GALA
CONCERT
The
Chamber, The Arts House
Monday
(30 November 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 December 2015 with the title "Delightful sounds from young and old".
The Singapore Clarinet Festival took
place over two days at The Arts House, bringing together the nation's small but
dedicated community of clarinet players in instrumental workshops, competition
and concert. It culminated with a concert demonstrating that musical talent
abounds, especially when it involves youthful and enthusiastic souls.
Both adjectives might not be used to describe
the clarinet quartet from Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The foursome of Ma Yue,
Tang Xiao Ping, Yoko Liu and Li Xin represent the cream of the profession, all
of whom are highly-respected teachers in local music institutions. Their
intonation, balance and ensemble were immaculate in the delivery of Harry
Staplers' Clownery and Patrick
Hiketick's Three Latin Dances.
The former was a delightful scherzo of
in-jokes and cliches to be found in fairground and popular music, while the
latter played on familiar idioms and melodies of Spanish and South American
dances. Their first encore continued irresistibly on this thread in Zequinha de
Abreu's Tico Tico No Fuba, but the
atmosphere turned sombre for the second, Miao Kaiwen's arrangement of Brahms' Lullaby. Its simple melody was
transformed into a solemn hymn, performed in solidarity with the bereaved
people of France
The festival's competitive segment saw
the participation of 17 ensembles. The top prizewinners included Katong Convent
(B Division) which performed a jazzed-up version of Scarborough Fair and CQN (A Division) which had fun in a medley of
tunes from Lehar's The Merry Widow.
The schoolgirls in their sky-blue uniforms showed much promise, while their
more mature counterparts sounded like they could turn professional soon.
The concert's second half was performed
by the Singapore Clarinet Festival Combined Choir, uniting clarinettists from
top three wind orchestras: The Philharmonic Winds, Singapore Wind Symphony and
West Winds. Conducted by Alan Mills, the 14-member group generated a big and
warm tone, swelling to a fulsome bloom, with deep bass notes from Sean Tan's
contrabass clarinet.
Vaclav Nelhybel's Chorale & Danza contrasted ceremonial pomp with more angular
lines, while Jan van der Roost's Hikudim was
a suite of four Israeli songs, where soulfulness alternated with cheerful
vibes. The final dance relived the joy of klezmer players and the celebratory
whoops of their instruments.
The final acts belonged to French
virtuoso Florent Héau, who was starry soloist in Ralph Emmanuel Lim's
arrangement of Rossini's Introduction,
Theme & Variations, where he was accompanied by the clarinet choir.
This was the wind version of the bel canto opera tradition that flourished in
the early 19th century. Beauty of line and extraordinary agility was
central to his imperious showing, where the human voice was not just simulated
but also surpassed.
Loud cheers yielded two encores, a
virtuosic solo klezmer number and the popular song Dream A Little Dream Of Me, where Héau upped the ante by
accompanying his playing with an impromptu tap dance of his own. One can
already see the headline: where hot lips met twinkle-toes.
All photographs by the kind permission of Singapore Clarinet Festival.
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