MAGNIFICAT
NAFA
Orchestra & Chorus
Ashley
Solomon, Conductor
Victoria
Concert Hall
Wednesday
(15 April 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 April 2015 with the title "Baroque rocks the house".
Verily, verily, Victoria Concert Hall was
designed for baroque music in mind. After attending almost a year of concerts
in the newly reconstructed VCH, it is the chamber music and baroque concerts
which have given this reviewer the greatest satisfaction. This all-Bach concert
by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with period performance practice in mind
may just be the catalyst for a renaissance of baroque music not just in this
space, but in Singapore as well.
Ashley Solomon, founder of the renowned
British baroque ensemble Florilegium, led the NAFA Orchestra playing with
period bows on modern instruments like a guiding light. The concert opened with
the Overture in D major by Johann
Bernhard Bach, a second cousin of the ubiquitous Johann Sebastian. This
rarely-heard work, which consists of a French overture and a suite of dances,
only exists because the latter had hand-copied the parts for his own use.
The performance was a delightful one,
with crisply articulated playing of minimal vibrato that brought out the
vivacious essence of the baroque. The dances, which included fast passepieds, a graceful slow sarabande and lively caprice to close were very well
characterised. This playing of ebullience continued in Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D minor for violin and oboe
(BWV.1060R) with soloists Foo Say Ming and Joost Flach respectively.
This was a rarely-heard edition of the
same concerto often heard and recorded in C minor. The ears adapted easily to
this transposition, and both soloists shined in the intricate play of
intertwined voices and counterpoint through its three movements. The central
slow movement, with its singing line shared by the players, can only be
described as a gem within an embarrassment of riches.
The main work was J.S.Bach's Magnificat in D major, with the
orchestra joined by a 110-member choir comprising the entire corpus of music
students in the academy. This was the major departure from the baroque age
which operated with far smaller vocal forces, but sheer numbers provided both
unity and strength here.
Chorus master Lim Yau, also Head of Music
at NAFA, had drilled them well, with the opening proclamation of Magnificat (My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord) coming like joyous laughter as
Virgin Mary exults on learning she will bear the son of God. Their entries in
the choral fugues were also close to immaculate, with clarity and diction being
strong suits. And has there ever been an choir assembled here with as many as
32 men?
All five soloists acquitted themselves
well in arias besides being well matched in duets and ensemble. Countertenor
Chia Wee Kiat was a standout in Esurientes
implevit bonis (He Hath Filled The
Hungry With Good Things), buoyantly lifting himself above the two flutes
without sounding lightweight. Alto Jessica Chen and soprano Isyana Sarasvati
provided contrasting timbres to the arias Et
Exsultavit (And My Spirit Hath
Rejoiced) and Quia Respexit (For He Hath Regarded) respectively, the
latter poignantly accompanied by oboe and cello.
Tenor Jeremy Koh emoted well in the
emphatic Deposuit (He Hath Put Down) while baritone William
Lim only had the brief Quia Fecit (For He Is Mighty) to distinguish
himself. The final Gloria, which
reprised the first movement's revelry, provided grandstanding moments for the
chorus and orchestra, which was greeted with deafening cheers from the
audience. With NAFA's revitalised appetite and promise in baroque music, there
is certainly great scope for more high quality performances of early music to
look forward to here.
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