CELLISSO
10 Cellists of the
Singapore Symphony
Orchestra
Victoria Concert Hall
Sunday (22 October 2017)
This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 October 2017 with the title "Cellists make wonderful music together".
Listeners
would be familiar with the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker or London
Cellos, which brings together cellists from the London orchestras. Now say
hello to CelliSSO, Singapore Symphony Orchestra's answer to those wonderful
groups. Led by Principal Ng Pei-Sian, its debut concert showcased only 20th
century works but was greeted by a full-house at Victoria Concert Hall.
Not
all works featured all ten members of the cello section playing together. The
concert began with Trevor Wilson's Five Perambulations played by a
quartet formed by Ng Pei-Sian, Yu Jing, Guo Hao and Peter Wilson. Its movements
centred on casual strolls in five different places, each imbued with the
distinctive character of each locale.
London
relived the pre-war world of Eric Coates. New Orleans had a jazzy vibe, Venice
delighted in a gondolier's barcarolle, while the flamenco beat lit up
Andalusia. Cellist Wilson luxuriated in the solos in his father's work, which
closed with Slavonic flavours of Prague, including a short quote from Dvorak's Cello
Concerto.
Perambulation
turned into tintinnabulation in the Estonian Arvö Part's Fratres, where
Yu, Guo and Wilson were joined by Wang Yan and SSO Associate Conductor Jason
Lai (making a cameo), who provided the deep G bass note in this meditative work
of mystical triads. Bell-like sonorities, punctuated by percussive knocks on
the cello's wood, opened with ethereal stillness, then widening into a plangent
crescendo before receding to nothingness.
The
first half closed with Australian Carl Vine's Inner World, with just Ng
accompanied by a taped recording. This solo tour de force stretched every facet
of his cello technique, with psychedelic taped effects that ranged from
celestial glissandi to grinding punk rock beats. Bathed under an otherworldly
blue and green light, Ng's free-wheeling show garnered loud applause and
cheers.
Sicilian
Giovanni Sollima's Violoncelles, Vibrez! for two cellos was last heard
when Ng partnered Yo-Yo Ma in last year's Silk Road Ensemble concert with SSO.
In this evening's version accompanied by six cellos, the soloists were also the
ensemble's youngest, Wang Zihao and Wu Dai Dai. Far from being overawed, the
duo shined in the music's languid opening before racing into breakneck speeds
for a photo finish.
The
programme was completed with movements from two Bachianas Brasileiras by
the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos, who was a cellist himself. Bachiana No.1
saw all ten cellists appear for the first time, with Chan Wei Shing, Song Woon
Teng and Zhao Yu Er joining the throng for a gorgeous, cushioned sound in its
first two movements.
 |
| Soprano Jeong Ae Ree, with her lucky husband Chan Wei Shing playing behind her. |
Far
more famous is Bachiana No.5 with its haunting mostly-wordless Aria
sung by Korean soprano Jeong Ae Ree, who is also cellist Chan's wife. Garbed in
a low-cut jade-coloured gown, she oozed sensuality and later letting loose in
the quickfire Dança to close. The ten cellists signed off with an
encore, Danny Elfman's The Simpsons Theme, with a promise of more
exciting fare in concerts to come.
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