UNFORGETTABLE
TUNES II
Singapore
Conference Hall
Saturday
(22 August 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 August 2015
There have been remarks that the
Singapore Chinese Orchestra does not play enough traditional Chinese tunes or
classics. The plain truth is: unlike the Western orchestra which has centuries
of music to choose from, there is not enough traditional repertoire for Chinese
orchestra to sustain an entire season. Hence the need for SCO to commission new
works and fresh orchestrations of pre-existing melodies.
This concert conducted by Assistant
Conductor Moses Gay looked back at some Chinese classics, through the prism of
contemporary orchestrations. It did not take one long to recognise the melody
of Tang Jian Ping's Overture for the New
Century, a vigourous and festive arrangement of Dance
Of The Golden Snake by Nie Er, who also composed the Chinese National
Anthem. Also familiar was Liu Wen Jin's Great
Wall Capriccio, a condensed version of the erhu concerto with the same title, which rehashes its most
memorable melody.
Peng Xiu Wen's 1961 composition Yue Er Gao (The Moon On High) is an acknowledged classic. He had orchestrated
nine of twelve pieces from Hua Qiu Ping's Pipa
Anthology dating from the Qing Dynasty. There was a stately air to this
medley which relived the chamber music origins of Chinese music in its gentle
treatment of dizi and guzheng textures, and graced by
principal Yu Jia's lovely pipa solos.
Contrast this with the two concertante
works, newer orchestrations much in line with the virtuoso Western concerto.
Zhang Yin (above) was the spectacular pipa soloist in Wang Dan Hong's Yun Xiang Hua Xiang (Clouds And Flowers Fantasies). Her
mastery of the instrument and its myriad nuances was exquisite, a portrayal of
feminine grace and beauty personified in the tragic concubine Yang Guifei.
Erhu soloist Tan Man Man (above) coaxed a
sonorous and earthy tone for Wang Jian Min's Erhu Rhapsody No.2, a work which transitioned from slow and
meditative to a fast and brilliant conclusion. SCO can be proud of these
rank-and-file members who are truly consummate virtuosos.
Xu Hui's guzheng solos highlighted Chen Ning-chi's Ancient City Xian, a
picturesque travelogue of the city of terracotta warriors, from vivid night
scenes to historical monuments. Gu Guan Ren's The General Command's used another Qing melody but dressed in
martial garb, with grouped suonas providing the raucous edge that would
vanquish any foe.
The excellent young conductor Gay
conducted the two-hour-long completely from memory. His pluck, and chutzpah in requesting a standing
ovation, did not fall on deaf ears. The audience duly obliged, and was rewarded
with an encore, Bizet's Farandole
from L'Arlesienne. As they say in the
Bible, “Ask, and it shall be given.”
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