PETRUSHKA /
BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO.1
Esplanade Concert Hall
This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 March 2017 with the title "Dances blossom under conductor's handling".
This
listener was present at Victoria Concert Hall when Finnish conductor Okko Kamu
first conducted the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in early 1985. In Sibelius' Fifth
Symphony, the orchestra was galvanised in a manner that it never seemed to
possess, sounding with a freshness, vitality and grit that remains indelibly
etched in the mind to this day. Ten years later, he led the first of 88
programmes as the orchestra's only Principal Guest Conductor.
In
his final concert in that official capacity, Kamu appeared almost embarrassed
as SSO Chairman Goh Yew Lin sang his praises in a witty preamble. He smiled,
mostly looking at the floor and did not say a word. His laconic demeanour then
gave way to what he did best, marshalling the players from the rostrum.
The
evening opened with Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka, a work that
underlined the composer's Russianness. The ensemble was tautly held together in
the busyness of the Shrovetide Fair, sounding plangent but not congested
as the puppet show began. The eponymous puppet, a tragic figure represented by
Stravinsky's “Petrushka chord” of interlocking triads and tritones, was
very well characterised.
The
orchestra as narrator worked tirelessly as the drama unfolded, with Shane
Thio's demanding piano playing a major role, and important solos by Jon Paul
Dante (trumpet, as Petrushka's love interest the ballerina), Jin Ta (flute) and
Igor Yuzefovich (violin).
More
importantly, this musical tableaux of dances was allowed to breathe and blossom
under Kamu's direction, all through to its muted and ghostly end. As Dante's
trumpet uttered Petrushka's last vengeful breath over faint echoes of the fair,
one could hear a pin drop. The applause was loud and prolonged, but that was
not the end.
Brahms'
First Piano Concerto occupied the second part, with German pianist
Martin Helmchen substituting for the indisposed Russian Nikolai Lugansky. This was
no huge loss as Helmchen gave a performance that was as confident as it was
magisterial. The stormy opening orchestral tutti was balanced by the piano's
composed entry, which served as a calming influence. When it came to the
development section, big octaves and chords showed he could barnstorm with the
best of them.
The
slow movement was a revelation, its hymn-like phrases on piano handled with
utmost reverence and love. The orchestra's discreet contribution playing was
one of an acute listener and partner, the beatific hush that permeated the
Adagio was down to Kamu's totally sympathetic handling of the collaborating
forces.
While
the final Rondo was an exciting romp, it was Helmchen's nuanced playing
that had most to admire. Lighter touches and intricate staccato playing were to
offset the tempest-tossed pages as the concerto drew to its tumultuous close.
This was more a reading of nobility than a tragedy-laden one. True to form, the
self-effacing conductor Kamu quietly retired to allow the young man to bask in
two encores (Bach-Busoni and Schubert) and the well-deserved limelight.
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