LIVING WITH... DOCTOR CHOPIN

FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)

Happy 200th Birthday!

Here's a spot of shameless self-promotion:

IF YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE TO DO
ON NEXT MONDAY EVENING (3 MAY 2010),

Why not spend an hour with
LIVING WITH... DOCTOR CHOPIN
A Chopin Recital by Three Singapore Doctors
8 pm, The Arts House @ Old Parliament House
Tickets at $12

DR LIN XIUMIN will perform:

Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op.60

Polonaise in F# minor, Op.44

YOURS TRULY will perform:

Valse in C# minor, Op.64 No.2

Prélude in D flat major, Op.28 No.15 "Raindrop"

Funeral March from Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.35

Mazurka in A minor, Op.17 No.4

Contredanse in G flat major

DR AU KAH KAY will perform:

Mazurka in D flat major, Op.30 No.3

Nocturne in B major, Op.9 No.3

Fantasy in F minor, Op.49

Sichuan Conservatory Orchestra / Review

Sichuan Conservatory Orchestra
Zhu Qi-Yuan, Conductor
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Thursday (29 April 2010)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 1 May 2010.

China has produced so many top-flight musicians in past decades, thus it was interesting to see how an orchestra from one if its regional conservatories fared. On the evidence of the Chengdu-based Sichuan Conservatory Orchestra, one would say not too shabbily.

The brisk opening chords of Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus were delivered crisply with clean cut and thrust, signs of discipline and cohesiveness. The ensuing Allegro had Mozartean lightness, balanced by Beethoven’s irrepressible force of will that carried the short curtain-raiser to its emphatic conclusion.

Next were two movements from Chinese composer Ao Chang-Qun’s Life Symphony, written in memory of victims in the 2008 earthquake that devastated Sichuan. As conductor Zhu Qi-Yuan related, the foundations of the Conservatory shook on the Twelfth of May, and many had lost friends and loved ones.

While the gesture was worthy, the music was derivative and cliché-ridden. The slow movement paced like a Russian lament with echoes of Samuel Barber, while the finale’s brass fanfares could have accompanied end credits to some John Williams-scored movie. There was not a hint of Chinese melody whatsoever, but ersatz Copland and Bernstein galore. There was no way that the orchestra could turn lead into gold.

Ning Feng readies himself for an encore.

It did however play sympathetic partner to Chinese violinist Ning Feng, winner of the 2006 Paganini International Violin Competition, in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor (Op.47). Here is Chinese violin equivalent to match the likes of Lang Lang (piano) and Wang Jian (cello), with a searing intensity and free-wheeling virtuosity that made the fiendish score look and sound like child’s play.

Ning communicates with immediacy, and produces an extraordinary range of dynamics, from delicate pianissimos to slashing fortissimos, all in immaculate intonation and phrasing. A slew of bravos also greeted his dainty encore, a transcription of Tarrega’s Memories of the Alhambra. Paganini lives again!

The second half was devoted to Beethoven’s rollicking Seventh Symphony in A major (Op.92), taken at a breakneck speed and without any break between movements. At this pace, whatever finer points and details to be savoured became a blur. Was this a smokescreen, or merely an opportunity to flex galloping muscles because it can? At any rate, any deficit of subtlety was filled by plenty of heart and guts, which made of an invigorating listen. It wasn’t the prettiest, but it certainly wasn’t boring.

Ning Feng reunites with Singaporean pianist Lim Yan (left).
The duo gave a stupendous performance at the
2007 Huayi Festival @ Esplanade.

The Sichuan Conservatory Orchestra was presented and hosted by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

The Israeli-Arab Piano Duo: YARON KOHLBERG and HARONI BISHARA / Review

The Israeli-Arab Piano Duo:
YARON KOHLBERG & HARONI BISHARA
NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre
Thursday (22 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 April 2010.

Music unites the seemingly incompatible and conquers insurmountable odds. Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together Palestinian and Israeli musicians, was a personal vision and dream come true. On a smaller scale, the piano duo of Israeli Yaron Kohlberg and Arab Haroni Bishara served the same mission of healing rifts and making peace.

The duo programme came close to never taking off, as Bishara only arrived on a flight from Berlin with just three hours to spare. Unperturbed, the duo launched into Shostakovich’s single-movement Concertino in A minor (Op.94), a congenial work much in the spirit of his Festive Overture and Second Piano Concerto. Their execution was close to perfection with melody closely allied with counterpoint, and driven at dizzying high speeds.

Then both pianists performed their solo segments. The gangly Bishara sports an easy nonchalance, which belied a steely intensity applied to Chopin’s Fourth Ballade that built gradually built up to a tumultuous climax. There was a tad of heavy-handedness in the opening of Liszt’s La Campanella, but his resplendent trills really made the bells ring. If there were some wrong notes, those could be attributed to jetlag.

Kohlberg was magnificent

in a selection of Chopin's Préludes & Études

Kohlberg, who had considerable more practice time, was flawless in his Chopin selection. His suite of 14 Préludes (from Op.28) was a kaleidoscopic journey that brought out every facet of the French-Polish composer’s artistry. From simplicity to devilish difficulty, each gem was made to sparkle. The centerpiece, the “Raindrop” Prélude in D flat major was so coloured as to be a true portrait of world-weariness.

Three Études, including the “Revolutionary” and “Winter Wind”, were whipped off with such enviable ease and finesse that his triumphs at the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition seemed almost matter of fact.

Reunited for the final work, the duo gave a most personalised account of Darius Milhaud’s popular Scaramouche. Getting the notes right was no longer an issue; instead here was the chance to tease out the nuances and delight in the oh-so-naughty bits. The final Brasileira, a samba number, reveled in vivacity and velocity. Why do they play so fast? Simply because they can, and can do so convincingly.

Bishara (left) still looks a bit dazed

after his 20 hour trip from Berlin.

This concert was organised by the Embassy of Israel in celebration of Israel's 62nd year of independance.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2010)

BEETHOVEN, SCHUMANN & CHOPIN
IVO POGORELICH, Piano
Deutsche Grammophon 477 8618

***

Before Lang Lang, there was Ivo Pogorelich. It was 30 years ago when the Serbian pianist with movie star appeal shot to fame following his controversial elimination from the 1980 Chopin International Piano Competition, sparking off Martha Argerich’s famous walkout. This is a mid-priced reissue of his second recital disc, revealing an enviable facility but some questionable interpretive decisions.

Beethoven’s great final sonata in C minor (Op.111) was victim to self-conscious gestures and clipped phrasing, reducing a visionary masterpiece into parody and technical exercises. This striving for effect continued in Schumann’s Symphonic Études (Op.13), where some of the variations are stultifying in their slowness. No question about the spellbinding speed achieved in Schumann’s propulsive Toccata and a selection of three Chopin Études, thrown in for better value. Genius is an elusive quality, and Pogorelich has it albeit in stops and starts.

BRIGHT SHENG Spring Dreams
CHO-LIANG LIN, Violin
Singapore Chinese Orchestra / TSUNG YEH
Naxos 8.570601

****1/2

Bright Sheng (born 1955) belongs to the generation of Chinese composers and musicians that spent its formative years under the thumb of the Cultural Revolution. Now an American citizen, his music bestrides both Western and Chinese cultures. Spring Dreams was originally a 2-movement cello concerto written in 1997 for Yo-Yo Ma, who performed it with the Singapore Symphony in 1999. In its violin version, re-written for Cho-Liang Lin, a Chinese orchestra is used. A more evocatively Chinese sound is established, as the violin resembles the erhu besides mimicking Beijing opera. Generous use of percussion also lends the music a festive feel. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra sounds like the perfect partner to Taiwanese-born violinist Lin’s overt virtuosity.

Three Fantasies and Tibetan Dance comprise shorter pieces, products of Sheng’s ethno-musicological research in China’s western provinces. Soulful lament and rhythmic dance-like numbers alternate, with the latter work scored also for clarinet. Sheng himself plays the piano part adroitly. It may be said that Sheng is the Chinese answer to Hungary’s Bartok and America’s Copland.

VERDI Requiem
Soloists with Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra & Chorus
ANTONIO PAPPANO
EMI Classics 6989362 (2CDs)
*****

Every new recording of Verdi’s Reqiuem is a highly awaited event, and this latest one by American Italian Antonio Pappano ranks high alongside celebrated versions by Giulini, Toscanini, Muti and Abbado. With the music very much centred on the chorus, his Italian singers rise to the occasion with thrilling aplomb, not least in the joyous fugue that is the Sanctus. The quartet of soloists - soprano Anja Harteros, mezzo Sonia Ganassi, tenor Rollando Villazon and bass Rene Pape - is also a very balanced one, bringing heartfelt emotion and sufficient dramatics to what is sometimes referred to as Verdi’s greatest opera. The opening of the Agnus Dei, sung by soprano and mezzo in unison, has that beseeching spiritual quality that is hard to ignore. Also not neglected is the orchestra’s role. Seldom has the spewing hellfires of Dies Irae erupted with such vehemence and detail. All in all, a memorable outing that is irresistible at bargain price.

Life and Death in the City / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory New Music Ensemble / Review

LIFE & DEATH IN THE CITY
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory New Music Ensemble
Esplanade Recital Studio
Sunday (18 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 April 2010.

The idea of musique concrete – the use of natural sounds mixed into a musical score - has been in existence for several decades, a technique often employed by the avant-garde movement. It made a definitive grand appearance in a concert by the Conservatory New Music Ensemble in works by Steve Reich and Mauricio Kagel conducted by SSO principal percussionist Jonathan Fox.

Reich’s City Life (1995) recently received its Singapore premiere some weeks ago by the same forces, and a second airing was equally welcome. If anything, the young performers displayed more confidence in tackling the thorny score that got increasingly frenetic and oppressive. Samples of street cries, pile-drivers, sirens, a fire engine and looped voices (a Reich specialty) were mixed within its five linked movements. The last, Heavy Smoke, used sounds from the scene of the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, eerily foretelling the events of 911.

There was some relief provided by Malaysian Chong Kee Yong’s Liu Xu Fei (2001), a 6-minute work for oboe and cello inspired by Tang poetry. Oboist Wang Jin and cellist Pan Chang rendered their demanding intertwined soliloquys with much authority. The work was atonal for certain, but it had a strangely calming effect.

The largest work was the Argentine maverick Kagel’s “December 24, 1931” Garbled News (1991), which was also the zaniest. The date referred to his actual birthday, and each movement based on a news event that occurred on that day. Performed by just nine musicians, it seemed like a whole orchestra and the proverbial kitchen sink.

Sublime and ridiculous sat cheek by jowl in its seven movements, which included reports of a Buenos Aires jail revolt, Japanese atrocities in Manchuria, a Nazi cigarette commercial, a Vatican library accident, a migrant worker’s letter and Christmas chimes that failed. Reporting and singing the news in German was veteran baritone William Lim, whose deadpan yet theatrical delivery was a revelation.

The scoring was colourful, ingenious and often riotous. The final movement literally saw sparks fly from a car battery, an Ivesian collision of carillons and Lim’s own procession of “ding dongs” as he exited the stage. With persuasive performers like these, modern music at its most outlandish and irreverent looks likely to stay.

Singapore Symphony Chorus 30th Anniversary Concert: Verdi's Requiem / Review

VERDI’S REQUIEM
Singapore Symphony Orchestra & Choruses
Lim Yau, Conductor

Esplanade Concert Hall
Saturday (17 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 April 2010.

The Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) has been the mainstay of symphonic choral activity in Singapore for the last thirty years. Its 30th anniversary this year was commemorated by a magnificent performance of Verdi’s Requiem conducted by its longtime Music Director Master Lim Yau.

It is true that SSC seldom performs on its own since the advent of Esplanade in 2003. For most of its concerts barring an odd Messiah, it has been augmented by three other choirs: the Hallelujah Chorus, Singapore Bible College Chorale and Philharmonic Chamber Choir. However the mission remains the same, that is to perform the great choral works at the highest possible level.

The maturity of this super-chorus was immediately apparent in the ethereal opening Requiem aeternam. Over hushed strings, the subtleness of the choral entry was matched by its excellent diction and enunciation. Every word, and every phrase could be discerned with crystalline clarity, a mark of superb discipline and control.

Then came the shock and awe of the Dies Irae. Seldom has the hall been rocked by such vocal vehemence, with Quantus tremor spat out in a potent mix of sulphur and venom. No less spectacular were the fanfares of Tuba mirum, where off-stage brass issued an antiphonal call for the final judgment of the dead. Verdi envisioned earth-shaking effects, and these were delivered right here on a platter.

A magnificent view of the Esplanade stage and 

gallery following the conclusion of 

Verdi's Requiem.

The quartet of soloists was good, with a particular standout in the young Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov. His deep and booming sonority was surprising for his relatively small frame, with Mors stupebit and further solos the genuine voice of Doom. Also fine was German mezzo-soprano Simone Schroder whose Recordare was a model of smoothness and supplication.

The tenor Dominic Natoli sounded restricted in their company, and sometimes strained in the higher notes. Soprano Soojin Moon exercised much flexibility throughout, but while achieving gravitas in the final Libera me came off somewhat lightweight.

In this chorus-dominated work, true joy burst forth in the fugue of the Sanctus, and with each outburst of the Dies Irae, tension remained high. By the final fugue, one is left numbed and awestruck as the gates of Heaven and Hell open to greet its denizens. Eternal peace or damnation? If one is kept guessing, Verdi’s musical message had been more than well conveyed. Bravissimo, SSC and SSO.

The SSC "Three Tenors" reunited:

Sherman "Bhaskarotti", Simon "Ongrreras" 

& Cheong "Lipsingo"
(Actually, Simon is the only tenor.)

Singapore Symphony Chorus 30th Anniversary

A feature on the 30th anniversary of the Singapore Symphony Chorus, from the April 2010 edition of BraviSSimO!, the newsletter of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

(Click on image to enlarge)

An interview with Lim Yau, Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Chorus, from the April 2010 issue of BraviSSimO!

This was the interview I did for BraviSSimO! in its August 2005 issue, about the Singapore Symphony Chorus at 25.

SINGAPORE COMPOSE! by The Philharmonic Winds / Review

SINGAPORE COMPOSE!
The Philharmonic Winds

Zechariah Goh Toh Chai, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Saturday (10 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 April 2010.

In what is likely the most significant concert of Singaporean music in recent years, The Philharmonic Winds performed ten works of local composers, including eight World Premieres. The mastermind behind this ambitious undertaking was Zechariah Goh Toh Chai (below), composer-conductor well known for his forays into new music and NAC Young Artist Award recipient, who conducted the concert.

Over 160 minutes, the varied musical tapestry that is Singapore’s growing composing fraternity was unveiled to fascinating effect. If one thought that the genre of wind music was a limiting factor, think again. Other than Kelly Tang’s Decathlon and Wang Chenwei’s Rhythm Of The City, which were more or less straightforward concert band showpieces that skillfully assimilated film music and jazz influences, the others aspired to bring the medium to parts unknown.

The two most modern-sounding works came from youngsters Chen Zhangyi and Bernard Lee Kah Hong. The former employed deft impressionist brushstrokes and colour in the gradual crescendo of Toward Dawn, while the latter revived Second Viennese School atonalism in the fancifully-titled There Is No Date Tree On The Maroon Sky. Both represent a breath of fresh air on our musical landscape.

Then came two very different concertos for tuned and untuned percussion. Conductor Goh’s own Concerto For Vibraphone++ was a subtle union of the Baroque concerto grosso and jazz. Percussionist Ramu Thiruyanam (left) eschewed virtuosity for its own sake, more intent in crafting an optimal atmosphere for this luminous music to shine. An epitome of cool, his encore of Brazilian Abreu’s Manha a Carnaval brought on the loudest cheers.

Not credited in the programme was Dennis Sim, who theatrically mastered the bass drum, Japanese taiko drum and two gongs for Robert Casteels’ Holler Across The Holler (composer left). Here, the conductorless ensemble assiduously responded to the rhetorical questions posed by each instrumental cadenza. The work closed with Seow Shu Feng’s enigmatic piccolo solo played high up in the organ loft.

Coming back to earth were two works flavoured with Southeast Asian themes. Ho Chee Kong’s Perayaan (Celebration!) carried the musk and aromas of a bustling Javanese bazaar, and Jun Wong Kah Chun’s Krakatoa was a well-structured symphonic poem about the 1883 eruption. Both utilised gamelan effects, naturally.

To pour syrup on the fine spices hitherto offered, the band finished with two medleys of popular songs by Xinyao pioneer Liang Wern Fook (left) and musical-meister Dick Lee. One almost forgot they are Singaporean composers too. A sequel to Singapore Compose! is keenly awaited.

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra with Takuo Yuasa / Review

The Conservatory Orchestra
Takuo Yuasa, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (9 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 April 2010.

For those who imagined the viola to be the ugly stepsister of the violin, there is no better myth-buster than a performance that proved the contrary. That coup was delivered by Zhang Manchin (below), SSO Principal violist and the Conservatory’s head of viola studies, who gave the Singapore Premiere of Bela Bartok’s Viola Concerto with the Conservatory Orchestra.

In a rarefied idiom of dark hues and liberal chromaticism, she transformed the much-maligned instrument into a glamour-puss, a purveyor of mesmerising beauty. She drew a rich and opulent sonority, always warm and heartfelt, that had both purity and clarity.

Make no mistake, this was no smoothing of Bartok’s characteristically spiky edges but rather a realisation that much sense could be made out of seemingly rough-hewn material. The young musicians coped admirably with the difficult scoring, with intricate solos wonderfully dovetailed into the sound canvas and brass choirs singing with gusto and accuracy.

This fine form was already apparent in the curtain raiser, Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No.3. Its opening was gripping, laden with expectancy before launching into the stirring and heroic Allegro theme. The pivotal trumpet solo that signaled the end of inquisition was confidence itself, a trait of good technique and teaching.

The big work on the programme was Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony in D minor, the most tragic and Wagnerian number of the Bohemian composer’s final symphonic trilogy. Japanese guest conductor Takuo Yuasa brought out a tension-filled reading that was ever alert but never hard driven. His ability to tighten and relax the reins gave the music ample opportunity to breathe but was kept on febrile edge throughout.

The slow movement also oozed Brahmsian intensity, turning its carefree pastoral opening into something more sinister, while the Scherzo had the lilt and lift of Dvorak’s popular Slavonic Dances. The finale then returned on its journey of doom but not without displaying an enviable flexibility and virtuosity of ensemble. It was a fine end to another exciting concert season. What can we next expect from these supersonic youths?

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, April 2010)

LISZT Transcendental Études

ALICE SARA OTT, Piano

Deutsche Grammophon 477 8362

*****

Deutsche Grammophon may have lost Lang Lang and Li Yundi as exclusive artists, but the German recording label has unveiled Yuja Wang and now Alice Sara Ott, a 19-year-old keyboard sensation of German and Japanese parentage. For DG’s first complete recording of Liszt’s terrifying twelve Transcendental Etudes in many decades, she displays fire-breathing virtuosity and power to equal degree, with musical sensibilities to match.

These miniature tone poems tax the pianist to the utmost of range and endurance. The legend of Mazeppa - a wild horse-ride through the steppes – is driven with frightening intensity, while the delicate Feux Follets (Will-o’-the-wisp) display a gossamer lightness that dazzles and enchants. In the slower and more meditative pieces, Paysage (Landscape), La Ricordanza (Remembrances) and Harmonies Du Soir (Evening Harmonies), her sense of poetry and emotional depth are uncanny for someone this young. And rarely has the final study, Chasse-neige (Snow Drift), been dispatched with such spine-chilling control. If this review sounds O-T-T (over-the-top), do not just take my word for it. Listen to Ott for yourself, and be amazed.

SCHÖNBRUNN Summer Night Concert 2009

Vienna Philharmonic / DANIEL BARENBOIM

Deutsche Grammophon 476 347 5

***1/2

This is the summertime counterpart to Vienna’s annual New Year’s Day concert, held at the Habsburg royal palace grounds of Schönbrunn. There is nothing more familiar than Mozart’s G Major Serenade, better known as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Without pretence to authenticity, this “big band” version sounds fresh and unmannered. Less satisfying is Spanish nationalist Manuel de Falla’s piano concerto Nights In The Gardens Of Spain, where Barenboim conducts from the keyboard. Despite his virtuosity, the orchestra sounds out of sympathy with the idiom; instead of full-blooded atmosphere one feels sluggishness.

Mussorgsky’s Night On Bald Mountain in its original version is diffuse in ideas, heavy in brass and percussion. However the sheer raucousness makes Rimsky-Korsakov’s slick orchestration sound tame in comparison. Light music closes the evening, with Argentine Mariano Mores’ tango The Arabesque and the obligatory Johann Strauss. Enjoyable nonetheless.

STRAVINSKY Violin Works
ANTHONY MARWOOD, Violin
THOMAS ADES, Piano
Hyperion 67723 (2CDs)
****

The complete music for violin and piano by the iconic Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) is encapsulated within a slender 88 minutes. The only work that was originally written for this medium, the Duo Concertant, is a neoclassical suite of five dances including two Eclogues (a pastorale) and concluding with the Dithyrambe, an impassioned hymn sung in honour of Dionysus. The other major works are the transcriptions of music by Pergolesi (later to become his Suite Italienne) and Divertimento, more dance music adapted from ballets Pulcinella and The Fairy’s Kiss.

Filling up this enjoyable double-CD (priced as one disc) are various recycled odds and ends, including the droll Tango, an arrangement of the French national anthem La Marseillaise, and yet more ballet movements. The most familiar of these are the heel-kicking Russian Dance from Petrushka and the Lullaby from The Firebird. The duo of Anthony Marwood and Thomas Ades (the latter a renowned composer) give winning performances that are idiomatic and vibrant. Stravinsky does not usually come this light!

Violin and Piano Recital by ILYA GRUBERT and ALENA CHERNY

Violin & Piano Recital
by Ilya Grubert & Alena Cherny
Conservatory Concert Hall
Wednesday (7 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 April 2010.

It isn’t often that a first prizewinner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition performs in Singapore. Yet our concert stages have played hosts to names like Gidon Kremer, Viktor Tretyakov, Ilya Kaler and Akiko Suwanai over the years. Now add Latvia-born Ilya Grubert, joint winner of the 1978 competition (with Elmar Oliveira) to that list, an artist who is equal to the best of them.

In a glittering programme that showcased both the violin and piano to maximum effect, Grubert and Ukrainian pianist Alena Cherny displayed a pure virtuosity that went beyond mere notes and pyritechnics. The opening Poeme Elegiaque by Eugene Ysaye married Romantic impulses with flowing lyrical lines that often spilled into impressionism. The skill was in crafting a song-like tone, subtly blending within its turbulent undertones and gentle chromaticism.

The duo was also totally at home in Prokofiev’s bittersweet Second Violin Sonata in D major (Op.94 bis), originally a flute sonata, with its quirky turns of phrases and sometimes schizophrenic shifts in dynamics. Grubert’s Guarneri (ex-Wieniawski) violin alternated between svelte refinement and slashing vehemence, all in service of this music, while Cherny ably supported the thrilling ride with smartly delivered ripostes of her own.

Despite the high octane fare, a close to perfect balance was found between both instruments, largely due to the sensitivity displayed by both players. This was especially needed in Richard Strauss’ Sonata in E flat major (Op.18), an early but sprawling work that runs the risk of excessive effusiveness and overwhelming sentimentality.

No fear as even when all of Strauss’ big gestures emerged, these were tempered by intricate phrasing and a close attention to delicate details. In the dreamy second movement titled Improvisation, the central section played on mute while accompanied by bird-like warbles on the piano was a case in point.

Even after the explosive and heady romp of the finale, which soared from climax to further climax, more was found in the encore, Nigun from Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem Suite. That elusive factor, heart, is what audiences value in concerts, and which Grubert and Cherny supplied in droves.

Spotted at the National Arts Council's Thank You Dinner...

Two "servile poets" of the Proletariat Poetry Factory

dressed in "prison garb" hammer out

their poetry on typewriters (remember these?)

And here's what the young lady poet wrote:

Living with... TRIO CON BRIO / Review

Living with…Trio con Brio
The Living Room, The Arts House
Monday (5 April 2010)

The first Monday evening of the month is Amateur Night at The Arts House. I don’t use the word amateur in the pejorative sense because the fellows fit to be called amateurs play music for the sheer love it, and not for the money. Classical music can be big bucks these days, especially if your name is Lang Lang, but for the rest of us, the joy of music-making is reward itself.

Tonight’s event was the début of Trio con Brio, formed by violinist Low Ying Ning (secondary school mathematics teacher, who also teaches music on the side), cellist Nguyen Huong Ly (cello instructor and Yong Siew Toh alumnus) and pianist Clement Huang (chemical engineer, and proud owner of the only Fazioli in Bukit Batok). The unusual 1-hour programme – Franz Schubert and Astor Piazzolla - could have only come from the instigation and connivance of one Phan Ming Yen, not the freedom fighter (see my article about Cu Chi Tunnels below) but former Programming Director of The Arts House.

What do Schubert and Piazzolla (left) have in common? Absolutely nothing, which was the beauty of it all. What the heck, just play it any way. So the intervals between movements of Schubert’s Piano Trio in B flat major (D.898) were interjected with Piazzolla’s tangos arranged by José Bragato. But did it work?

Yes, to a certain extent limited by the completely disparate styles of the music. Balance for the Schubert was more difficult to achieve, with the piano’s percussive timbre often overwhelming the strings. As a result the opening Allegro Moderato came off as rough and ready, but it got better as the work progressed. Then the first tango - Otono Porteno (Autumn) – was played, and the balance that was elusive in the Schubert was restored. With violin and cello matching the piano every step of the way, the music flowed more naturally.

The slow movement of the Schubert showcased genuine cantabile, while the Scherzo and Trio delighted in its somewhat parochial and ungainly moves. It is this naïve and bucolic aspect of the Austrian composer, rather than his Biedermeyer aesthete, that comes closest to Piazzolla’s earthiness and sensuality. It’s still a gulf in styles – Atlantic to be precise – but I’m trying my best to stretch things here.

And how the cello sang in Oblivion, one of my favourite tangos. Its long-breathed sighs could have lasted longer, before the jocular strains of the Schubert finale, a Rondo rounded things up. Here the playing was light and breezy, and the pianist reading from an electronic score, looked like enjoying himself the most. This was shared by a full-house audience (about 70-80 people), who mostly found it hard to refrain from applauding between movements.

The planned "encore" was the final tango La Muerte del Angel (The Death of Angel), with its edgy counterpoint and final lament. All and all, this Schubertiade on the equator was a satisfying evening of good music among friends.

SSO Concert: From The New World / Review

FROM THE NEW WORLD
Singapore Symphony Orchestra

LAN SHUI, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Saturday (3 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 April 2010.

While busily celebrating the bicentenaries of Chopin and Schumann, it was good that the Singapore Symphony Orchestra had not forgotten the American composer Samuel Barber (1910-1981). Even better was the fact that his Adagio for Strings was not performed, instead the Singapore premiere of the little known Music for a Scene from Shelley.

That proved to be the subtlest music of the evening, beginning with muted strings and brass. How the orchestra achieved such an even and refined pianissimo was a marvel of control, and cue David Smith’s superb trumpet solo which illuminated like a beacon in a dense fog. Conceived as imaginary incidental music for a drama, this would pass as first class film music today.

Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto was next, and it received a very musical and richly detailed reading from Turkish pianist Hüseyin Sermet. His sense of poetry was close to flawless but tended to overdo the rubato, the art of slowing down a phrase and then catching up later.

Like belacan, a little rubato goes a long way, but too much flexibility resulted in the 1st movement sounding too deliberate and the nocturne-like 2nd movement soporific. Tempos picked up for the finale, which had both lightness and vitality, qualities that a hash of missed notes could not deny. As an encore, Sermet served up a delectable Sonata in D major by Padré Antonio Soler, also liberally laced with rubato.

Fears that the orchestra would go on auto-pilot for Dvorak’s ever-popular Ninth Symphony, or the New World Symphony, were unfounded. Conducting from memory, Music Director Lan Shui carved out a memorable performance not least because he made a hackneyed classic sound fresh.

Aside from the evocative slow introduction, the first movement was driven at a blistering pace. There was however time for niceties, such as Principal flautist Jin Ta’s lovely introduction of the Swing Low, Sweet Chariot theme, and several judiciously nuanced portamenti. Although the brass was not all together for the first note of the Largo, all was forgiven when Elaine Yeo’s cor anglais sang with unblemished beauty.

Whatever programme be drawn from the work, the symphony is all about nostalgia. While Dvorak was feted in distant America, he longed for his homeland in Bohemia. Within this heady mix of Old and New World idioms, the orchestra brought out the true essence of its inspirations. That alone was worth the price of admission.

BRAHMS TONIGHT! by The Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

BRAHMS TONIGHT!
The Philharmonic Orchestra

William Ledbetter, Presenter

Lim Yau, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Thursday (1 April 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 April 2010.

It speaks volumes of the classical music scene here that a semi-professional orchestra is taking the lead in musical education and audience development. It is not surprising since The Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Lim Yau, one of Singapore’s foremost music teachers.

His place is neither behind an academic desk, nor does he carry the title of doctor or professor, but on the podium he has educated and influenced thousands of minds. Young orchestral players, long-suffering singers and willing audiences have responded to his droll, no-nonsense approach to music.

A new page was turned with his initiation of the Composers Tonight! series of concerts, where a fun and interactive element accompanies the oh-so-serious classics. Aided by American actor-presenter William Ledbetter’s 45-minute illustrated introduction to Brahms’ First Symphony in C minor, this concept of “insight and sound” could not have been better led.

Ledbetter (left) is a personable and humourous communicator who eschews technical jargon, yet does not speak down to his audience. His simple explanations of complex issues such as sonata form were helpful, and got the audience to recognise themes within a movement through a series of hand actions.

All this would have been in vain if the performance of the work itself failed to click. However Lim drew a taut and utterly coherent performance, drawing a big sound from his smallish orchestra. The first movement’s introduction was intense, helmed by timpanist Yeow Ching Shiong’s steady and insistent beat, and the ensuing Allegro did not let up.

The ebb and flows were well judged, with slow movement providing an oasis from the tension even if concertmaster Kathleen Koh’s violin solo was not always on pitch. Excellent woodwinds contributed to the third movement’s easy jocularity, leading without a break into the glorious finale. Here French horns and trombones rose to the occasion, dispelling the dark clouds to usher in the symphony’s “big tune” and onward to a blazing close.

Further symphonies await this treatment – Beethoven’s Pastoral, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth, Dvorak’s Ninth, Mahler’s First or Shostakovich’s Fifth. Can we hope for more?