SHAUN CHOO pays tribute to great piano pedagogue KARL-HEINZ KÄMMERLING

On 14 June 2012, the worldwide piano fraternity mourned the passing of one of the piano's greatest pedagogues of our time. Over the decades, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling has mentored and guided some of the world's most respected and exciting pianists. Young Singaporean Shaun Choo holds the distinction of being the first Singaporean admitted into the famed Salzburg Mozarteum and Kämmerling's only Singaporean student. Presently serving National Service, Shaun Choo pays tribute to his mentor and Maestro.

“Tribute to Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling”

By Shaun Choo, 30-06-12

No amount of words can do justice to the man whose demise has left a hole in the hearts of all his students, friends, and fellow music lovers around the world. As his pupil for 5 years, Prof Karl-Heinz Kämmerling had guided and opened new realms into my understanding of classical music and had played a huge role in moulding me to what I have become today. Being the only privileged Singaporean to have the honor of working with him so extensively, I feel compelled to share my personal experiences of this esteemed Maestro.

I first got to know Prof Kämmerling during the summer of 2005. I was 15 then and had just attained my Diploma a year before and was looking to pursue my music studies abroad. My teacher in Singapore – Ms. Lena Ching – had suggested Europe as it is the heart of Classical arts culture, and home to countless legendary musicians over the centuries. I took several masterclasses, one of which was Prof Kämmerling's which was held at the Salzburg Mozarteum. It might have been merely a two-week course, but by the end of it, he left me with such a deep impression that I immediately expressed interest to enter his class. I was thrilled when he accepted me. Shortly after, I was enrolled in the Mozarteum under the “Young Talented Musicians Programme”.

Prof Kämmerling was a great musician in more ways than one. His substantial experience and knowledge of the arts – a result from more than 60 years of dedicating his life to music – distinguished him from the many teachers out there. Though we could not get lessons from him on a weekly basis (he simultaneously taught at three Universities in Austria, Germany and Croatia and was constantly sought after for masterclasses and as a juror in international competitions), his critical, methodical and superior teaching style more than compensated for anything else. Looking back, his occasional absence had taught me to be independent and self-reliant. Moreover, with his guidance and advice, I gradually built confidence in my own judgment.

Professor Kämmerling had a reputation as a strict and demanding teacher, but it stemmed from his care for his students; like a stern parent having constant high expectations from their children. Amusingly, wrong notes did not overly concern him, nor was he impressed by sheer technical virtuosity alone; both aspects were far from sufficient in making good music. It was the way one spoke through the music that mattered. This was accomplished with the mind as much as with the heart. “Your mind filters your emotions, converts them to signals which are then relayed to your servants, your hands, who in turn carry out the order” he used to say.

With his unquenchable thirst for musical knowledge and respect for each student's individualism, I often enjoyed good arguments and debates with him. He was always ready to listen to my opinions so as to better see things from my perspective. Rather than driving me along a linear path, he often compared records of as many different interpretations and analysed various editions during class to expose me to the infinite possibilities that exist out there. To him, ignorance was bad, and negligence, worse.

Prof Kämmerling was exuberant and youthful for someone in his eighties. He could climb flights of stairs or lift a grand piano's lid with ease, going often for swims and occasionally, even dancing with us! He possessed a keen sense of humor, and we had much laughter during our time together. Though bilingual, German being his mother tongue and English being his second language, he often blundered in the latter, with comical results. Once, when trying to translate a phrase “Du musst die tasten fuelen”, he ended up misinterpreting “tasten”, which is German for “key”, into “taste”, consequently saying “you must feel the taste”!

Though he has left this world, he had lived a full, eventful, and illustrious life doing the one thing he cherished most. He accomplished many things and because of him, 23 of his students hold professorships in renowned universities across the globe, with countless others establishing themselves as fully-fledged concert pianists. His legacy will live on through us, and I shall continue to do my best to make him proud.

Note: Kämmerling’s students over the years have included Bernd Goetzke, Lars Vogt, Wolfgang Manz, Herbert Schuch, Alice Sara Ott, Severin von Eckardstein, Ragna Schirmer, Eckart Heiligers, Lisa Smirnova, Yu Kosuge, Alexej Gorlatch, Da Sol Kim, Claire Huangci and Gerhard Vielhaber, just to name a few.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, June 2012)

SCHUBERT Piano Sonatas

Impromptus / Piano Pieces

PAUL LEWIS, Piano

Harmonia Mundi 902115.16 (2 CDs) / *****

In a relatively short space of time, British pianist Paul Lewis has established himself as an interpreter par excellence of Beethoven and Schubert, much in the footsteps of his teacher and mentor Alfred Brendel. In this latest Schubert album, he illuminates three important sonatas which are not part of the great final trilogy. Fully attuned to Schubert’s emotional turmoil and unbridled lyricism, the D major Sonata D.850 is driven with a Beethovenian passion. However this is not in the expense of its inner singing lines, and this thread carries into the great G major Sonata D.894, which has been given the title “Fantaisie” by some because of its relatively free form.

Listen to how he stretches out the first movement’s long-breathed melody, one of Schubert’s finest, or teases the finale’s jolly Rondo, which has a swing that looks far ahead into the ragtime era.  The C minor Sonata D.840 “Relique” (Relic) is the “Unfinished Sonata”, which exists as a torso of two movements. Imagine if he had completed it. Lewis’s sense of gravity, bringing out the odd and ironic dissonances, makes it sound like a masterpiece. This same quest for truth and beauty continues in Four Impromptus D.899 (the earlier of two sets) and Three Piano Pieces D.946, the latter of which have sometimes been referred to as Posthumous Impromptus. One scarcely imagines these more wondrously realised. This superlative double CD set retails at the price of one disc.

BOOK IT:

PAUL LEWIS plays Schubert

@ Singapore International Piano Festival 2012

28 June 2012, SOTA Concert Hall, 8pm

Tickets available at SISTIC

HÉROLD Piano Concertos Nos.2-4

JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC NEUBERGER, Piano

Sinfonia Varsovia / Hervé Niquet

Mirare 127 / ****1/2

The short-lived French composer Louis-Ferdinand Hérold (1791-1833) is best remembered for his operas, such as Zampa, the overture of which is occasionally heard in concerts. He had initially been a piano virtuoso but forsook that vocation for musical theatre, after having composed four piano concertos between 1811 and 1813. These tuneful works bridge the stylistic gap between the classicists Mozart, Hummel and Weber (simple melodies with florid ornamentation), and those of early Romantics Mendelssohn and Chopin (passionate and showy, given to loud octaves and chords).

Both the Second and Third Concertos have Allegro Maestoso (fast and majestically) as tempo directions in the first movement, something which Chopin also adopted in his concertos. The Fourth Concerto opens with a barnstorming Allegro that recalls the fist-shaking angst of Beethoven. All three close with light-hearted rondos, a common practice from Mozart’s time to the Romantic era. Herold also had innovations of his own. The slow movement of the Third Concerto is a tender romance for violin with piano accompaniment, something not attempted before or ever since.  Young French pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuberger is a most sympathetic yet technically assured interpreter. This is a curious yet worthy addition to the Romantic piano concerto library.  

4TH SINGAPORE PERFORMERS FESTIVAL 2012

The 4th Singapore Performers' Festival 2012 reached a satisfying conclusion last Sunday evening at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. This biennial event, organised by the Singapore Music Teachers Association (SMTA), brought together 370 young musicians from 16 different nations to perform classical music in an environment that is friendly and non-competitive in nature. The format is simple: prepare a free choice of repertoire (even a short piece of music will do) and perform it in front of a camera, recording crew and equipment, and a panel of international professional musicians. At the end of the exercise, you get a professionally produced DVD of your performance, a critique from the judges, and the adulation of your family and loved ones. The ones judged to be several cuts better get Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards, and some scholarship money to boot. An additional element to this year's festival is the opportunity to rehearse a full-length concerto with the Orchestra of Music Makers.

Sunday evening's event kicked off with performances by finalists for the PF-OMM Concerto Rehearsal Experience Prize, followed by a piano recital and an almost interminable round of prize-giving. Pianomania is proud to be the sponsor of two Pianomania Scholarships which went to pianists who gave the best performances of most interesting and varied repertoire.

The youngest performers of the evening was 8-year-old Pung Rae Yue, who played Haydn's Sonata No.1 in C major  with great confidence and aplomb, followed by a fleet-fingered Malagueña by Albeniz.

The winner of the OMM Concerto Rehearsal Experience Prize was violinist Lieu Kah Yen who offered the first movement of Lalo's Symphonie Espgnole. Now he will get to play the whole concerto under Maestro Chan Tze Law's baton (left).

Other contenders for the concerto experience prize was violinist Nur Shaheen Zainudin (Sarasate Zigeunerweisen) and Mervin Wong (Bowen Phantasie). The former had a outward brilliance, flair and attitude which did not look out of place in Bond, while the latter gave the most mature conception of a string work. Both string players and cellist Yun Xi Lau won a customised hand-crafted bow (worth USD 9000) by Singapore's very own archetier Paul S.J.Goh.

With the competitive element over, these piano duos took the stage looking rather  sheepish and lacklustre, however it all changed when they performed Poulenc's Sonata for 4 Hands (Letizia Tjiupek and Adriana Salim) and movements from Norton's Microjazz (Lim Yu Juan and Tan Sok Ming) with much verve.

Two young Indonesians claim the stage. Sally Yapto was an animated and colourful exponent of Debussy's La Serenade Interrompue while Joshua Kurniadi gave the smoothest possible account of Billy Mayerl's Railroad Rhythm. 

All the winners (there were many, many of them) line up for a group photo.

The first winner of the Pianomania Scholarship was See Ning Hui, who incidentally won the Singapore Steinway Youth Piano Competition the evening before. She will go on and study in London's Royal College of Music later this year. 

The other winner of the Pianomania Scholarship was Gavin Jared Bala, another of the Steinway Competition finalists.

The "Batik Brigade" from Indonesia. Every Performers' Festival brings an important and lively  participation from young talents of our neighbour Indonesia. Being the 4th most populous nation in the world, could Indonesia be a new force for classical music-making?   

More winners with their teachers Angelyn Aw and Winnie Tay.

SINGAPORE STEINWAY YOUTH PIANO COMPETITION / Review

SINGAPORE STEINWAY YOUTH PIANO COMPETITION

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (23 June 2012)

A piano manufacturer that does not promote or celebrate the art, literature and performance of the pianoforte is only fit to sell furniture. Thus Steinway, the world’s undisputed leader in concert hall pianos, has committed itself to discovering and nurturing young talent by holding competitions worldwide. The Singapore national competition sponsored by Bank Julius Baer attracted some 50 contenders, with the best four in three age categories performing in this evening’s final concert. 

The common denominator of all four was a stunning surfeit of instrumental prowess, and musical maturity that far surpassed their tender collective ages. 11-year-old Joachim Lim opened the show with a crisply delivered Haydn sonata movement, only bettered by the naturally flowing way in Glinka’s Variations on The Nightingale, where filigree and whimsy were equal partners. In Piazzolla’s Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi, his urgently-driven tango rhythm was uncannily idiomatic.

The sheer wealth of interpretative possibilities meant that there were two finalists from Category 2, a couple of 13-year-olds who were as different as chalk and cheese. Gavin Jared Bala was the born entertainer, breathing an inner joy in Beethoven’s Sonata in G major (Op.79), then weaving a lustrous silken web around Moszkowski’s Etude in A flat minor (Op.72 No.13). Its extraordinary beauty made astonishing contrasts with Turkish maverick Fazil Say’s Paganini Jazz, an outrageous send-up to all those variations on Paganini’s 24^th Caprice.

If Bala was the life of a party, Zecharus Ong was the deep thinker. His ramrod posture and perfect deportment lent stature and weight to Haydn’s Sonata No.48 in C major, which resounded as if it came from a very young Alfred Brendel. Utter clarity reigned in a Bach Prelude and Fugue, which gave way to the fleet-fingered fantasy of Faure’s Second Impromptu in F minor.   

If See Ning Hui, the eventual winner chosen by an international jury, had an advantage over her rivals, that was by virtue of being three years older and an unshakeable self-belief that translated into polish and poise. Her Mozart movement from Sonata K.311 displayed a firm grasp of symphonic thought, matched by a feather-like touch and delicious rubato for Chopin’s First Impromptu. Under her hands, even Khachaturian’s rather superficial Toccata did not sound like empty motoric rumblings.

The pianists anxiously awaiting the result.

The judges had given the nod to perhaps the most ready and all-rounded pianist to represent Singapore in the Asian Regional Finals in July, the winner of which proceeds to Steinway’s Festival in Hamburg. On the basis of this evening’s showing, See will fly the flag of her nation proudly. 

   

Come 28 July, See Ning Hui will represent Singapore in Steinway Asian Regional Finals.

The pianists with Celine Goh and Alexander Melchers (Steinway Singapore) and David Lim (Bank Julius Baer).

OMM PRE-TOUR CONCERT / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

OMM PRE-TOUR CONCERT

Orchestra of the Music Makers

School of the Arts Concert Hall

Friday (22 June 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 25 June 2012 with the title "Great end to a tour sneak peek".

This fact may have gone under the radar: the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) will become the first Singaporean orchestra to be the resident ensemble of a major British music festival. During the first week of July, OMM led by Chan Tze Law will perform three concerts at the Cheltenham and Lichfield Festivals. This evening’s concert afforded a sneak preview of its interpretively demanding tour repertoire.

The Anglo-French programme opened with Frederick Delius’s Paris - Song of a Great City, a work that owes more to the so-called French impressionist aesthete than English pastoral traditions. Its quiet beginning, evocative of a metropolis fitfully arousing from slumber, demonstrated a fine control of instrumental forces. Howard Ng’s excellent oboe solo led the procession, which ambled through insouciant dances while alternating moments of quiet contemplation and outright gaiety. Quixotic yet coquettish, Delius knew how to be very French.

In the transcription by Andre Caplet of Debussy’s piano piece Pagodes, the mystique of the Orient was however not so well captured. The lead-footed trudge had nothing on the shimmering original work, its carillons of gamelans and gongs being bogged down in soggy padi fields.

American pianist Thomas Hecht, Head of Piano at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, was the scintillating soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. His firm grasp of its jazzy idiom and rhythmic drive was the bedrock upon which this performance thrived, exhibiting Mozartean clarity in the slow movement and sure-fingered incisiveness elsewhere. Only in the mad scramble of the Presto finale did nerves fray, with some orchestral solos going awry or astray. For the July Cheltenham outing with Melvyn Tan, more tightness will be expected.   

Any hint of being less than totally well-prepared evaporated in the second half with an invigorating performance of Holst’s Beni Mora, a suite of three dances inspired by Algeria. A musty incense-laden aroma filled the air, as the orchestra negotiated its exotic sonorities and rhythmic subtleties with great confidence. Kelly Loh’s alto flute, made to play a sinuous repeated motif 163 times, provided the key to the final dance’s success.  

Two years ago, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra took Debussy’s La Mer to London’s Royal Festival Hall with much critical acclaim. OMM’s take on the same work was to be no less gripping, and here conductor Chan has to take credit for tautly leading his charges through the music’s surging waves and ripping tides. Judging the flow to perfection, the overall impulse was one of unimpeded buoyancy, best exemplified in the middle movement, Play of the Waves.  Never lightweight and with no details glossed over, this was one performance the young musicians should be proud of.  

As an encore, the Singapore-Britain connection was celebrated with Eric Watson’s Intersections, a celebratory work that fully highlighted and exploited all sections of the orchestra. Whether playing on Javanese scales or reliving the hallowed brass-band culture of British collieries and coalminers, this happy East-meets-West encounter made for a rousing close. OMM’s stay in UK is going to be a hit. 

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, June 2012)

THE LISZT PROJECT

PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD, Piano

Deutsche Grammophon  477 9439 (2 CDs)  
*****

This anthology is a timely tribute to the visionary genius of Franz Liszt (1811-1886), the pianist-composer and arch-virtuoso often maligned for the flashy showboating, vulgar compositional conflations and womanising excesses of his youth. The mature Liszt was however an innovator. His greatest piano work, the Sonata in B minor, cast in a single movement and structured upon development and metamorphosis of themes, sets the precedent for future compositions. French virtuoso Pierre-Laurent Aimard astutely programmes Alban Berg’s Sonata Op.1, also in B minor but further stretches the limits of tonality, and Scriabin’s mysterious, tumultuous Ninth Sonata as logical extensions of this thought.

 

 

Liszt’s later works from the 1880s are terse and forbidding. La Lugubre Gondola, Nuages gris (Grey Clouds), and Unstern! Sinistre (Unlucky Star) sound as if they came from the 20^th century. The second disc displays Liszt’s influence on future generations. His Fountains Of Villa D’Este predicts Ravel’s splashy Jeux d’eau, while Saint Francis’ Sermon to the Birds lends inspiration to Messiaen’s Le traquet stapazin (from Catalogue Of Birds) and Marco Stroppa’s Tangata Manu (Bird Man). Aimard’s technique, amply demonstrated in the popular Vallee d’Obermann, and dedication to the cause give this superbly crafted programme a stamp of authority.     

         

KORNGOLD

String Sextet / Piano Quintet

Doric String Quartet

Chandos 10707 / ****1/2

The Viennese composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) is better remembered these days for his film scores to Hollywood blockbusters such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk. Earlier he was a child prodigy composer whose prowess was spoken in awe, comparable with the likes of the young Mozart and Mendelssohn. These chamber works are the products of a highly assured technique and complete mastery of classical forms. Here, the atonality of the Second Viennese School is shunned for old world opulence, much in the manner of Richard Strauss and Mahler.

 

 

The Piano Quintet of 1922 is filled with soaring melodies, the slow second movement being a wonderful set of variations on one of Korngold’s own Songs Of Farewell,   Mond, so gehst du wieder auf (Moon, Thou Riseth Again), one of his most memorable. Kathryn Stott is the powerful yet nimble pianist who partners the young and dynamic Doric Quartet from Britain. Two further string players join in the earlier String Sextet (1916), where Brahms is the obvious inspiration, although the chromaticisms of Schoenberg’s early Transfigured Night is hinted at. The concentrated nature of the music may not be easy on first acquaintance, but repeat listens will reap dividends, further rewarded by the highly committed playing. Warmly recommended. 

TWO YOUTH ORCHESTRA CONCERTS WELL WORTH ATTENDING: The Orchestra of the Music Makers and Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra

Those hungry for the sounds of an orchestra but cannot wait for the SSO season to begin in July will be happy to note two forthcoming concerts by two of the top youth orchestras of this region. They are Singapore's Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) and Australia's Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra (QYSO). This pair of concerts take place at the School of the Arts this weekend on Friday (22 June) and Saturday (23 June). Both concerts begin at 7.30pm. 

The programmes are as follows:

OMM, Maestro Chan Tze Law and Thomas Hecht

22 June 2012 (Friday)
Chan Tze Law, conductor
Thomas Hecht, piano
Orchestra of the Music Makers

DELIUS Paris, Song of a Great City
DEBUSSY (orch. CAPLET) Pagodes
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major
HOLST Beni Mora (Oriental Suite)
DEBUSSY La Mer

The big news is that OMM has been named the Resident Orchestra for this year's Cheltenham Festival in the United Kingdom. It will perform two concerts in July at the Cheltenham Festival and one concert at the Lichfield Festival. This is the first time that a Singaporean orchestra has been invited for an overseas residency. This will be its pre-tour concert, showcasing the young orchestra's very demanding repertoire at the festival. At the festival proper, Singapore's Melvyn Tan will be the pianist in Ravel's G major Piano Concerto. Singaporeans here will get to enjoy a performance by Thomas Hecht, Head of Piano Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. This concert, filled with exotic colours, promises to be a cracker.

QYSO, Maestro John Curro and Jayson Gillham.

23 June 2012 (Saturday)

John Curro, conductor
Jayson Gillham, piano
Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra 

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major "Emperor"

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.12, "The Year 1917"
JOHANN STRAUSS JR. Emperor Waltz

The QYSO is widely considered Australia's top youth orchestra and proves its mettle in a solid programme that is worthy of top symphony orchestral seasons, one that centres on Habsburg Emperors and the toppling of Romanov Tsars. Of note is the Singapore debut of young Australian pianist Jayson Lloyd Gillham, one of the continent's brightest talents, who was recently named Commonwealth Young Musician of the Year. He is the most recent winner of the Royal Overseas League Competition, and 3rd Prizewinner of the 2005 London International Piano Competition.(PianoManiac was particularly blown away by his performance of Chopin's Twelve Etudes Op.10 at the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition, when he was just 18 years old!)  

Don't miss these two excellent youth orchestras, representing the future of music in Australasia.

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto Cycle / Lim Yan and The Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

THE BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTOS
LIM YAN and The Philharmonic Orchestra
LIM YAU, Conductor
School of the Arts Concert Hall

Wednesday and Saturday (13 and 16 June 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 June 2012 with the title "Sizzling Beethoven moment".

It probably isn’t a great surprise that the honour of being the first Singaporean pianist to perform all five Beethoven piano concertos as a cycle here belongs to Lim Yan. He is, after all, the most active Singaporean pianist in the local scene, as well as the most consistent. These masterpieces, partnered by The Philharmonic Orchestra and veteran conductor Lim Yau, spanned over three evenings. Only an overseas vacation deprived this listener of attending the opening concert which presented the First and Fifth Concertos.

The second concert showcasing the contrasting Third and Fourth Concertos was a revelation of sorts. The ever-musical Lim was in fine form, not so much as a barnstorming virtuoso but rather a thinking person’s artist, one fully attuned to Beethoven’s passionate and often tumultuous brand of music-making. The tension and drama of the Third (Op.37),  in that passionate key of C minor, unfolded with much purpose but it was one that sizzled rather than erupting outright into flames.

Full-blown emotion was being kept in check, but to good effect. It was somewhat ironic that in the more genteel Fourth (G major, Op.58), the tension between soloist and orchestra, manifested by dynamic peaks and troughs, became more apparent. The epoch-making G major chord and opening gambit was wonderfully delivered, so clear and rapt that it set the tone and defined the performance as a whole.       

The final evening saw maximum contrasts applied to the slender Second Concerto in B flat major (Op.19, but chronologically earliest of the five), sprightly and spirited in the outer movements and gravitas in the sublime slow movement. True to Beethoven’s spirit of innovation and adventure, Lim contributed cadenzas of his own to these concertos.

These well thought-out musings played upon earlier themes and rhythmic motifs, sometimes transforming the original ideas but always surprising with harmonic twists and turns. Here, the lost art of improvisation in classical music has been revived with great aplomb.

A rare airing of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (Op.56), essentially a concerto for piano trio, came as a bonus. This performance however exposed an imbalance of interplay between the soloists although it had lots of heart. Here pianist Lim dominated his partners, violinist Grace Lee and the under-projected cellist Lin Juan, who seemed discomfited by the substantial solo that occupied higher registers for most part.

The chamber-sized orchestra supported the whole enterprise with much sympathy and responsiveness. In the intimate setting of SOTA Concert Hall, the balance of sound came across with just enough reverberation to be close to ideal. The solo woodwinds, in particular, were a pleasure to behold when called upon.

The applause on both evenings was long and sustained. The enthusiastic but attentive audience knew it had witnessed history in the making. 

     

OPERA VIVA GALA DINNER 2012

Singapore's second opera company, Opera Viva Limited, held its Gala Dinner on Friday (15 June 2012) at the Tanglin Club to raise funds for its biggest project to date, the World Premiere of Singapore's second opera, Fences by John Sharpley (composer) and Robert Yeo (librettist). The opera has had a prolonged gestation of almost eight years, and was inspired by Singapore's biggest opera fanatic Leow Siak Fah. There have been performances  of various arias and scenes to date, but its premiere on 18 and 19 August at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts marks the fruition of a labour of love. The story is a very topical one, that dwells in the rocky and tumultuous of cross-cultural relationships, set in 1960s Singapore and Malaysia. Then, Singapore had courted Malaysia to be part of the Federation only to be ejected, culminating with a famously televised vale of tears on 9 August 1965. This opera, the producers promised, has a happier ending.

Here are some photos of luminaries who were at the dinner, which predictably had a 1960s theme.    

Leow Siak Fah (right) with the "Legend of the Waves", long-time radio DJ and television host of the 1960s and 70s, Larry Lai, whose famous soothing voice made a comeback this evening.

Juliana Lim and Maurine Tsakok (with feather boa).

Librettist Robert Yeo, Dr Ling Ai Ee (Mrs Leow) and Leow Siak Fah.

Singapore's First Lady of Opera, Nancy Yuen (La Yuen) with her husband Toh Weng Cheong, Chairman of Singapore Lyric Opera. Fences is one opera Nancy won't be singing in.

Performers for the evening, tenor Peter Ong and Stephanie Van Driesen.

Soprano Akiko Otai will sing the lead role of Nora in Fences. Her husband, Eric Rubio accompanied her on the piano this evening, On the right is celebrated Filipino tenor Lemuel dela Cruz. 

DJ Larry Lai rolls back the good old days, while Professor Maurine Tsakok is caught in the act in Chubby Checker's Let's Twist Again..

These lava lamps were bought by the evening's guests, with all proceeds going to Opera Viva.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, June 2012)

MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH

Complete Decca Recordings

Decca 478 3577 (5 CDs) / *****

The 20^th century’s greatest cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007), recorded on many labels but the focus of this slim Decca box-set is on his friendship and partnership with Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Britain’s greatest 20^th century composer wrote five major works for him, four of which are heard here in definitive performances. The Cello Symphony (1963) remains one of the great 20^th century cello concertos, its pungent blend of dissonance and long-breathed poetry find a most sympathetic response in Rostropovich’s expressiveness and virtuosic playing. Britten himself conducts the English Chamber Orchestra. More intimate are the first two unaccompanied Cello Suites, which are Bach-like in their play on polyphony and intensity.

Britten is also the pianist in the more accessible Cello & Piano Sonata, his prowess as interpretive co-collaborator is confirmed in further sonatas by Frank Bridge, Debussy and Schubert (the lyrical Arpeggione Sonata), and Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style. Britten’s modern-sounding cadenzas for Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major complete this unusually fruitful relationship between two sides of the Iron Curtain. The legendary 1963 Philips recordings of the five Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter come as a very generous bonus. Brief but illuminating sleeve-notes come from Elizabeth Wilson, Rostropovich’s former student and biographer. This set retails at $36.90 in HMV.  

KARLOWICZ Serenade / Violin Concerto

ILYA KALER, Violin

Warsaw Philharmonic / Antoni Wit

Naxos 8.572274 / ****

The fame and renown of Miecyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909), however obscure outside his native Poland, probably lies with the fact he is the only composer of note to have been killed by an avalanche while mountaineering. A real pity, since this contemporary of Ravel and Respighi wrote such unremittingly melodious music that almost seems too old-fashioned for his time. The Serenade for Strings (Op.2) in four movements, his earliest orchestral work, has its models in Dvorak and Tchaikovsky, and there are moments that remind one of Elgar or Grieg. The opening March even looks ahead to the slow movement of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony.   

The Violin Concerto in A major (1902) belongs to the old school of virtuoso violin concertos inspired by the virtuosity of violinists like Joachim, Sarasate and Wieniawski. Its 30 minutes pass by rather quickly, as its wellspring of flowing lyricism is immediately likeable. It also helps that the imposing opening theme returns at the end of the finale to round things up. Russian violinist Ilya Kaler, winner of the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition, provides a high level of polish and slickness to the proceedings. There is an older recording of this concerto by Nigel Kennedy (on EMI Classics), possibly now deleted, but this new one at budget-price remains competitive.

CD Retail Therapy in South Korea

Our trip to South Korea was not meant to be a musical holiday, but it is hard to resist finding out what kind of music shops exist in this most musical of lands and the range of classical CDs available to the public. I was not to be disappointed. For starters, South Korea has its own classical recording industry that produces its own CDs of Korean artists on international labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI Classics, Sony Classical and Warner. The prices were very reasonable, about W15000-16000 for full-priced CDs and W24000-26000 for double-CD albums. Even imported CDs were not too expensive, about W4000-5000 more per CD.

Korean artists were rightly given pride of place in every shop I visited, with CDs by Myung-Whun Chung, Kyung-Wha Chung, Sumi Jo, Kun Woo Paik, Julius Kim, Hai-Kyung Suh, Son Yeol-Eum, Lim Dong Hyek, H.J.Lim, Sarah Chang, Han-Na Chang and many more widely available. It is hard not to fall in love with these wonderful  musical emporia, big or small. The best CD shop, according to my friend Pete Song of Universal Music, was Poong Wol Dang, somewhat inconveniently (for me) situated in Gangnam. Perhaps the next time! Meanwhile, these were the CD shops that I visited, with the damage amounting to hundreds of thousands of Korean won.  

KYOBO HOTTRACKS is attached
to the humongous Kyobo bookstore,
at the basement of Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun.
Very conveniently located and
can be accessed by the Seoul Metro.
The Classical section has a central shrine erected to the
conducting supremo Myung-Whun Chung.

The only time I ventured south of the Han River
was to COEX Mall, where one will find
EVAN RECORDS.
Its Classical section is a true piece of art. 

Another view of the wonderfully serene
 (other than the classical videos
blaring in the background)
classical section of Evan Records.
One could just spend hours here.

Much smaller is this outlet of MusicKorea at Itaewon.
Curiously, half of the shop-space
is devoted to women's cosmetics.
You know which side I went.

A small but quite respectable Jazz and Classical section
at MusicKorea with many titles by Korean  artists,
including Kim Daejin, Kim Soovin,
Clara Kang and the ubiquitous Sumi Jo.

Jungang Underground Shopping Mall in Jeju City
is your usual centre with long corridors,
populated mostly by boutiques and fashion outlets. 

Jungang Mall's only music shop is BONO RECORD,
which also has a small but satisfying classical selection.
Kun Woo Paik's Beethoven  Piano Sonata cycle
and Myung-Whun Chung's recording of
Mahler's Second Symphony
are available here. 

The high esteem accorded to Korean musicians
may be found in this waxwork display at
Jeju's International Peace Centre at Jungmun Resort.
Sumi Jo and Myung-Whun Chung
are on display along with other Korean greats
like Kim Dae Jung, Park Se Ri, Baek Yong Jun,
Hwang Myung Bo and Guus Hiddinck.  

This Japanese sushi restaurant (Backsa Sushi)
in Jeju City chooses to display  a large  photo of
Kun Woo Paik and his famous actress wife
Yun Jeong-Hie as its most illustrious patrons.

A piano tuition centre in a side-alley of Jeju City.
There are probably more all over the cities of Korea.
Little wonder South Korea produces
so many wonderful pianists!