A KISS FROM MUM
Saturday (13 May 2017 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 May 2017 with the title "Tribute to Mum hits high notes".
Mother's
Day is a fixture that probably benefits florists, gift-shops and restaurants
most, more than the very people whom that entity was meant to celebrate.
However cynical one might be, few would argue that the Singapore Chinese
Orchestra has honed its annual Mother's Day Concert programme to a fine art.
Tickets to all three of its Mother's Day Concerts held at the Singapore Chinese
Cultural Centre spanking new auditorium had long been sold out.
SCO
Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong was in his element as maestro and
cheerleader-in-chief in the matinee attended mostly by senior citizens. The
first half was wholly instrumental, opening with Gu Guan Ren's The Lovable
Rose. This and Phang Kok Jun's A Kiss From Mum were based on
pre-existing melodies, and both opened with fine dizi and gaohu
solos from Yin Zhi Yang and concertmaster Li Bao Shun respectively.
There
were two concertante works featuring SCO rank-and-file musicians as soloists.
Shen Qin's erhu starred in Chen Yao Xing's A Song Dedicated To Mother,
which began heartfelt and melancholic but took on lively strides by its
conclusion.
Xu
Hui on guzheng was more of an obbligato presence in Wang Jue's San Zi
Jing (Three Character Classic), which had orchestra members chanting
its familiar words which also exhorted mothers' role in moulding their
children's moral compass. While Confucian in intention, the work took on a
martial stance with movie-like music as it progressed.
The
concert's second half was more contemporary and popular in appeal. Wang Jue's Medley
of Sichuan Folksongs was performed by the 13-member SCO Pop Music Ensemble,
which included drum-set, bongos and electric bass guitar alongside traditional
instruments. One has not lived until one has heard Kangding Love Song in
the rhythm of Dave Brubeck's Take Five.
The
concert's highlight had to be the appearances of pop singers Lee Peifen and Hao
Hao in the segment entitled I Really Love You – Songs Dedicated To Mothers.
They enlivened the proceedings with youthful spunk, dialect-speaking and
quickfire repartee with conductor Quek. The audience lapped it all up with keen
relish.
Both
had two solo songs each, in Mandarin and Hokkien. The locally-based Li, dressed
in gaudy flower-themed gowns, was a livewire throughout. Her contrasted
emotions in Mum in the Dream and Ka Ao (Wife) were immediately engaging.
The Taiwanese Hao, sporting navy blue hair, was at home in Ah Ma Ei Wei
(Grandmother's Words) and Han Jiang Xue (Frosty River Snow).
For the latter, he sang falsetto, did a spot of female impersonation, and had
listeners in stitches.
Together,
the dynamic duo performed three songs including I Really Love You
(mixing Cantonese and Mandarin) and finished off with Liang Wern Fook's xinyao
classic Old Clothes Are Better Than New Ones. No further encouragement
was needed for an encore, with Yang Yao Dong's catchy Mothers Of The World
Are The Same clapped along by the full-house.
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