozart-Grieg Rondo from the Sonata facile in C major (K.545). What a cheerful way to end an eventful and fun-filled festival of piano treats!

A Chetham's Diary: Friday 17 August 2007

Exactly one year ago, I enrolled in the Chetham's International Summer School and Festival for Pianists. Yes, seven days of piano nirvana. Here is my diary.

The Chetham's School's Millgate Building

Friday August 17

I had been forewarned in The Straits Times: British Airways has been voted the world’s worst airline! In an effort to save a few hundred dollars, I had forsaken Singapore Airlines’ direct flight to Manchester and opted for a stopover at Heathrow – voted the world’s worst airport. Big mistake. The flight was delayed two hours. And it takes the entire duration of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto to push off from Terminal One to Terminal Four, and yet another Rach 3 to clear immigration and the mandatory bombs check. As luck would have it, the performances on my I-pod at that moment were by David Helfgott and Tedd Joselson.

Some unintended British humour

A Chetham's Diary: Saturday 18 August 2008

Sunday 19 August

Finally arrived at Manchester’s unprepossessing but fuss-free airport, and it’s a total breeze getting to Chetham’s by train (via Manchester Piccadilly) and tram (Manchester Victoria). Overcast skies with a spot of drizzle – a typical Manchester afternoon.

Harry Potter’s Hogwarts is completely modeled on Chetham’s, I think. All of UK’s and the world’s young keyboard wizards congregate at this school, which has a wing that dates back to the Middle Ages. We get a short tour to Baronial Hall and pass the famous Chetham’s Library. The chill down the spine one gets entering the cloistered wing is right out of J.K.Rowling, and did someone mention a ghost? Fortunately, my room is located on the New College Building, a 21st century construction which overlooks one of Manchester’s best vistas – lush greenery bordered by the glass-clad Urbis, the Triangle, Arndale Centre and the Wheel of Manchester. Just perfect.

A room with a view

The opening event of the Summer School is a talk on international piano competitions by the intrepid and inexhaustible fount of piano competition trivia that is Dr Gustav Alink. He collects piano competitions like Imelda Marcos collects shoes and his website (Alink-Argerich Foundation or AAF, for short) is the one I bookmark and dip into thrice a week whenever I get bored. Which pianists have taken part in the most piano competitions? Answer: Olivier Cazal and Igor Kamenz. Chu-Fang Huang does not even come close. Alink’s closing gambit: Pianists, if you don’t win, try again. There are always other piano competitions. Yeah, right… and keep AAF in the black.

There were two recitals tonight, by Martino Tirimo and Philippe Cassard, reviewed here, by yours truly. The Mozart-Stevenson Romance (from K.466) was premiered tonight in honour of Ronald and Marjorie Stevenson’s 55th wedding anniversary. In turn the composer pays tribute to the 3 Ms – Mozart, Marjorie and Martino.

I almost forgot, it’s my birthday too, but never mind how many years.

A portrait of love: Marjorie and Ronald Stevenson

on their 55th wedding anniversary

A Chetham's Diary: Sunday 19 August 2007

Sunday 19 August

What do you do when you wake up at 4am with jetlag? Listening to 10 different versions of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor (WTC Book I) did not quite help, and certainly not Rach 3. So it’s a very early morning rise to do something I’ve never done for a long time, wake the neighbours up with some piano playing!

Chetham's at dawn. The grey skies are merely a photoshop abberation.

I had been assigned Practice Room G2 – a cubicle to be exact - at Chetham’s Palatine Building, formerly a hotel block. One could tell by its narrow corridors with multiple rooms on either side. Someone’s already started his or her morning practice, and there’s some Chopin floating about. I add to the cacophony on the Yamaha upright, beginning with Scarlatti and Mozart, then Chopin and Brahms, and finishing with Debussy and Rachmaninov. I had picked these for my lessons at the Summer School; mainly short pieces, mostly falling within the hands and nothing brisker than Allegretto. Pianists Lee Pei Ming, Dennis Lee and Toh Chee Hung had helped me, and we all came to the same conclusion: I still have a lot to learn about piano music.

Classes begin at nine and I head off to Bryce Morrison’s Music Criticism course. Dr Morrison is what one would expect from a top music critic – extremely knowledgeable, erudite, full of humour and brimming with anecdotes. His willingness to share is infectious, and his stories get more florid on each repetition, and the laughter induced no less raucous. But isn’t Music Criticism a serious business? Yes it is, but it is also a very human one, based on a wealth of experiences and the eagerness to share it with all and sundry. He gives examples of good critical writing and the bad – the verbose James Huneker comes off on the short end of the stick.

Bryce Morrison's Music Crit class is as informal as one can get.

I also got my first piano lesson today, with Noriko Ogawa at the English Room. She is one of the world’s foremost Debussyists, and so I played for her Bruyeres (Heather) from Book 2 of Debussy’s Préludes. Colour and contrasts are paramount in Debussy, and that was her focus – how to differentiate between piano and pianissimo, as well as how to use the sotto voce pedal when the situation calls for it. Also important are subtle changes in dynamics, accelerandos and rallentandos that alter the pulse – and life - of the music. All this should not be new to me, but somehow it becomes a reality when played in the presence of a true interpreter. There was time also to work on Brahms’ Intermezzo in A major (Op.118 No.2). Here she focuses on the top line, and how not to lose the melody amid rich Brahmsian harmonies.

Noriko Ogawa with a student at Baronial Hall

At Chetham’s, one tends to get cloistered from what goes on outside its gates. Determined not to be lost to the world (unlike some Mahler lied), I ventured out to Market Street and beyond. A short walk took me to HMV and its basement classical section. I picked up a Claudio Arrau CD and its programme notes are by… Bryce Morrison. Meanwhile, Manchester City lead Manchester United by a goal. Come on yer Blues!

Two more recitals this evening, by Bernard Roberts and the perpetually coughing Margaret Fingerhut. Let’s hope I don’t catch anything besides pianomania.

A Chetham's Diary: 20 August 2007

Monday 20 August

A cocktail of anti-jetlag and sleeping pills taken the night before ensure that I wake up late enough to miss practice, and so my first activity this morning is breakfast. Mealtimes are often the best chance to meet people and make friends. The Summer School’s Artistic Director Murray McLachlan is an ever-present figure, ensuring that everything is ship-shape and no stone left unturned. He remembers well Singapore’s Abigail Sin from the first ever summer school in 2001, and when I mentioned that she recently gave the Singapore (possibly Asian) premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Piano Concerto No.1, he is the first and only person to register some form of recognition. I am impressed.

There are Asians at the school – mostly younger than myself – but not as many as I originally imagined. There’s Emily Wong and Blanc Wan from Hong Kong (both based in UK now), Aaron Liew and Ong Wan Ping from Malaysia, Katsuyuki Sasamoto and Seiko Nagaoka from Japan, and Fang Fang from China (now resident in Gateshead). Besides myself, there’s one other Singaporean – Cason Kang, a student at Chet’s whom I met only once in the entire week. Yonty Solomon shared his green tea with me, and he was one of Foo Meiyi’s (the Argerich next-door and Tigress of Seremban) teachers.

Young (and a not so young) Asian pianists

Back at class, Bryce Morrison (BM from now on) asked, “What makes great music?” Jacqueline “Jackie” Kieswetter, a South African piano teacher now living in Dubai, gave a great suggestion, “Music and performances that are aesthetically pleasing to the soul.” Before she could further elaborate, Valentina Punzhina, a Russian violinist living The Hague, strongly begged to differ, citing a performance of Chopin’s 24 Preludes (Op.28) by Mikhail Pletnev (a contemporary of hers at the Moscow Conservatory) that was so disturbing that she could not bear to hear that music ever again. Some Preludes in particular, caused her to be depressed, and she threw up her arms in despair. Only a Russian, given their history over the epochs, could read this much into what we normally consider pleasant listening. BM and I agreed that the session was beginning to slip into Freudian psychoanalysis.

An anguished Valentina Punzhina decries Chopin,

after being spooked by Mikhail Pletnev all those years ago.

I beat a hasty retreat into Philip Fowke’s class where a grandmotherly American lady is playing some ragtime. We heard pieces by Nicholas Slonimsky (the biographer) and Zez Confrey, with Fowke looking extremely thoughtful, wondering what he could further contribute to this lady’s already accomplished armamentarium. He offers Billy Mayerl’s Railroad Rhythm in reply, and it is simply brilliant. One might wonder who was the teacher and who was the student at this point. Rosemary Hallum, aka Auntie Rosie, is a journalist and critic for The American Rag, a ragtime periodical, has a PhD in childhood music education, but her fulltime job is a judge for body-building competitions! That might partly explain why I involuntarily (or voluntarily) suck in my paunch and puff up my chest in her presence.

This afternoon, the class went AWOL and I am alone with two English teenagers, one of whom is named Toby Brook. Listening to them talk is an interesting experience in itself. Their topic of discussion: examples of where the sound of tolling bells may be heard in Rachmaninov piano works, and the common theme that appears in both Rachmaninov’s First Symphony and Symphonic Dances. When Jackie returned, all three began talking about the first movement cadenza of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto. Who cares about David Beckham’s LA Galaxy transfer or Wayne Rooney’s metatarsal at Chetham’s?